Why Won’t My Drill Go Through Brick?

If You Can’t Drill Through Brick – Read This to Understand Why

I’m sure you’ve been in this situation before. You’re trying to hang a picture or a shelf on your internal brick wall, you grab your regular drill, start drilling into your brick wall, and it won’t go through the brick, it skips across the surface and leaves a nasty gouge in the wall.

What’s going on here? Why does my drill not go through a brick wall? Well, let’s have a look at why that is…

Why You Can’t Drill Through Brick

First, let’s look at why your current drill will not drill into brick. I image you have a low powered drill driver, although this is ok for soft wood and other soft materials, it will not cut it with brick, literally! Evan if you get a high-powered drill driver, this will still not be sufficient for drilling large holes in brick, you can get away with smaller diameter and depth holes providing you use the right drill bit, but a drill driver is not for drilling through brick.

What You Need to Drill into Brick

Hammer/Combi Drill

What you need is a hammer drill, or what is most commonly known drill for DIY’ers, a combi drill. Combi drills do it all, drill through brick, hard wood, metal and more. They have a hammer function which makes drilling into brick easier.

What is a hammer function? A regular drill’s chuck spins and that’s it, when the hammer function is enabled on a combi drill, not only does the chuck spin, it has a back and forth motion as well, the back and forth motion makes blows into the brick, this chips away brick, making it easier to drill into.

If you do not have a combi drill, check out our best cordless combi drills under £100 here.

Masonry Drill Bits

Along with a combi drill, you will need a masonry bit (also known as a carbide-tipped bit) that is specifically designed for drilling through brick.

Masonry bits are usually round with multiple cutting edges and a spear sharpened head designed to grind away brick when drilling. Masonry drill bits come in varying sizes, depending on the size of your hole needed.

Tips to Help You Drill Into Brick

If you start off with too much power, the drill can move a few milometers and the hole you drill will be off from where you want it to be, there is also a risk that the hole diameter will be larger than what is required.

When drilling into brick, it’s important to make sure that your drill is set to the correct speed and hammer setting for the job in hand. Brick is hard, so it’s important to start with a slow speed to pierce the hole in the precise spot, and gradually increase the speed as you go to ensure you have a precise and accurate hole.

Make sure you use the correct diameter masonry drill bit for the job. If you have to drill large diameter holes, for example a 10 mm diameter hole, start off with a 6 mm hole first, then use a 10 mm masonry drill bit, smaller drill bits go through masonry easier, once you have a pilot hole, the larger holes will be a breeze to drill.

So, there you have it, now you know why your regular drill driver won’t go through brick walls, brick walls require special tools and techniques to drill into them. With the right tools and knowledge, drilling into brick walls is a breeze! Happy drilling!

Best Cordless Drill Under £100

Best Cordless Drill For Home Use UK Under £100 Your 2023 Guide to the Best UK Combi Drills Product Rating:...