Drilling Ceramic Tiles For Pipes

Many common ceramic tiles are made primarily with clay but then coated with a thin glaze.

Drilling ceramic tiles for pipes.

Drilling holes in wall tiles is a fairly easy skill to master once you know how. Drilling ceramic tile requires a special drill bit and a steady hand. The tile drill bits slide around on the tile making it hard to keep the drill bit in place. When you re installing plumbing pipes in tile floors you may need to drill a 2 or 3 inch diameter hole and a ceramic tile hole saw is the tool for that.

This is an alternative to cutting the tile vertically splitting it into 3 parts in this example and nibbling away the tile at the 2 points where the holes would be. While that sounds expensive a inch diamond tipped tip costs under 20 and a carbide bit of the same size can be had for less than 10. Before you drill ceramic tile clean the surface with soap and water and put masking tape in the shape of an x over the area you re drilling. Then hold the drill bit over the center of the x and use a hammer to tap it lightly until you ve made a small dent in the tile s glaze.

Have the right bit for ceramic tile. It comes with a pilot bit that can wander over the tile surface so don t forget to lay tape before marking the position of the hole and drilling. Follow these simple st. Ceramic tile can be drilled with a carbide bit while glass and porcelain call for a diamond tipped bit.

Standard drill bits don t work on tile but not to worry.