When renovating a bathroom or other areas of the home, it is often necessary to make a hole for an outlet or switch. Some materials can be easily cut with the most common tools, while others require a special approach.
It is quite difficult to drill a hard but fragile tile without damage, and making a hole with a large diameter is even more difficult. In this article we will talk about popular and simple methods by which you can quickly cut tiles to install an outlet.
How to make a hole in a tile for a socket: 6 ways
Ceramic tiles are a complex but attractive material for finishing. To make a hole in it for a socket and not spoil it, you need to have a lot of patience and experience. This article discusses several simple methods for high-quality processing of ceramic tiles. The described methods will help you make holes of any shape. But first, prepare the tool and familiarize yourself with the features of the work.
Preparatory work
Before you drill a hole in the tile material, you should prepare for work. A circle for an electrical outlet on the wall surface must be made before installing the tile covering.
You should be prepared for the fact that the tile may break during the process of cutting out the circle. The difficulty of working with this material is explained by the fact that it is hard, but easily damaged. If the tile is covered with glaze, this creates additional difficulties, since it is difficult to fix the working tool on the surface of a smooth and slippery material, and the drill bit may slip from the mark along which the circle needs to be cut.
Therefore, the master needs to have a stock of tiles of about 10-15% of the total quantity. You should also remember that marking and drilling holes in the tiles are done from the outside of the material. If you do this from the inside, the cut will not look neat enough.
To keep the drill in one position on the surface of the ceramic slab, it is recommended to cover the area to be treated with masking tape or medical adhesive tape. The tape will protect the tile from scratches and chips, and will not allow the drill to change its position.
What to consider
Before drilling into tiles, it is important to consider the characteristics of the material. It is fragile and slippery. Inaccuracy in this work will cause cracks to appear on the tiles.
It is especially difficult to make holes if the tiles are already laid on the wall. It is better to think through these details in advance when arranging the premises and carry out the necessary preparatory work. You will need to wet the tile with water. This will make it more pliable for carrying out the necessary work, and it will be completed easily and without defects. Thus, you can drill not only small holes, but also openings for sockets, switches or for a pipe.
Instructions for cutting out places for sockets
When working with a hammer drill, you need to protect all surrounding objects from dust. It is advisable for the master to wear protective elements. Further work proceeds in this order:
- The outline of the future hole where the crown is applied is marked on the wall;
- The hammer drill must operate in the impact-drilling mode;
- The crown will mark and cut out the desired cup holder, and if this does not happen, you can knock out a hole using a chisel.
Working with a drill also involves marking, and then several holes are knocked out at a distance of 2 mm from each other. If work is already carried out on tiles fixed to the wall, the remaining material will be removed with nippers, and concrete with a chisel or hammer.
When using a grinder, you only need to work with a diamond blade. Drill a hole carefully, moving the tool away from you and gradually going deeper into the contour.
When working with a hand jigsaw, proceed as follows:
- The outline of the future outlet is indicated on the tile, and in its center you need to make a hole with a drill;
- You need to attach a tungsten thread to the jigsaw and start sawing from the inside, using smooth movements;
- When the hole is ready, the edges need to be sanded.
When working on already fixed tiles, it is better to cover the hole markings on the outside with masking tape. This will maintain the integrity of the entire slab and keep the outline in check.
Cutting with a crown
The quickest way to make a hole in a tile is to use a special drill attachment called a drill bit. Bits for drills and hammer drills are sold in hardware stores; they have different diameters, which must be selected for the socket being mounted. However, experienced craftsmen do not recommend making holes in the tiles using a hammer drill, since vibration causes cracks and chips to form along the edges of the cut. To work with tiles, use the following type of crowns:
- Diamond crown. Diamond-coated crowns for making holes for rosettes in tiles from different manufacturers have a diameter of 65-68 mm. A high-quality nozzle can cost 4-6 thousand rubles, so it is usually used by professional finishers. But it drills tiles quickly and accurately.
Diamond crown - Crown with pobedite teeth. This device for cutting holes for a socket in a tile costs 500-700 rubles, it is enough for 20 cuts. Drilling tiles with this attachment takes much longer than with a diamond-coated crown, however, it is in no way inferior in quality.
Crown with pobedit teeth - Crown with carbide tips. Hole saws with carbide tips are half the price of diamond-coated hole saws, but are not inferior in quality or speed of cutting tiles.
Carbide tipped bit
Tungsten wire cutting
To make a neat hole in the tile without the risk of splitting and damaging the material, it is better to use a hand tool rather than a power tool. To do this, you need to buy a tungsten string from a hardware store, which is inserted into the saw instead of the cutting blade. The cutting process is performed in the following order:
- Markings of the future outlet are applied to the outer or inner surface of the tile.
- If the hole is located inside the tile, then inside the marked circle you need to make a hole of small diameter using a Pobedit drill and a drill.
- A tungsten cutting wire is inserted into the hole made by a drill in the tile.
- With the help of a string, a hole is cut along the markings using forward-returning movements.
Tungsten wire cutting
Note! When cutting tiles with a tungsten wire, cracks, chips or other defects never occur. However, it takes up to 30 minutes to make each hole manually, so this method is not suitable for industrial scale.
What is required for processing?
The best option for working with ceramic tiles would be a corded or cordless screwdriver. Its high rotation speed (800-1000 rpm) allows you to easily handle tile processing. An alternative to a screwdriver is an electric drill, or a manual modification if you have to drill a small hole.
Selecting a drill and auger
When the unit is prepared, all that remains is to choose the type of nozzle aimed at solving certain problems:
- Diamond coated drills. They give the best results for drilling even very hard tiles, but due to their high cost, it makes sense to use them only for a large volume of work.
- Drills with a tip made of pobedit. They work well with soft tiles and medium-hard tiles. It is recommended to drill ceramic tiles on the wall using so-called feather drills - they have a small sharpening angle that does not allow damage to the tile glaze.
- Spear drills. Suitable for laying dowels, they have a low price and an enviable service life.
- Single-sided sharpened carbide drills. These attachments reduce the risk of overheating and make working with very fragile and thin tiles easier.
- Core drills with tungsten carbide coating. Universal components that can easily cope not only with the most durable tiles, but also with marble, brick and porcelain stoneware.
Diamond core drills require periodic cooling with water, and work with them at low speeds - no higher than 500 per minute.
What else can I drill?
If you need to get a hole of a large diameter, a drill with adjustable teeth - the so-called ballerina - will come to the rescue.
The device can drill holes up to 9 cm in diameter, including non-standard shapes for which there are no suitable crowns. But due to the manually moving bracket, the edges of the hole are uneven. Therefore, it is advisable to use a ballerina in cases where the perforation will be covered with something.
Another option for work is a Pobedit concrete drill. Since the tip is not intended for working with tiles, its cutting part is sharpened as sharply as possible, and during the drilling process maximum care is taken so as not to damage the coating.
Features of working with tiles
To accurately cut a hole in a tile for an outlet, you should adhere to the following rules:
- Marking. You need to mark the area where you drill the hole using a marker - mark the outline on the outside of the tile.
- Pasting. If we are talking about glossy tile material, you should cover the cutting area with mounting tape or adhesive tape. This process will prevent the drill bit from slipping while cutting. You can make an outline with a nail by scratching the surface along the markings.
- Wetting. Professional craftsmen usually use special equipment that wets the tiles with water when cutting. But you can simply place the tiles in water for an hour to reduce dust formation and prevent cracking. You need to cut tiles at low speed. The diamond blade is used for dry cutting.
- Safe distance. It is necessary to drill with a distance from the edge of at least 15 mm to avoid spalling.
- Convenience. To make a hole conveniently, you need to guide the tool away from you from any edge. If you change the processing direction during drilling, the cut lines may not converge. Cutting must be done exclusively from the front side. If the tiles are already on the wall, you need to drill a hole with a hand drill.
Tips for carrying out work
The process of drilling holes has certain nuances and requires caution. Knowing some tricks will help make the job easier and do it as efficiently as possible. It is best to make a hole at the edges of the tiles, at the intersection of four tiles or at the junction of two adjacent ones. In this case, the likelihood of damage is minimal. If you wet the drill with water from time to time, you can avoid overheating.
It is worth remembering that the drill must be turned off before doing this. A metal drill is also suitable for making a hole at low speeds, but it will only be enough for one time.
Cutting with a thin pobedit drill
It happens that the master does not have special tools for cutting tiles in his arsenal, but the work needs to be done urgently. Then a drill with a regular Pobedit drill with a diameter of 6-8 mm comes to the rescue. The process of making holes using this method is as follows:
- The socket box is placed on the outside of the tile and then outlined using a marker or pencil.
- About 20 holes with a diameter of 8-8 mm are made along the marked circle in increments of 1-2 mm.
- The isthmuses between the holes are carefully removed using pliers or wire cutters.
Cutting with a pobedite drill bit
Important! Marking and drilling of tiles should be done only from the outside of the material, otherwise the cut location will look sloppy.
