Drilling through a lintel

[rgjbloke]

I don’t think he has the drill pictured...something he’s seen on FB marketplace

If that is the case, buying a 240v version is a probably a better option for gneral domestic DIY. a decent hammer drill or hiring is going to get the job done too rather than going down the 110v route.

I didn’t realise that. I agree he should definitely go the 240v route if he is going to buy one.

I have a shed full of 110V stuff but I also do have a Bosch 240v SDS drill purely for the convenience of not having to bother with a transformer if I’m not on a site.

First drill I ever brought when I went solo twenty odd years ago and still going strong.

Apart from a smallish driver, all my tools are mains powered. Batteries need replacing periodically.

 

[Moderator]

Not to mention the odd @MrBane moment

@MrBane put the curtain track up in this house. He did a good job and It really wasn’t his fault the house fell down the first time the cutains were drawn.

 

[964ST]

Mine lasted two weeks before dying......mind you, it that time, it did chisel off almost all the plaster/concrete and other shite out of the house ......Not to mention the odd @MrBane moment View attachment 524549View attachment 524550View attachment 524551

That is a very contemporary look, what does you Interior Designer call it? „Urban Beirut?“ .

 

[Daz]

That is a very contemporary look, what does you Interior Designer call it? „Urban Beirut?“ .

I think he called it "Crap Builders", we removed the plaster off the internal wall and it........fell down, that rubble by the acrow props is what's left of the wall. Single row of bricks laid edge on with shag all cement holding them together as we found out

 

[theoriginalphantom]

Explosives are the answer.

As usual.

 

[DaManBugs]

All concrete lintels have re-bar in them. They are made by bending a reinforcing mat into a square or oblong shape. Mats have a standard size of 5 metres by 2.15 metres. They are also produced in two versions. One has square rods of various thicknesses welded together 15 x 15 cms. The other type has the rods welded at 15 x 20 cms in a longitudinal direction (with heavier versions having double longitudinal rods).

Furthermore, the "box", once bent to the corresponding shape is further reinforced at each corner by thicker re-bar rods -normally between 8 and 16 mm. The trick is to miss all the reinforcement by choosing carefully where to drill. The first rod of the mat will be at least five centimetres from the end of the lintel (that's three centimetres gash on the side of the mat, plus the thickness of the rod (normally about four millimetres) and a one-centimetre concrete covering. If you go beyond that, you should be OK.

It's the same when calculating where to drill from the bottom edge of the lintel. One centimetre concrete covering, plus the thickness of the mat rod, plus the thickness of the corner reinforcing rod (see approximate thicknesses above), but taking into account the distance required from the side of the lintel, as explained above. You won't get into anything above 400-grade concrete without a hammer drill, but if you take all the precautions, a normal masonry-bit should be just fine.

MsG

 

[Gubmint_Agent]

I needed a drill to put battens up for curtain poles and my cordless drill was shit beyond the depth of the plaster. I bought the drill linked in the second (?) post from Screwfix for £60 and it went through everything like a knife through butter. Yes it weighs a ton and covers your entire house in a fine coating of plaster dust, thanks to the cooling vent being right next to the hole you're drilling, but it does the job and comes with a variety of SDS drill bits of varying sizes to get most DIY jobs done. Well worth the money.

 

[RBMK]

Not all lintels have rebar.

Our old house had solid sandstone stone lintels.

 

[SONAR-BENDER]

Mine lasted two weeks before dying......mind you, it that time, it did chisel off almost all the plaster/concrete and other shite out of the house ......Not to mention the odd @MrBane moment

Only two weeks? I hope you kept the receipt and took the almost brand new, one careful owner drill back for a nice new replacement!

 

[Daz]

Not all lintels have rebar.

Our old house had solid sandstone stone lintels.

Posh git, mine had (rotted) wood

 

[dingerr]

FFS stopping messing about and use explosives.

Bloody fannyarses and your drills.

 

[DaManBugs]

Not all lintels have rebar.

No-one said they did. But ALL concrete lintels are reinforced, otherwise, they'd just break in the middle.

MsG

 

[OneTenner]

Going cordless?
Go big or go home....

Not mine but the same as mine, has rotation stop for use with SDS chisels which is great for chopping holes in walls for sockets etc.
Oh, it'll put holes in steel reinforced lintels as well (BTW, 'Rebar' is a particular type of steel reinforcing, most lintels have plain old drawn steel wire in 'em).

 

[MrMemory]

As @RBMK say, if in doubt, fix a wooded batten to the wall and then attach the curtain poles to that.

If you try to drill holes for pole fixings into something hard, you may well end up with the hole out of position (also happens when you hit the edge of a brick and the bit gets deflected into the mortar joint).

With a batten (I use something wider, say 4"x 1/2") it doesn't matter if the holes are all over the place, so long as there are sufficient to hold it. You can then easy-fix your pole fixings in a nice precise line using wood screws.

Thanks for the reply. Presumably you mean attaching a batten over the lintel, but ensuring its wider so the batten can be screwed into the brick, and then the curtain poles mounted on that?

 

[putteesinmyhands]

All concrete lintels have re-bar in them. They are made by bending a reinforcing mat into a square or oblong shape. Mats have a standard size of 5 metres by 2.15 metres. They are also produced in two versions. One has square rods of various thicknesses welded together 15 x 15 cms. The other type has the rods welded at 15 x 20 cms in a longitudinal direction (with heavier versions having double longitudinal rods).

Furthermore, the "box", once bent to the corresponding shape is further reinforced at each corner by thicker re-bar rods -normally between 8 and 16 mm. The trick is to miss all the reinforcement by choosing carefully where to drill. The first rod of the mat will be at least five centimetres from the end of the lintel (that's three centimetres gash on the side of the mat, plus the thickness of the rod (normally about four millimetres) and a one-centimetre concrete covering. If you go beyond that, you should be OK.

It's the same when calculating where to drill from the bottom edge of the lintel. One centimetre concrete covering, plus the thickness of the mat rod, plus the thickness of the corner reinforcing rod (see approximate thicknesses above), but taking into account the distance required from the side of the lintel, as explained above. You won't get into anything above 400-grade concrete without a hammer drill, but if you take all the precautions, a normal masonry-bit should be just fine.

MsG

Square rods? Which century are you in?

Other than that, the rest is bollocks. 400 grade concrete?

 

[Daz]

Going cordless?
Go big or go home....
View attachment 524563
Not mine but the same as mine, has rotation stop for use with SDS chisels which is great for chopping holes in walls for sockets etc.
Oh, it'll put holes in steel reinforced lintels as well (BTW, 'Rebar' is a particular type of steel reinforcing, most lintels have plain old drawn steel wire in 'em).

Well, if you need to put a hole in the steel, Sir could use this

 

[OneTenner]

Square rods? Which century are you in?

Other than that, the rest is bollocks. 400 grade concrete?

"It was good enough for GDR, it's good enough"....... etc.

 

[DaManBugs]

Square rods? Which century are you in?

I never mentioned "square rods", but rather that the rods are welded into either squares of 15 x 15 centimetres or oblongs of 15 x 20 centimetres.

MsG

 

[Joshua Slocum]

Get a man in to do it you cheapskate !!

 

[Arte_et_Marte]

Thanks for the reply. Presumably you mean attaching a batten over the lintel, but ensuring its wider so the batten can be screwed into the brick, and then the curtain poles mounted on that?

If in doubt, just glue a 2"x 1" batten to the head (that's where the lintel is.) (A tube of "No Nails" with a dispenser gun is perfectly adequate.)

Here is a picture of me getting it wrong.