Progressive hole in porcelain tiles

[1animal1]

Hi all

I am about to start laying some 600x300x10 tiles, the first 2 of which will have 15mm pipes going through them for the towel rad. The issue i have is that i am using speedfit connections which i have managed to get mostly into the wall, but have a slight protrusion where the chamfered part of the fitting sticks out, therefore i need to use my 18mm ATS bit from the front for the 15mm pipe (bit of margin for error!), then some how chamfer the back of the tile to accept the speedfit fitting - I have bought a further 32mm bit to attack the tile from behind to drill halfway, to hopefully file down - from what i am reading, filing isn't really an option for porcelain.

Can anyone offer any advice as to the way to go with this slight problem

Thanks in advance


Tim

 

[Old Mod]

I might consider that kit if these get blunt quick... The last 20mm I did earlier in the SDS, went a lot quicker for stopping and dunking in water..Defo the way forward

Get a piece of 6mm timber/mdf and drill your hole in this first.
Then place the board over your tile where you require the hole, hold or stand on the board and fill it with some water with a squeeze from a wet sponge. The board will stop the drill skating and the bit cool
Good luck.

 

[1animal1]

I've made a guide for the 18/20 & 32mm with a piece of floor board... Will use that, thanks for the tip with the sponge.... It'll be harder as it's the wall tiles, luckily it's only 4

 

[Old Mod]

.. It'll be harder as it's the wall tiles, luckily it's only 4

Yeah truck is to drill them first!

 

[1animal1]

It was bad enough gauging the pipe entries off wall, nevermind the 4 relatively small screws for the towel radiator.... Surely that'd be a massive pain? I gathered with them being small holes and plugs I'd be fine drilling on the wall?

 

[Dumbo]

That will be down to teqnique, every tile drill bit will be able to achieve at least 3-4 holes.
Even tho they are dry bits, they all benefit from a damp sponge being held against them.

In Topps tile they do a Rubi drill kit for £50, and it's actually worth it.
Sizes 6,8,10,12mm wax filled dry bits that have M14 threads to fit direct to angle grinders.
Not bad at all.

I've have heard the quality of these drills has gone down . Has anybody else heard this or experienced this

 

[Old Mod]

I've have heard the quality of these drills has gone down . Has anybody else heard this or experienced this

No, the ones from ATS are actually pretty good.

 

[Dumbo]

No, the ones from ATS are actually pretty good.

Not tried them yet but that seems to be general opinion . I am using Mexco at the moment which are good.

 

[Old Mod]

It was bad enough gauging the pipe entries off wall, nevermind the 4 relatively small screws for the towel radiator.... Surely that'd be a massive pain? I gathered with them being small holes and plugs I'd be fine drilling on the wall?

Yeah you probably will be. But if you fit the rad before tiling and you make a mistake it won't matter. Do it wrong when tiled, it's a whole new pain in the butt. You can then remove before tiling and mark and drill your holes away from the wall.
But drilling holes in walls is where the M14 bits come into their own, so much easier than holding a drill aloft.

 

[Old Mod]

Not tried them yet but that seems to be general opinion . I am using Mexco at the moment which are good.

Has an awful lot to do with the way they're used tbh, but if you're happy why change.

 

[Dumbo]

Has an awful lot to do with the way they're used tbh, but if you're happy why change.

Price is always a good reason to change most things

 

[1animal1]

Yeah you probably will be. But if you fit the rad before tiling and you make a mistake it won't matter. Do it wrong when tiled, it's a whole new pain in the butt. You can then remove before tiling and mark and drill your holes away from the wall.
But drilling holes in walls is where the M14 bits come into their own, so much easier than holding a drill aloft.

I suppose you are damned if you do and damned if you don't - the rad will have 4 adjustable fixtures going across 4 different tiles. Luckily i think my bits will do the trick - here's hoping they are as good a quality as Erbauer

Erbauer Tile & Glass Drill Bit Set 3Pcs - http://www.NoLinksToThis/p/erbauer-tile-glass-drill-bit-set-3pcs/53634

 

[1animal1]

The ATS bits I had did look pretty crap tbf - they looked as though they had been lightly dipped in a glue, then had the lightest uneven coating of what can only be described as diamond dust (akin to someone waving a teabag over some water) - The more expensive bit obviously had larger diamond pieces, evenly and thickly spread, hence why it seems to last longer and cuts quicker....

 

[Old Mod]

These are the M14 bits.

Vacuum Brazed Dry Diamond Holesaws M14 | ATS Diamond Tools - http://www.atsdiamondtools.co.uk/node/11

 

[1animal1]

They look a lot different to the chaps on Ebay - advertising ATS

 

[1animal1]

On a side note : I know you'd silicone the inside corners in a shower for expansion, but would you also silicone every other internal corner in an en suite? I assume so for the reason above, just want confirmation of best practice.

 

[LM]

On a side note : I know you'd silicone the inside corners in a shower for expansion, but would you also silicone every other internal corner in an en suite? I assume so for the reason above, just want confirmation of best practice.

All transitions in tiling should be siliconed/caulked

 

[1animal1]

I gathered that would be the case but wasn't sure as seen quite a few jobs where the corners had grout

As I'm using grey adhesive on off white tiles that will have white grout - being careful! Would I be ok back buttering then trowelling adhesive onto the tile with the notched? I only ask as the grey seems to drop everywhere when loading the wall compared to white for some reason.... And when I'm doing the top tiles, it'd be easier if I could notch the tile back instead... Thoughts?

 

[Flintstone]

You can do that yes but it is a lot slower, I would suggest putting a thin skim on the wall top to help the bond. Like the reverse of what you would usually do really

 

[LM]

I gathered that would be the case but wasn't sure as seen quite a few jobs where the corners had grout

As I'm using grey adhesive on off white tiles that will have white grout - being careful! Would I be ok back buttering then trowelling adhesive onto the tile with the notched? I only ask as the grey seems to drop everywhere when loading the wall compared to white for some reason.... And when I'm doing the top tiles, it'd be easier if I could notch the tile back instead... Thoughts?

As long as one is notched and the other is skimmed with the flat side of the trowel then it is practically the same thing. As regards grey adhesive making a mess, it's the same problem with white adhesive, the excess still needs to be cleaned off the tile and out of the joints thoroughly anyway before grouting.
Make sure your not mixing your adhesive too wet and load it in smaller batches onto your trowel and you should find it easier to control spillage.

 

[1animal1]

Thanks.... I have noticed if I load the trowel up a couple inch from either side, it doesn't spill over as much.... Also had one batch too runny which kept running out from behind the tile, so remixed... It's a bag of laughs this job isn't it