Core Drilling or Rotary Hammers for Installing Anchors Into Brick Walls?

Drills

• All drills work by removing material from an object in a constrained fashion to make a hole of the desired size. Softer material such as wood, drywall and plastic are easily removed by a basic drill, but hard material needs specialized tools. The material can be hammered and chiseled out, which is what a rotary hammer drill does. A rotary hammer with a core bit allows it to make a hole up to 6 inches in diameter in concrete and brick.

Hammer Drill With Core Bit

• The rotary hammer works much better on concrete than with bricks according to the Electrical Contractor website. The harder pounding of the rotating shaft bite into the softer, fluid concrete much better than they bite into hard, brittle brick. A rotary hammer can drill into brick and stone, but they are not designed for long-term use in this fashion. Lightweight anchors are often set in the mortar between the bricks and a rotary hammer works fine for this use.

Rotary Hammer

• A smaller hammer drill punches the brick at a higher speed but with a softer impact, chipping and breaking it apart. It is better to use when putting an anchor in brick. The twisting of the drill is designed more to remove the broken material out of the hole than it is to separate the material from the object. Some drills have a three-mode operation where they can drill only, hammer only, or hammer and drill, which is the most common use.

Right Sized

• Anchor holes that are too large for the anchors soon fail, as the anchoring material cannot get a good grip. When hammering or cutting anchor holes it is best to err on the side of caution and go for a slightly smaller hole. More brick can always be taken away, but new brick cannot go into the hole. Forcing an anchor into a brick hole that is too small, however, can crack the brittle brick. Drilling the correct-sized hole in the shortest time is a matter of technique and practice no matter the tool you use.