How to Drill Into Concrete

Despite what most of the advice online says, you can drill into concrete without a hammer drill.

A hammer drill will make drilling into concrete easier, but it’s not essential.

So, in this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to drill into concrete with a regular drill and then compare that to using a hammer drill.

This process will work whether you are drilling into concrete, brick, or stone.

You can watch the video or read the step-by-step instructions to learn how to drill into concrete.

What Do You Need For Drilling Into Concrete?

• Sharpie or pencil (sharpie is preferred)
• Hammer drill (You can also use a regular drill)
• Concrete drill bit (a.k.a. hammer drill bit)
• Vacuum, air compressor, or air canister (to remove dust)

Step #1: Mark your hole location with a sharpie

Carefully and accurately mark the location of where you want your hole to be. It’s important to be certain about the location because concrete is not as easily patched as other materials. You also want to avoid drilling holes too close to each other because it will compromise the strength of the concrete.

Also, a sharpie is better than a pencil because pencil lead will easily wipe off concrete and you won’t be able to see your mark.

Step #2: Load your masonry drill bit into your power drill

Ideally, you will be using a hammer drill because it is faster and easier to drill holes. However, a regular cordless drill will work just fine. You’ll just have to push harder, and it will take a little longer.

Either way, make sure to load the drill all the way into the back of the chuck and make sure you are using the right-sized drill bit. Concrete anchors and screws need to have appropriately sized holes, or they won’t work.

Step #3: Carefully get the hole started

When drilling into any hard surface such as concrete, brick, stone, or tile, you’ll notice that the drill bit wants to “walk” around until the hole gets deep enough to keep it in place.

There are two ways to deal with this. The first (and easiest) is to put a few layers of masking tape on the concrete, mark your hole location on the tape, and then start your hole by drilling through the tape. The layers of tape will act as a soft material that your drill bit will quickly peirce and keep the drill bit centered.

The other way is faster but requires a little more skill. You’ll try to resist the drill bit from moving as you begin to drill, but it will move a little bit anyway. Then, before you drill too deep, angle the drill bit to point toward the center of where you want the hole to be. So if the hole starts drifting to the right, you’ll point the drill bit to the left until it is centered where you want it to be. I’ve demonstrated this in the video above.

Also, if using a hammer drill, turn the hammer function OFF while getting the hole started, or it will be impossible to have any accuracy starting the hole.

Step #4: Drill to the desired depth

If using a hammer drill, turn the hammer function on, push down with both hands, and drill until you get to the desired depth. You want to drill about 1/4″ deeper than the anchors or screws you will be using. Most hammer drills have a depth stop that will act to stop the drill once you’ve reached a certain depth.

But, if you are using a regular drill, you can put tape on the drill bit so that you can easily see when it reaches the desired depth.

Step #5: Clean the hole thoroughly

In order to make room for the concrete anchors or screws, you must remove the dust from the hole. Otherwise, it will get packed in there, and you won’t be able to seat the anchors properly.

One method is to use an air compressor or air canister to blow out the dust. Another method is to use a vacuum. If using a vacuum for deeper holes, it’s important to use the drill bit to draw out dust as you vacuum to remove dust from deeper in the hole (shown in the above picture).

And that’s it!

Now, either hammer your anchors in or screw in your concrete screws.

Can you drill into concrete without a hammer drill?

In most cases, yes, a regular cordless power drill will work just fine. However, it will take about twice as long, and you’ll have to push harder.

Additionally, concrete gets harder as it ages. Fresh concrete is much easier to drill than concrete that has cured for thirty days or more. And concrete continues to harden beyond the curing stage so that one-year-old concrete would be easier to drill than sixty-year-old concrete is.

So, if you are only drilling a couple of holes, then a hammer drill is not required. Save your money. However, if you are drilling more than a few holes, a hammer drill is going to save your drill and your arms from wearing out.

Hammer Drill Vs. Regular Drill for Drilling Into Concrete

Hammer drills are designed for drilling into concrete, brick, and stone. They are the ideal tools for the job and are preferred by pretty much every pro out there. That’s because, in addition to rotating like a regular drill, hammer drills also have a hammering action (similar to a jackhammer). This acts to chip away the concrete while it is drilled away.

Benefits of a hammer drill:

• Will drill a hole in concrete about twice as fast as a regular drill (as demonstrated in the video above).
• Require less effort than a regular drill.
• Has a depth stop, so you get the perfect depth every time without having to think about it.
• Good for drilling lots of holes quickly.

However, regular drills will work just fine for DIYers trying to drill a few holes into concrete. Some people make the argument that drilling into concrete is hard on cordless power drills, but I think that’s silly unless you are doing it hundreds of times, which at that point you’d get a hammer drill anyway.

So bottom line? Unless you are drilling many holes regularly, just purchase a high-quality masonry bit and use the drill you have. Even as a pro handyman who owns a hammer drill, I still use my regular drill to drill into concrete for smaller projects.

How To Drill Into a Concrete Block Wall

Drilling into a concrete block is the same as drilling into any concrete, except for one key difference. Concrete blocks have hollow sections in them. Sometimes there are two cavities in them separated by one chunk of concrete in the center. And sometimes, there are three cavities in each block, with two walls of concrete separating them.

If you are just drilling small holes and using plastic concrete anchors, then it doesn’t really matter where you drill.

If you are using concrete screws, then you want to hit the concrete dividers so the entire screw’s threads engage. If you are using hollow wall anchors, then you want to hit the cavities. The only way to know what kind of block you have is to drill a couple of pilot holes to figure out where the hollow cavities start and end.

How to Drill a Screw Into Concrete

You cannot drill a screw into concrete without first drilling a hole for the screw. So, follow the direction above to drill a hole in the concrete with the appropriate sized drill bit.

Then, simply grab yourself some concrete screws and an impact driver or power drill and screw away!