martyn_16v
|
| posted on 25/11/09 at 09:55 AM |
|
|
Drilling into precast concrete panels
I've just moved house and my new garage is a prefab concrete jobby. The previous owner hasn't drilled a single hole anywhere in the
garage, everything is either wired around the roof beams or bits of timber wedged above the beams, or screwed to horrifying timber frame contraptions
held to the walls by brackets on the bolts holding panels together. He appears to have gone to some great lengths to avoid making new holes in
anything.
This leads me to think that either a) he's a bit wierd, b) he didn't own a hammer drill, or c) he knows something I don't about not
making holes in precast contcrete?
|
|
|
|
|
Thinking about it
|
| posted on 25/11/09 at 09:58 AM |
|
|
He was a or b or both.
|
|
|
Blackcab
|
| posted on 25/11/09 at 09:58 AM |
|
|
The panels are reinforced so should be fine to drill in to - just dont fire a huge drill bit in - start with a 4mm or 5mm, also keep it more than 50mm
from edges and you should have no issues
|
|
|
tegwin
|
| posted on 25/11/09 at 10:01 AM |
|
|
Depends how big the holes are :p I guess hitting a piece of steel reinforcement would be a PITA...
But it wouldnt bother me... drill some 8mm holes and screw some battons to the wall to hold stuff up....
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Would the last person who leaves the country please switch off the lights and close the door!
www.verticalhorizonsmedia.tv
|
|
|
02GF74
|
| posted on 25/11/09 at 10:06 AM |
|
|
maybe a bit of c - I have one of these, it is quite tough to drill, especially if you hit a piece of gravel or stone.
in these cases the drill bit can wander so may be an issue if you need precicely positioned holes.
but given a bit of time and a decent drill bit it can be done.
|
|
|
pewe
|
| posted on 25/11/09 at 10:10 AM |
|
|
Depending on how many holes you need to drill an ordinary (Black & Decker type) hammer drill will struggle/burn out. You really need an SDS drill
and their special bits to cope.
(Says he with a Victorian house made of concrete which requires an SDS drill to even hang pictures!).
Also if it's proper pre-stressed with metalforming inside beware of hitting re-inforcing bars - could that be why the prev. owner avoided
drilling it?
Best to do as Tegwin ^ ^ suggests and batten the walls.
HTH.
Cheers, Pewe 
|
|
|
Agriv8
|
| posted on 25/11/09 at 10:22 AM |
|
|
Definatly C,
Even With a decent SDS hammer drill I burnt out a couple of cheep SDS bits
Regards
agriv8
Taller than your average Guy !
Management is like a tree of monkeys. - Those at the top look down and see a tree full of smiling faces. BUT Those at the bottom look up and see a
tree full of a*seholes .............
|
|
|
martyn_16v
|
| posted on 25/11/09 at 10:22 AM |
|
|
Yes that's the plan, I just want to throw up a couple of shelves so a few rawlplugs is all that's going in. I've got a 110v SDS
drill that should be more than capable of making a right mess of it 
Cheers all. The rest of the house was making me lean towards him being a bit odd but I thought i'd double check.
|
|
|
02GF74
|
| posted on 25/11/09 at 10:27 AM |
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by martyn_16v
Yes that's the plan, I just want to throw I've got a 110v SDS drill that should be more than capable of making a right mess of it
ah,, that amy exaplin something. I had so called "builders" put roof on my garage and they drilled into the panels ending up punching a
bit on the out side so I guess they used one of those (NB - it wasn't drilled right through but a plug knocked out on the other side).
so don't go too mental.
|
|
|
tegwin
|
| posted on 25/11/09 at 10:28 AM |
|
|
quote:
The rest of the house was making me lean towards him being a bit odd ...
Im intreagued... what else has he done?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Would the last person who leaves the country please switch off the lights and close the door!
www.verticalhorizonsmedia.tv
|
|
|
Peteff
|
| posted on 25/11/09 at 10:34 AM |
|
|
One of our neighbours bricked his front door up to stop the draught 
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
|
|
|
Agriv8
|
| posted on 25/11/09 at 11:29 AM |
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by tegwin
quote:
The rest of the house was making me lean towards him being a bit odd ...
Im intreagued... what else has he done?
It has got to be smoked mirrored tile's on the ceilling in the bedroom !!!!
Taller than your average Guy !
Management is like a tree of monkeys. - Those at the top look down and see a tree full of smiling faces. BUT Those at the bottom look up and see a
tree full of a*seholes .............
|
|
|
mookaloid
|
| posted on 25/11/09 at 12:08 PM |
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by Agriv8
quote:
Originally posted by tegwin
quote:
The rest of the house was making me lean towards him being a bit odd ...
Im intreagued... what else has he done?
It has got to be smoked mirrored tile's on the ceilling in the bedroom !!!!
"That thing you're thinking - it wont be that."
|
|
|
Daddylonglegs
|
| posted on 25/11/09 at 12:34 PM |
|
|
I agree with pewe, we live in a pre-fab type cottage and to drill through for the cable was a real PITA! Defo need an SDS and don't use cheapo
screwfix or wilko drill bits 'cos they'll last about 10 seconds before the wings on the end of the drill bit disappear!
Good luck
It looks like the Midget is winning at the moment......
|
|
|
Bluemoon
|
| posted on 25/11/09 at 12:44 PM |
|
|
Not sure the panels are thick enough for wall plugs.. i have drilled holes all the way though the thin bit to allow nuts and bolts and penny washers
to secure a baton for the gutter..
I have the same problem it is simpler to get free standing shelving, as the walls are not flat anyhow (because of the concrete castings) or that
strong (I could probably put enough weight on the walls to cause em to fall down, roof collapse and squash the car and me!)...
I would not want to expose the concrete re-enforcement as this will start to rust and eventually break the concrete up.. It seems the reinforcement
is around the perimeter of the panels..
Think carefully about it....
Dan
[Edited on 25/11/09 by Bluemoon]
|
|
|
phoenix70
|
| posted on 25/11/09 at 12:46 PM |
|
|
Depends how old it is, it could be 'C'. It would invalidate the warranty if you drill holes in the prefab concrete
|
|
|
StrikerChris
|
| posted on 25/11/09 at 01:40 PM |
|
|
i wouldn't worry about drilling at all.just dont be too over optimistic about the anchor bolts you use.i've seen then crack the
concrete,explode bricks far more often than drilling them itself.
|
|
|
grahamgg
|
| posted on 25/11/09 at 02:06 PM |
|
|
The reason he didn't drill into it is it would invalidate the warranty from the garage manufacturer.
I inquired about a concrete sectional garage some years back, and you coudn't drill into any of the concrete sections
Graham
|
|
|
mangogrooveworkshop
|
| posted on 25/11/09 at 02:23 PM |
|
|
Drill a hole in the joints putting a threaded rod through. Get some cls battons and run them up from the floor. reseal with mastic when you push the
rods in.
The precast will only have a very small diameter rod mesh in it. Its prone to spall if drilled with sds as its hard and brittle.
easier to use the joints
|
|
|
martyn_16v
|
| posted on 25/11/09 at 04:59 PM |
|
|
I like that idea Mango, I think i'll give it a go.
Warranty isn't a problem, the garage is 20 years older than I am
The rest of the house...
The wiring is just horrifying. The garage is fed from a spur off one of the lounge sockets, hole drilled through the back of the socket box out
through the wall and SWA stuffed through. No RCD anywhere in sight. The split load consumer unit has nothing at all connected to the RCD protected
half. The shower has it's own separate consumer unit, despite the main unit having nothing whatsoever connected to the RCD half. Ground floor
ring circuit feeds two socket outlets, ground floor lighting circuit feeds one light. Bar the cooker (and aforementioned shower) pretty much
everything else in the house is on the first floor ring circuit 
The chimney breast in the lounge is made of very bendy hardboard.
The bathroom door is a sliding door which is only attached at the top. My son uses it like a giant cat-flap.
In the loft there is a door. No frame, no walls, just a door. It's hinged on a vertical timber in the middle of the loft, with 6ft of clear
space all around it. Very odd.
It's amazing how little attention I appear to have paid when I was looking at the house
|
|
|
Peteff
|
| posted on 25/11/09 at 05:36 PM |
|
|
We dismantled a precast garage at my brother in laws and he decided to use the sections to make a fence. He tried to drill one panel and it shattered
from the hole but when no hammer action was used it worked better but took longer, like drilling tiles.
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
|
|
|
Puzzled
|
| posted on 25/11/09 at 07:06 PM |
|
|
dodgy house and garage
Simple solution for fixings in garage--- sticK battens using Gripfill or something similar.
For house---------MOVE!!!!!
|
|
|
