Does anyone else here do DIY?

[GreenPebbles]

I am on a mission to clean my room and in doing so I learned how to put up shelves. I watched YouTube videos, is sked questions here, I bought a drill, I bought other tools like tape measure, level, screws, wall plugs. I bought a tool to read what's behind the wall in an effort to look for wires and avoid them. I watched other videos on the likely placement of wires.

I placed two shelves on my walls already in my room. I am happy and pleased with the work I did and I have storage already in the shelves and on them. They are cube shelves.

I am now working on my third shelf.

The first attempt I had at drilling holes was a few weeks ago and it was awful. I was using the wrong drill. So I had to buy another one. Then it took me a few hours to measure markings and drill holes. I went to hang the shelf and my calculations were off.

So I tried again last week and I was successful. I did more work during the week at shelf number 2.

Today's drilling is not going well at all. I started at about 1pm. I am still drilling the first hole in my marking. I am taking little breaks here and there because it's taking so long.

I think the first 20 minutes or so was slow and I then I discovered I had the drill in the wrong setting and I had it in the screw/drill setting. So I switched it to hammer mode. That was about an hour and 20 minutes ago. It definitely is not in reverse. It shouldn't be taking so long and I am so disappointed. I was hoping to have the work completed by no so that I can move onto other chores.

I am applying pressure to the drill into the hole. That was a mistake I did before where I applied no pressure.

Last week, the first hole took a while and then the second hole was much quicker. The same thing earlier in the week for shelf number two. I drilled a hole and it took a while. Maybe about 30 minutes. The second hole - I was in and out and finished in about 10 minutes.

Now today I am not successful.

Does this happen to anyone else.

I am so disappointed.

As soon as I wrote this I went back to drilling and I got my first hole for today done.

Now onto hole number 2

On a huge positive note I can see a huge section of my bedroom floor that I haven't seen in ages due to the new shelves. Everything lived on the floor and now I have things tidied away. I am so happy with my work.

What are you drilling into?
Plaster/plaster board / brick?

What kind of drill bit have you got? Some are designed for wood, so if you have that and are trying to drill into brick you'll have a fight.

You do really need to get some decent pressure into it to drive it into the material, light pressure isn't what you need.

A top tip is that you really need to check what you are drilling into and get appropriate fixings - plasterboard stud wall cannot take the weight of brick too. I don't really do diy, ex did though I I passed stuff, you pick things up. Well done for trying though, I cheat and ask my dad now

Bloody hell OP! Drilling a hole for a screw in wood/plasterboard should take about 3 seconds. If brick/block maybe 10-30 seconds depending on the size of hole. If solid stone it'll take a lot longer.
Could you post a link to the drill you are using?
Also as pp said check the drill bit is designed for wood/masonry as applicable, and use a lot of pressure. Place the ball of your hand on the back of the barrel of the drill, spread your feet, engage your core, and push hard.

I hate drilling but want to master it. Could it be that your drill isn’t very powerful? This is what I blame my woes on.

Are you detached or are your neighbours hearing all this?
Only ask as sound really travels through the fabric of a building.😉

I have my own toolkit and a small selection of lightweight power tools but TBH I leave 90% of it to my OH as being a "trade" he has a vast selection of tools and the experience to know what is required.
I have seen him drill into solid concrete or engineering brick in a few seconds whereas I have witnessed neighbours drilling the same materials and the drilling going on & on (& on & on & on.....)😖

I do all the decorating though, I definitely have the upper hand on him with that one.👍
Advantage of having a brother who is a time served P&D and helping out when he is busy, you pick up the tricks of the trade, see which are the best materials to buy, the importance of prepping etc.
My cutting-in is to die for!

I have a Bosch 700 drill.

I am definitely using a masonry bit for the drill

Drilling into concrete wall

I love cutting in on walls

I once tried drilling a wall that I thought was brick and it took ages with no progess. Turns out the wall was wood with a skim of plaster over and a wood drill bit sorted it was quickly

Practice makes perfect. Depending on what material you are drilling into, you may need a masonry bit.

Dad taught me all this stuff when I was in my teens and I wish I'd paid more attention. He's long since passed away, so I can't ask him now. I can still sand down woodwork, wire up plugs and pendant light fittings, paint doors and hang wallpaper like a demon though.

You do need a pretty powerful hammer drill to get through brick and concrete. Few of the normal DIY drills with a hammer function handle everything.

I've am a keen and, if I say so myself, pretty good DIYer with a full range of tools. You don't say if you are female but I'll make that assumption hoping the following is relevant.

You need the right tools to do the job. However, a lot of more heavy duty tools are designed for men with a bit of heft. I'm not a man and I don't have heft! When I'm buying power tools, I have to balance my strength against the power of the tool in the name of safety. I certainly couldn't safely handle a big power saw if it kicked back for example. You need to be much more conscious of safety if you can't rely on brute strength and know your limitations.

This is bizarre. I assumed you were trying to do this with a cordless driver type drill but the bosch you mention seems to be a corded hammer action drill, should go through brick in a matter of seconds. The only time it would struggle that I can think of would be trying to go into a lintel or reinforced concrete.

I have a 1930s house with solid walls, no cavity and they're made of bloody titanium or something. Drilling holes is a total pain in the arse so I bought o of these kind of drills, you need special drill bits not the normal ones, Now it's a doddle, the drill is bloody heavy though.

www.diy.com/departments/mac-allister-240v-750w-corded-sds-drill-mrh750/5059340253251_BQ.prd

I love love love wallpapering, tried it for the first time last year using paste the wall wallpaper and it's like magic. An hour of slapping paste on the wall and rolling the paper on and you have a whole new room. It's easy and effective. Unlike paint which always seems to need 300 coats and still has patchy bits or wonky lines.

Don't give up. Walls are made of different underlying materials in different houses (or even parts of a house) and there's a bit of an art to getting the right fixings.

I don't do a lot of fixing things to walls as DH has that covered but I'll try my hand at almost anything else. We are just planning some DIY over Christmas and we'll do all the prep, painting and decorating and woodwork, including rearranging and refitting kitchen units, to a professional standard. There are plenty of good books and videos.

I do all the DIY here including decorating. I've never taken that long to drill a hole (in anything) even though I use a cordless drill! Why did you get your calculations so wrong for the first shelf? I measure everything at least twice, marks in pencil which can be removed or adjusted - also draw a line between drill points using a long ruler so that i can check they're level, offer up shelf (or whatever I'm hanging) to double check and only then drill the holes.

My work is complete now for today. Except for the cleaning. I am going to organise some things and do some vacuuming. Delighted. Will have more work to do another day but I am delighted.

You have a decent enough amateur/DIY level drill. You need to make sure that you use the right drill bits and the right drill settings for the materials you are drilling into. As a pp notes, you rarely need to drill for more than about 30 seconds in a domestic situation.

Concrete can be difficult, you need to use a hammer drill action, with a masonry bit. Even then it can sometimes be difficult. Try using a smaller bit to start with then moving up to the size you actually need. This is called drilling a "pilot hole".

Also remember that concrete is a mixture of cement and gravel - and some gravel (stone) is extremely hard. But a hammer action will usually shatter it.

Bricks are very variable - some bricks are very soft and drill easily, but there's a type called "engineering bricks" that are harder than concrete.

Other than that...plasterboard and wood (usually used together) need the drill bits with the spike in the middle, or the general purpose bit; don't use hammer action with these bits. Real plaster is usually laid on top of bricks so needs the masonry bit and hammer action

Electric - the simple rule for electric cables is that they always run vertical. Usually from a light switch up to the ceiling, and from a socket down to the floor. But if in doubt use a cable tester, or unscrew the switch/socket to see which direction the cables run. It would be exceptionally unusual for electric cables to run horizontally.

Water can be a bit more tricky. If you can see 15mm copper pipe, that is rarely buried in walls and usually goes down under the floor. If you can't see where it goes, just check whether the wall is warm to the touch, with the heating on.

But if you can see a much thinner plastic pipe, that can go down or up (but again, rarely horizontal within walls). Also plastic pipe (which is more modern so more likely to be found in newbuilds) can be difficult to detect. TBH the best way is with a thermal imaging camera such as a Flir One. Looks a tad expensive until you drill through a pipe - then it looks great value for money!

There is one section in my daughters room which is impossible to drill into. It is unlike any other part of the house.

Did your drill bit get dull?