Drilling into walls in terraced homes

[Solutionssought2026]

DIY in a terrace house
I cannot drill in walls none of them. They just absolutely will not accept screws into them without crumbling away before my eyes is this normal.
Is there a solution at all, please?

What are you wanting to put on the walls? I only ask because I gave up trying to hang pictures and use command strips now.

Are you trying to put screws directly into the wall? You’ll need rawl plugs for a start - the type depending on what you’re trying to hang/attach and what you’re drilling into.

We have hand to attach a plank of wood to the wall so that we could hang coat hangers - otherwise we just couldn’t get purchase on every hanger. It’s a pain

You need a tungsten drill bit for hard concrete.

Establish what the wall is made of. look up a YouTube video for drilling into that type of wall.

You need a powerful corded drill and sharp/new drill bit. And a strong steady grip,to get a clean hole on very hard material. Borrow if you don't own a good drill.

Depends what it’s made of a lot will have plaster that will be 1/2 inch thick that will just crumble
if it’s made out of old concrete breeze blocks they do indeed just crumble

I'm not sure the fact it's terraced is the issue. Is it a brick victorian terrace with crumbly plaster or is it a newbuild with plasterboard? Different solutions for each one.

Thank you for all of the comments. It is a battery operated drill so maybe it just doesn’t have the power required. I’m gonna get somebody in.
Thank you again

sadly, it’s bathroom cabinets and mirrors

Can you post a picture of the sort of crumbled away hole you are left with?

it may be the outer plaster and then you need to get into brick or something really solid

and yes a plug before the screw

It needs a more powerful drill. Yes, get help in.

You could probably buy a decent drill for half the cost of the help coming in

Depending on what you are hanging, if heavy you need to be aiming for the studs, drill hole, then Rawl plug, then screw in

How old is the house

Victorian brick can be very crumbly. For very heavy fittings we had to use resin injection anchors. But that's for permanent stuff like sinks. Once in the resin is bonded into the wall, can't be removed without making a big hole.

You need to determine how the wall is constructed. Old house? Likely a layer of old crumbly plaster (could be 1” inch thick) on top of brick. You need to drill deep enough to get through the plaster into the brick. Then insert plugs though both plaster and brick. You don’t necessarily need a corded drill or a ‘tungsten’ and a ‘sharp’ bit isn’t your issue. But you do need a hammer drill and masonry bits to go through the brick. A basic cordless drill won’t cut it. Cheapest option is a corded hammer drill and any set of masonry bits should do the job. Note if the plaster is in a really terrible state and just falls away you may struggle anyway - you will then need to sort that first.

Depends what you mean by battery powered...
-AA batteries: definitely need a better drill
-18V or 36V li-ion rechargeable battery: no problem!

Does the drill have a hammer mode? And are you using masonry drill bits? And are you using the fasted speed of the drill? Those are essential for drilling brick / block.

It’s not an AA powered battery
I think you’re right with regards to the masonry drill though it definitely needs something a bit more substantial. I was hoping I could just get the screws supplied with the items and screw them in.
Wishful thinking it seems

Ah. A command strip won't hold a cabinet! 😆 I'm so fed up with my house that I'd be tempted to use No More Nails and glue it on 😂

Good luck with getting it sorted.

That still wont help her if she doesn't have the knowledge of how to use it, what kind of screws and plugs to use for both the surface she's fixing to and the item to be hung, knowing where pipes or cables may be buried/how to check for them etc. It isn't hard to learn, but there is definitely more to it than just getting a better drill as evidenced by the amount of work I get booked for that involves finishing, repairing or redoing people's bodged attempts at DIY 😬

OP, with regards to the fixings supplied, the plugs are rarely suitable and sometimes the screws are inadequate too (cheap, soft metal, too short etc). I tend to only use them if they are going to be visible and using anything else would affect the finished look. An underpowered drill without a hammer setting and crap fixings are dooming even a professional to failure.

I have some walls like this, 1920s house. It's like a sandcastle! The plaster seems to be like sand with bits of lime in so I think it's just very old.

I can not use command strips of any (correct) size without the picture eventually crashing to the floor. I don’t personally recommend them.

my house is 1930’s and some of the walls are concrete blocks
you set off with a 5mm drill bit the 1st 1/2 inch is plaster that just crumbles then into the block that does the same and you end up with a hole the width of a broom handle

don’t use hammer and go slow you don’t need a powerful drill

dome walls are red brick I put gaffer tape over where I’m drilling so the 1/2 inch plaster doesn’t crumble then straight into red brick you can tell your in it by colour of dust. If you hit a mortar line your wasting your time

remember walls are only 1 brick deep so careful you don’t right through to next room/door

This has been strangely reassuring because I was feeling incredibly incompetent
I can’t even hang a curtain rail in this house. It’s so depressing.