Question about hammer drills/impact drivers

[Muse]

I've never used one. Over a year ago I bought:

Porter-Cable PCL212IDC-2 12-Volt Max Compact Lithium-Ion 2-Tool Kit.

I've used the drill several times. I'm involved in a project renovating my garage and I need to anchor new sill plate to one wall's foundation. One part of that foundation is cinder blocks with concrete toppers on top. The other part is just concrete. The new sill is pressure treated lumber. To attach the sill plates to the concrete I have a box of tapcon 2 3/4" screws which came with a 5/32" carbide tipped drill bit. The instructions say to use a hammer drill, both for drilling the holes with the included drill bit and to drive the tapcons into the concrete.

The hammer drill (impact driver, guess it's the same thing) accepts a hex ended bit. That's it, I guess. Is there any way I can use it with the 5/32" drill bit to make the pilot holes in the concrete? I have an old Craftsman 3/8" plug in drill I could try. Would that be smart? Or should I go to my tool lending library and see what they have?

Edit: What came in the kit was not a hammer drill... it is an impact driver. Big difference. I was able to borrow a hammer drill from my city's tool lending library. Fantastic tool, but you have to be careful or you'll shear off the drill bit!

 

[NutBucket]

Hammer drill has an up/down motion to pound the material in addition to turning the bit. Your impact driver is a left/right twisting motion, impact torque instead of continuous. Totally different animals.

 

[zinfamous]

Also, hammer drills should have a secondary lateral handle for your left hand (or maybe right hand if you are an evil lefty and can actually find such a device) to help keep the drill steady as it pounds away at your target.

 

[sdifox]

your drill is not a hammer drill. Go rent a corded one.

example

https://www.amazon.com/Bosch-11255V...8&qid=1503602775&sr=8-6&keywords=hammer+drill

 

[NutBucket]

Or you don't have a long term need for one a cheapie from Horrible Freight should be just fine.

 

[stormkroe]

OP, not sure if it's a typo, but 1-3/4" tap cons won't do it for a bottom plate, which is 1.5" itself. You'll want at least 2 inches of thread into the concrete, so don't go any shorter than a 3-1/4" tapcon.

 

[Muse]

your drill is not a hammer drill. Go rent a corded one.

example

https://www.amazon.com/Bosch-11255V...8&qid=1503602775&sr=8-6&keywords=hammer+drill

Luckily, my tool lending library had one for gratis. Unfortunately, I busted the 5/32" bit and had to pony up $7. Dang, I was almost done. Anyway, what a great tool. It drilled out those holes so easy I was blown away. First I got a cordless model from them. That worked OK into the cinder blocks but when I went to drill the holes I needed into solid concrete it made zero headway after ten minutes! I brought it back and another guy there said that wouldn't do squat, I needed this corded Makita hammer drill... that was fantastic! My little Porter Cable impact wrench was sufficient to drive in all the tapcons, though. Well, almost, there were one or two that didn't quite make it in all the way. I had tried greasing the threads with bar soap. That trick works great for driving screws into wood, have no idea if it helped for driving tapcons into concrete but figured it was worth a try.

That phase is now done, my sill plates are mounted. Today's for framing! Wah!

This really is a screwy job fixing my old garage. that wall, the only one that isn't just solid cinder blocks, is super out of level and plumb. Even worse, that wall is crooked, it's not really in a plane! It all adds up to a weird makeshift repair job, but I'm hoping it works out nearly as attractive and durable as if all was according to Hoyle. Just how I install the Hardie planking will be maybe the most challenging element. This isn't standard stuff.

 

[Muse]

OP, not sure if it's a typo, but 1-3/4" tap cons won't do it for a bottom plate, which is 1.5" itself. You'll want at least 2 inches of thread into the concrete, so don't go any shorter than a 3-1/4" tapcon.

Yeah, those tapcons are 2 3/4", my bad. I hope/think those are long enough. For the cinder blocks I don't think 3 1/4" would provide any advantage. However, most were into solid concrete. I think the 2 3/4" probably are sufficient, though.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Good to use those tools and learn what they're made for and which ones to use. Impact drivers are so much better than using a regular drill with a screwdriver bit....as soo as they hit resistance, they start driving with impact.

Hammer drills are hard to beat. When going through block walls, I've used them to drill pilot holes before going in with a jackhammer to control the breaks. Tapcons and wall anchors can be installed without them, but regular drills don't do the same quality work...especially after the masonry bits start to dull (past their typical dullness design).