what type of drill bit do i use to drill through concrete (UPDATED)

[drnickriviera]

A concrete ceiling? You sure that isn't just plaster?

 

[jemcam]

You're going to either have to buy lots of a bits or find a hammer drill. The hammer drill is more important than the type of bits. I had to drill through a bunch of really hard red brick this last summer and burned up three or four masonry bits while only getting a hole about one inch. I went out and bought a hammer drill and a couple more masonry bits and drilled my holes like they were soft butter. After drilling about a dozen holes the standard cheapo masonry bit hardly looked like it was used.

I bought a Makita hammer drill for about $90 and it works like a champ.

 

[psiu]

The Bosch blue masonry bits are good. You will lose the bits before they go dull.

Bosch

Of course, they also go nice in my Dewalt hammer drill.

Dewalt

Have gone through foundation concrete with that pairing.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Agreed on Abort Mission Flickering Light From Hell. Use regular incandescent.

- M4H

 

[vexingv]

i'm using the light to light up my desk for easier reading, not for my computer lighting. initially mounted on the sides of the wall too much light spread out to my computer monitor (which is on a different desk though nearby) causing some glare so i wanted to mount it on the ceiling.
whatever my ceiling may be made of, its a tough mofo to drill through.
thanks for all the advice, i'm about to run off to the local hardware store and find shorter screws and maybe take a look at their drill bits.

 

[flamingelephant]

the concrete you are drilling through is likely some kind of structural type, meaning it will be harder thant typical concrete.... there can be more rocks in it as well which makes it more difficult to drill through.... make sure you get the masonary bits that ARE NOT for a hammer/precussion drill. With a normal drill they will not work and wreck the bit. The ones you need for a normal drill will be usually silver with a big looking tip on the drill bit. All you can do it press hard on the drill and wait. These kind of drill bits take a while to cut into concrete, but will likely take longer into the stuff that you need to put it into... if you dont have that much weight to old up, a small tapcon screw will work best, get the blister pack that has the screws and a bit with it.

 

[vexingv]

^ bump for update

 

[Nitemare]

Might want to drill the hole bigger or use a concrete anchor

In addition you will need a hammer drill, regular drills will strip your bits

 

[Squisher]

By them being 1/4" I assume you'd need to drill with a 1/4" drill.

BTW-a lead molly can hold an incredible amount weight. Even a plastic one probably would suffice.

 

[vexingv]

Originally posted by: Nitemare
Might want to drill the hole bigger or use a concrete anchor

In addition you will need a hammer drill, regular drills will strip your bits

these screws are concrete anchors! thats why i'm so surprised. the only other size bits i have are 7/32" and then 1/4" (which of course i cant use since thats the diameter itself). the box/instruction say to use 3/16", but how would making the hole bigger prevent the threads from being obliterated (it wont cut).

Squisher, i tested that out by drilling a 1/4" hole--the screw goes right through.

 

[Nitemare]

Originally posted by: vexingv

Originally posted by: Nitemare
Might want to drill the hole bigger or use a concrete anchor

In addition you will need a hammer drill, regular drills will strip your bits

these screws are concrete anchors! thats why i'm so surprised. the only other size bits i have are 7/32" and then 1/4" (which of course i cant use since thats the diameter itself). the box/instruction say to use 3/16", but how would making the hole bigger prevent the threads from being obliterated (it wont cut).

Squisher, i tested that out by drilling a 1/4" hole--the screw goes right through.

No, those are tapcons. Those go into predrilled holes.

Concrete anchors are metal sleeves that go into predrilled holes then a metal screw gets screwed into that

Concrete anchors

tapcons

 

[Nitemare]

For all your concrete fastener needs.

 

[TechnoKid]

Use the lead plugs/anchors, they'll hold up enough weight; the lights can't weigh that much. If anything starts to fall, use good 'ol duck tape. You could use those sleeve anchors that Nitemare metnioned, but i'm almost certain you shouldn't use those for overhead applications, only horizontal or vertical-down apps.

It looks like that concrete you predrilled for the tapcons is reeeealy hard. I would think tapcons are better sutied for brick and such, not structural concrete.