How do I drill a SQUARE hole into tile to install an electrical socket - Tile Advice

[Deleted member 1779]

With tiles getting bigger and bigger (some large format porcelain tiles are now 800mm x 800mm) then how do you ensure
a perfect fit for a plug socket, electrical socket or other item.

Some installers grind out from the back of the tile. We hope to show you a neat little trick.


This 90 second video explains it:



The basics are

1) Mark out the tile

2) Mark out the corners

3) Drill out the corners

4) Grind out the straight lines.

By drilling out the corners you are GUARANTEED a perfect result every time. With some tiles costing £50+ its expensive and time consuming to make mistakes.

Angle Grinders can overcut quite easily especially with discs in the 230mm range. A 115mm disc gives less curve so more accuracy. But it only takes a moment to over run.

Yes we know its a cheap soft ceramic! But its just to show the steps

 

[Protilers]

Re: How do I drill a SQUARE hole into tile to install an electrical so

skip the drilling section and move straight on to grinder.........imo.........same result at least 15mins quicker...and that is in any material....

oh and you saved a few bob........

what do you lot think?.........or is it me doing it wrong?......or missing a "TRICK?"

Lee

 

[Deleted member 1779]

Re: How do I drill a SQUARE hole into tile to install an electrical so

It is true there are other ways to do it. And using a grinder to do the entire job is one method.

But there does come times when its really important to get the detail right.

Let me give you an example of a hatchet job done in a multi million pound development.....

So above is a Bathroom I have been working on via a Construction Site.

OK so an angle grinder is used to make chop saw cuts (see below)

OK So the above IS FINE because thats not going to be seen

ITS NORMAL for a bathroom install. And no probs with it

This is fine too.

The shower valve is an awkward shape. ANd has been chopped out.

This is not a problem

And now the installer tries the same trick on a light fitting.


AND CHOPS IT OUT.

This is a MULTI MILLION pound development. And the installer thought it was fine to tile this. AND GROUT IT.

And the installer thinks the work will be signed off...

My suggestion (if my pics are a little crude) is that there is a surefire way to achieve the result. A little more elegant.

Hope it makes sense.

TOTALLY AGREE WITH OTHER METHODS OF DOING THE SAME THING !!!!

 

[Protilers]

Re: How do I drill a SQUARE hole into tile to install an electrical so

okay........fair point......BUT YOU HAVE TO ADMIT..........ITS TO DO WITH THE INSTALLER!!!!........ and nothing to do with drilling!!!!!...or drill bits...........

I would have that cut out in a heartbeat.....and all the others.......not a drill, rotozip, dremel or anything else in sight.......in fact 90% of the jobs I go to
(BLIND...as in never been there!).......ts60+ and an angle grinder!!

 

[Protilers]

Re: How do I drill a SQUARE hole into tile to install an electrical so

oh......I can cut a perfectly neat hex the size of a 20p piece with an angle grinder........easy!

six cuts from the rear of the tile and a pin hammer!

 

[John Benton]

Re: How do I drill a SQUARE hole into tile to install an electrical so

It is true there are other ways to do it. And using a grinder to do the entire job is one method.

But there does come times when its really important to get the detail right.

Let me give you an example of a hatchet job done in a multi million pound development.....

So above is a Bathroom I have been working on via a Construction Site.

OK so an angle grinder is used to make chop saw cuts (see below)

OK So the above IS FINE because thats not going to be seen

ITS NORMAL for a bathroom install. And no probs with it

This is fine too.

The shower valve is an awkward shape. ANd has been chopped out.

This is not a problem

And now the installer tries the same trick on a light fitting.


AND CHOPS IT OUT.

This is a MULTI MILLION pound development. And the installer thought it was fine to tile this. AND GROUT IT.

And the installer thinks the work will be signed off...

My suggestion (if my pics are a little crude) is that there is a surefire way to achieve the result. A little more elegant.

Hope it makes sense.

TOTALLY AGREE WITH OTHER METHODS OF DOING THE SAME THING !!!!

If that's the standard of work in a £multi-million development how would they leave a bathroom in a 3-bed semi?

Shocking !!!!

 

[Rookery]

Re: How do I drill a SQUARE hole into tile to install an electrical so

I just plunge cut on my saw.

 

[Diggy]

Re: How do I drill a SQUARE hole into tile to install an electrical so

Grinder for me too especially on porcelain , easy to handle and does the job in minutes.

Of course holes in middle of tiles can be avoided by good setting out generally too.

Diggy

 

[Diggy]

Re: How do I drill a SQUARE hole into tile to install an electrical so

I honestly can't see what the advantage of using a hole cutter is in this situ tbh.

No slight on your product by the way .

Diggy

 

[beanz]

Re: How do I drill a SQUARE hole into tile to install an electrical so

I'm a big fan of the porcadrill hole cutters, but I honestly wouldn't use them for this either. I plunge cut them on my cutter too, and rarely need to have a 2nd go at it.
I've seen some shocking tiling in multi million pound properties, but that takes the biscuit!! How does someone with so little pride in their work get jobs!?!

 

[Dougs Third Go]

Re: How do I drill a SQUARE hole into tile to install an electrical so

I had a youtube vid that seems to have got lost in the cyber ether of how I use a jigsaw and tungsten carbide bit to get a square out of a tile, I tried to source it on youtube but it had been banned?

 

[Ajax123]

Re: How do I drill a SQUARE hole into tile to install an electrical so

oh......I can cut a perfectly neat hex the size of a 20p piece with an angle grinder........easy!

six cuts from the rear of the tile and a pin hammer!

thats ok then I can't......

 

[Deleted member 1779]

Re: How do I drill a SQUARE hole into tile to install an electrical so

John yes its a very luxury development

(Here is a little video I put together)

[video=youtube;WWmIWITOmzY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWmIWITOmzY[/video]


Some of the work is shocking! (And will NEVER get signed off)


I cant create a hex with an angle grinder !

Agree that a lot of big cuts can be dealt with by clever setout (as you can see on above pics they have created the tiles so that they can cut out three tiles)

And with Large Format Porcelain tiles if (God Forbid) You do have to try to take out the centre of the tile then angle grinding from the back IS I AGREE an option.

Just wanted to post up the options.

For example one thing we do to make that easier is drill 8mm holes into the tile so that you can see exactly where to grind up to when flipping the tile and working from the back.

They act as a reference point as well as a blade stop.

If you drill 4 x tiny 8mm holes right through the 12mm thick porcelain then you have a handy reference point at the back of the tile.

Doug - Shame on you for having your video banned !!! :lol:

 

[Alan.P]

Re: How do I drill a SQUARE hole into tile to install an electrical so

Grinder for me too especially on porcelain , easy to handle and does the job in minutes.

Of course holes in middle of tiles can be avoided by good setting out generally too.

Diggy

Setting out hasn't always been an option, one developer in particular wanted their jobs doing a certain way and that was that, so as you can imagine, it lead to some .... interesting cuts

 

[Olz]

Re: How do I drill a SQUARE hole into tile to install an electrical so

I had a youtube vid that seems to have got lost in the cyber ether of how I use a jigsaw and tungsten carbide bit to get a square out of a tile, I tried to source it on youtube but it had been banned?

Like this Doug....

[video=youtube;Ia6nrt5Xk3g]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia6nrt5Xk3g[/video]