I'm building my man cave in a corner of the basement. Going to put a greenboard type of sheetrock on the two outside walls. I like TOH's Tom Silva's method: How to Frame Out Basement Walls

TL;DR: 2" rigid foam stuck to the walls. Five horizontal runs of 1x3 nailed to the walls with spring spikes, which requires many 5" deep 3/16" diameter holes be drilled in the walls. Framing is finished-up with vertical 1x3s on 16" centers, attached to the horizontal framing with drywall screws.

My problem is the drilling of the holes. Our basement is poured concrete, and it's the hardest damn concrete I've ever in my limited experience drilled. I drilled a 1/2" hole in the outside to take a concrete anchor this spring and it took forever in a day with my Hitachi cordless in hammer drill mode and a brand new carbide-tipped masonry bit.

That simply ain't gonna cut it for this job.

The article Drilling into Concrete Tools: Rotary Hammers and Hammer Drills suggests I'd have to spend a good deal more than I'm willing for a rotary hammer that would do the job in a timely manner, but I'm also loath to spend $60/day (their estimate) for a rental tool. If it takes me two days, well...

So what's the SF Oracle's thinking? Rent, or can I buy a hammer drill, or even a rotary hammer, for no more than $150 that will do the job without an excessive amount of time and effort?

I had the same problem, and Milwaukee 5381-20 8.5 Amp 1/2-Inch Hammer Drill got the job done.

Downside is they are $300, however, if you'll pay the postage, I'll loan you mine. It's currently sitting in the drill box unused.

One more thing; IME you'll need percussion bits 1/16" smaller than the recommended size. I used Bosch bits I needed to special order. By 5 more than you think you'll need.

Rent a Hilti and be done with it. The cheap hammer drills will not work well, Hilti and others are made for this and will drill through the concrete like it’s butter.

For about $60, I bought am SDS rotary hammer from Harbor Freight for a single project; I cut a channel in a concrete slab to run conduit to an island in our kitchen. This was ten years ago and I don't see the model I bought on Harbor Freight's website now, but I then used it to tear up the tile in a small bath room. It's my go to tool for Tap Cons and Red Heads. Probably drilled 30 of the first and 10 of the second. I also used it to drill 4 1/2" diameter holes to anchor my gun safe. It was money well spent. All of my other power tools are Bosch, Milwaukee, Porter Cable, and Makita, but I like you I couldn't justify the price of the Bosch for one project and for the price of a rental, I own one now.

I loathe drilling concrete with a cordless hammer drill, even a small hole for a Tapcon sucks. The "hammer" action is generated through some steel bearings running between two opposing rings with dimples in them. The hammer action is very wimpy and can take forever.

A real rotary hammer actually has a piston that runs in a cylinder. It is compressed on top of the bit/ arbor and blasts through material that way.

The difference is huge.

I had to shoot a couple hundred holes in my concrete floor to secure luan for a tile project. I bought a rotary hammer drill from Northern Tool for under $200. Worked perfect.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
For about $60, I bought am SDS rotary hammer from Harbor Freight...

I am surprised at how well Harbor Freight's "Chicago Electric" tools seems to be regarded these days. Not long ago they were considered junk. Now they seem to be producing tools that stack up well against other staple brands. I've got a relative who has his own general contractor business and most of his power tools came from HF. He says he's never had a problem with any of them, despite the fact most of them are covered in white dust and spattered with paint, caulking and other stuff, and live in the bed of his pickup truck. Watching various review videos on YouTube leaves me with the impression that the tools are actually pretty decent, especially for the price.

In the mid-1990s I bought a Metabo hammer drill for about $150 with metal box. Beat the snot out of it for years and a couple general services on the tool repair guy's bench.

Then a B&D for about the same price. A 6.0 amp B&D CPO is $60 on lots of web sites.

Sure, lots of China crap these days, but for $60, it'll last at least as the job, you'd think.

This has more plastic than my first one, is a little stubbier, but is otherwise similar:

Metabo SBE760 6.5 Amp Variable Speed 1/2 in. Hammer Drill

3/16" is a very small hole. You'll want a couple quality masonry bits.

Not sure which Milwaukee drill I have, but it is a 1/2” chuck, corded with the hammer mode selectable next to the chuck. This is a good, heavy duty machine. May not work as well as the Hilty, but might only cost 1/2 as much as well. While I don’t use it often, when I do it reminds me that many battery drills are pretty wimpy in comparison. I also have the 18V Milwaukee battery drill (not Fuel model) and it is a really good machine too. Compared to the corded drill it is a lightweight.

I agree with the "rent a Hilti" route. I have one you can use if your traveling near N/E Illinois.

If you want to drive to Metamora you could borrow my construction grade Hilti drill.
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I've had NO ISSUES drilling into concrete with a regular drill and BOSCH drill bits. The Bosch are amazing compared to those other crappy bits HD sells. 3/16" holes are small and shouldn't be an issue. Renting a good hammer drill would make the job go quicker and much easier.

Here in FL where we have concrete walls and slab, they drill holes and then tap con 2"x2" wood to the walls and then screw the drywall to that since it gives a void behind it to run plumbing and conduit.

I've tackled the exact same project. Using a Harbor Freight hammer drill. Got about 20 more feet of exterior wall to do before I'm done.

My favorite "drill" for bolting safes is a small Bosch rotary hammer. Goes through concrete like butter, isn't big and bulky, and even has a nice shock absorbing handle. Hammer drills aren't nearly as productive.

I went through something similar with my basement, and I elected not to drill 1,000,00 holes. I glued the foam to the walls, and just framed a regular wall in front of it.

Why must you drill holes? Can't you just shoot them in with a ramset? No conventional building method I can think of uses drilling as a method of attaching framing. Usually a bottom plate is nailed to floor and underside of floor joists and then 2x4 or 2x3 framing is used between the two.

As Skins mentioned a Ramset would work well, I think the hammer actuated ones aren't too expensive.

If you do go with the hammer drill make sure it's a Rotary hammer Drill - a corded one will have more power than a cordless.

I have an older 1/2" hammer drill that does a marginal job and is noisy as hell. I've used a good rotary hammer drill and it was amazing the difference. It would drill with just the weight of the tool where as my old one you'd really have to lean on to get it to do anything.

Ok, so, summary...

Forget hammer drills, especially battery-powered hammer drills. A corded rotary hammer is the only way to go, and it should be possible to obtain one that will get the job done well for ±$200.

I just called the local rental place. $80/day to rent, plus the cost of bits. That's out.

To those who offered to loan me their's: Much thanks! But a1abdj reminded me I'm going to need one, again, once the room is done and I move the safe in there. I've no idea how long it's going to take me to get to that point. Could be weeks. Could be months.

Skins: Dunno why Tom didn't use a ramset, but, since the hammer drill would be more useful to me in general terms, I'm inclined to stick with what he did.

I'm now going to go hit the local tool store. If they don't have what I want I'll head to Lowe's, then HD.

That "spring spike" to which Tom referred is apparently made by Powers Fastening Innovations. Amazon Prime has them: $50/100.

Thanks, everybody, for your feedback and recommendations!

I have a huge Hitachi rotary hammer that can drive 1.5" bits. I also have a little Milwaukee M12 SDS rotary hammer. The little Milwaukee is amazing at drilling little anchor holes like you need. I think I paid $129 during a HD deal.

Rotary hammer is the only way to go. I've drilled countless holes in concrete to secure industrial wood equipment, roller tables.... I own a Hilti. Use either Hilti or Bosch bits.

Suggest renting a quality tool, buy the bit.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
Why must you drill holes? Can't you just shoot them in with a ramset? No conventional building method I can think of uses drilling as a method of attaching framing. Usually a bottom plate is nailed to floor and underside of floor joists and then 2x4 or 2x3 framing is used between the two.

I am the furthest thing from an expert, but I would have thought this was the proper method.