Drilling Porcelain Tiles

I have been making slow progress on my indoor DIY work over the summer months. After finishing tiling and grouting the shower I needed to hang a shower door.

Since I used porcelain tiles around the shower area, drilling holes with standard tile or masonary bit turned out to be impossible. I bought a pair of 8mm diamond drill bits specifically designed to drill porcelain online (a pair of 8mm diamond bits cost €17 including delivery).










The bits work a treat drilling a 8mm hole in the tiles in about 2 minutes. Some tips using diamond drill bits on tiles

• Make a simple guide template by drilling a 8mm hole in some wood offcut. This will stop the bit wandering when you start to drill the hole.
• Press the template firmly against the tile and using a battery powered drill start to drill at slow speed until the bit seats itself into the tile surface.
• You can now discard the template. Increase the drill speed and keep the bit cool by continuously spraying with water. 
• Don't apply too much pressure while drilling. Periodically remove the bit from the hole and spray water inside the hole.

I am impressed with the speed of drilling and the neatness of the drill hole.