I need a drill to site my ground anchor. It needs 2 x 16mm holes set into my concrete garage floor. My current drill simply hasn’t got the legs to do this. The main problem is that I don’t have any mains electricity in my garage, and it’s about 100 yds from the house so can’t run an extension cord. Otherwise I’d just hire a big SDS+ drill for this job.

My drill currently is a bit rubbish (poor quality, shite battery life) so I don’t mind spending a bit to upgrade it. It’ll just be used for general round-the-house stuff pretty infrequently, so doesn’t need to be pro-quality, but as above, needs to be cordless.

Can I get a cordless drill for ~£80 that will drill through concrete as a one-off job? Or will I need a very big powerful drill?

NO, a battery drill want work unless you go right up high in price, borrow or hire a generator.

Go Hire a 36V Hilti TE6a or TE7a…that will do the trick

You’ll probably need an SDS drill for that.

You may find that it’s cheaper to buy one from Screwfix than to hire one. It was for me when I fitted my ground anchor a couple of years ago.

tbh it would be easier to just hire a Hilti or similar battery SDS.

But you could do it with a normal cordless drill if you gradually build up the size. My little 14V Bosch will easily drill 10mm with a diamond bit. not tried larger.

I did this very task last Friday and after buying a 16mm bit for my Bosch DIY drill realised that it was never going to happen so went and hired a big bad SDS drill (along with 240->110 transformer thing and the drill bit) that went through the concrete like a hot knife through butter…

I went to a place called “Hire Base” – cost me £22 and I had it back with them in the hour, but think I got a pretty favourable deal.

I got a masonry drill in B and Q a while ago, it’s a Black and Decker, maybe not the best brand but hey. Bought some masonry drill bits for fitting the ground anchor and it did the job easy. Drill was £50 ish I think and has a non masonry setting for jobs around the house too.

FWIW I drilled 4 18mm holes in my concrete garage floor with a ‘normal 18mm masonry bit & a good old fashioned B&D hammer drill. When I say ‘old’ I mean I’ve had it since 1994 & It’s had some some hammer. (pardon the pun)

Theres no power near the garage though.

it also depends on the hardness of the concrete and amout of stone put into the mix.

I’ve had success drilling concrete with a cordless using the blue Bosch ‘multi purpose’ drill bits, even without hammer action. They can be used to drill steel to so they are less deterred by any reinforcement you might hit. Perhaps try drilling a smaller dia hole first then enlarging it with a bigger bit. I’ve got an sds and a generator but I usually try with a cordless first and usually don’t have to drag the genny out of the van.

If the position of the anchor isn’t critical use better quality bits and take a few stabs at drilling, moving and drilling again if you hit obstructions.

Even if you don’t succeed you’ll still have decent bits to use with the new drill.

Do not do increase sizing when drilling in masonry, number of times I see it advised on here surprises me!! Concrete is not like steel and will just snag to **** when you increase bit size! All you will end up doing is removing the drill from the bit and bending it over with a hammer to use as a ground anchor!!!!
Fwiw any decent sds cordless will piss those holes.

and it’s about 100 yds from the house so can’t run an extension cord.

Why not, its only 100 yds.

And if the bolts are only going in 60mm, you need to buy longer bolts…

i regularly drill 16mm holes in masonary bricks, concrete etc with a sds cordless. no probs.

drill a 6 or 8mm pilot hole first to ease the pressure on the chisel point of the 16mm. wont be so difficult then. you dont need a bigger diameter pilot as all the pressure is taken by the chisel point

take your time, with plenty of ‘in and out’ to clear the dust.

easy peasy.

Again more bollox, length of bolt is only good for thickness of substrate it’s being drilled into! A decent 60x16mm fixing will provide plenty of security. You buy a 100 mm fixing if you like but you’re liable to drill straight thro the bottom of your garage floor, spelching off a good thirty mm of decent concrete therefore reducing the point of hold! Truth be known they can all be zipped off sharpish with a cordless angle grinder and a thin cutting disc in seconds!

Truth be known they can all be zipped off sharpish with a cordless angle grinder and a thin cutting disc in seconds!

You don’t recommend a decent anchor then? Not even a Torc or whatever else?

Makes mental note to add ‘spelching’ to vocabulary.

Those torc ones are good because youd never cut that once and then bend it open. However as I see it with all of them they can easily be zipped off. I suppose it’s all about creating that little bit more time between bike being free and still strapped to something immovable. Your average thief doesn’t turn up with a grinder I admit!

Just go and get yourself an SDS drill, it’s the right tool from the job. And if you don’t already own one you should…. hmmmmm power tools are fun

Do not do increase sizing when drilling in masonry, number of times I see it advised on here surprises me!!

I’ve never had a problem working up in sizes.

Pretty sure the instructions that came with my ground anchor recommended doing this, too.

From a quick google, there’s more than a few websites out there which say the same. Can’t see any which say don’t go up sizes.

If you do work up in sizes, you shouldnt go in too small jumps. One small pilot if you must to help with guidance, but after that let the bit chisel do it’s work. If the pilot is too big, your final bit has a tendency to rattle and bounce in the hole. You lose the cylindrical shape and its more likely to jam.

You buy a 100 mm fixing if you like but you’re liable to drill straight thro the bottom of your garage floor,

If you’ve only 60mm of concrete in your garage floor, thats’ another problem – my last place had over a metre! House/garage built on a ‘raft’.

But you could do it with a normal cordless drill if you gradually build up the size.

It’s what I did to fit 2 ground anchors in a concrete garage floor. Something like 5, 10 then 16mm bits.

If you’re buying a new drill, then get one with two batteries – you can drill for twice as long, and have the other one on charge while you’re working.

wrightyson is bang on with his info, i’ve drilled numerous holes into concrete with a cordless SDS –(hilti)– and you just use the appropriate bit for the size you need, the pilot business is counter productive and liable to distort your hole, spelching is a well know term amongst builders!

As an update: I tried for 15 minutes (and 2 NiCAD batteries…) to drill the two 8mm pilot holes with my crappy cordless drill/driver and got about 3cm in with one hole.

Went and hired a cordless SDS drill and despite looking pretty weedy, this thing was immense. Drilled the two holes (no pilot holes) in about 1 minute each. Drilling makes you feel awesome, too. I now have a fully functioning ground anchor. Thanks all.