How do you make a hole in the middle of a ceramic wall tile?

This is a DIY home handyman/woman question. I'm tiling the bathroom and I need to make a hole for a tap in the center of a wall tile. I've tried using a masonary bit to drill through but it cracks. Anyone know any tricks to do this? Many thanks.

I start using a masonary nail to give a centre for the drill bit. The spear shaped tile bits are the ones to use. The important thing is drill speed and it has to be slow. I use a low power cordless and blip the trigger using the tile to slow the bit to a stop each time. This works very well and once through the glaze and the biscuit swap over to a powerful drill with a masonary bit and again blip the power to get the drill well seated and then switch to hammer if necessary.

Slow speed is the key.

If your tiles are Porcelain then these are very hard to drill through and you will lneed a specialist drill bit. These are diamond coated and are quite expensive, around 拢20 each in the UK, and they will not last long. Again it is a slow drilling speed to get through the tile. So be patient and keep a steady hand.

Good luck

DWD

There is a special drill bit for this action try Lowe's, Walmart, Kmart, Target, Home Depot...

Put a cross of tape where you want the hole and then drill at the centre of the cross. The tile will not crack.

Roto-Zip - very versatile tool.

use rottor zip mashine

you can buy tile dills from some places

Go to Lowes or Home Depot and look for a bit designed for cutting glass and tile, a diamond dust bit is the best but sometimes hard to find.

you will need to put tape on the tile then use a masonry hole cutter for your drill,this should work(tape the whole tile)

Put two strips of masking tape on top of the place where you want to drill. Put the tape in a form of an X. Apply enough pressure to actually drill through, then gently pull it back out to prevent cracking or chipping, but should because of the tape.

Home Depot sells glass and tile drill bits in the hardware section. that is if your looking to drill a small hole. these bits are mainly for wall tile, but will work on floor tile. You have to go slow with these bits as they are expensive and you dont want to do any damage to tile or bit. if its a hole like 3/4"-6" then go to the flooring dept there and ask for a carbide tile cutter that goes on your drill. it will make a hole ranging from 1 1/4"-6".