TIL my 3/4 inch drill bit is no match for a 1940s Chicago brick wall.

I was installing a shelf bracket in my kitchen last week and hit what felt like solid iron, which snapped the bit and sent my drill spinning out of my hands into a bowl of cookie dough.

3 comments

3 Comments

keith16422d ago

Yeah, those old Chicago common bricks are basically rocks with some clay mixed in. You need a masonry bit and a hammer drill, a regular drill just won't cut it. I learned that the hard way trying to hang a TV mount, smoked two bits before I gave up. What kind of drill were you using?

sethm5822d ago

Same thing happened when I tried to mount a shelf in my place. Grabbed my dad's old cordless drill and just made a shiny spot on the brick. Borrowed a hammer drill from a neighbor, used a fresh masonry bit, and it went through like butter. The hammering action is what breaks up the hard material. That regular drill just spins and gets hot.

fisher.jessica22d ago

Wait you smoked TWO bits? lmao that's wild. I burned through one once trying to put up a curtain rod and felt like an idiot. How did you not notice the drill screaming and smelling like hot metal after the first one?