How to drill a hole in the concrete under the socket: safety

In our time, people use a huge amount of electrical appliances. In this regard, the question of how to make a hole under the outlet in concrete is very, very relevant. Many believe that this operation can only be done by a professional, but we will refute this myth.

What you need to know before starting work

Oddly enough, but we focus our attention on the theoretical aspect. The most important thing when performing the operation described by us is to know all the safety rules and types of tools.

Safety regulations

The first and most important thing we’ll talk about is safety. Remember that diamond drilling holes in concrete is a very dangerous procedure.

Therefore, for its implementation it is necessary to observe certain instructions:

• When working, do not forget to wear special protective equipment (helmet, goggles, respirator and overalls). Remember that concrete dust is very unhealthy.
• A special instruction states that before starting work it is necessary to remove people from the working area (within a radius of 2.5 meters from the object).
• Work at a height (over 1.5 meters) with a hammer drill for concrete without a solid foundation is prohibited. This is stated by the PTB and CPD. Therefore, it is necessary to build goats or forests.

• Before starting work, carefully study the communication plan. This is necessary in order not to stumble on the wiring or gas pipes. For security (not always the plan correctly reflects the location of the communication lines) use the “dial”.

Tip: Most search tools cannot locate the exact location of the wiring hidden under decorative materials. Therefore, it is highly undesirable to drill in this case.

• It is extremely dangerous to drill through the seams in a block house. Very often builders hide wiring between blocks. For this reason, cutting of reinforced concrete with diamond circles in such places is prohibited.
• Use only two-handed tools. At the same time, the speed must be increased as smoothly as possible. Otherwise the probability of an accident is high.

Choosing a tool

We now turn to the choice of tools. Drilling holes in the concrete under the socket may have different degrees of complexity, depending on the surface. For this reason, the tool should be selected properly.

Consider all possible options:

• The wall is not more than 30 cm in thicknessIn this case, a drill with a capacity of 350 W with an SDS + cartridge will suffice. The diameter of the shank should not be less than 1 cm.

• Concrete monolith cement brand 400 and above. In this case, the tool should be more powerful, for example, SDS Max. The diameter of the shank should be about 18 cm.
• Professional drilling of reinforced concrete (and other heavy structures). Here you will need a punch with a capacity of at least 1 kW.
• Finally, if it became necessary to make a hole more than half a meter deep, the most powerful tool in this area will come to the rescue.. We are talking about a motor drill, a tool with a power of 5–8 kW. Absolutely any walls give in to it.

Important: due to the high power, the motor drill cannot be connected to a standard network (1–2 phase). Therefore, in domestic conditions it is practically not used.

Probably, many may think that you should simply purchase the most powerful tool and that’s it. However, not everyone knows that the price of such devices is very high. Of course, if funds allow you, you can give preference to such a tool, and it will significantly speed up the process of accomplishing the task.

We make drilling

We now turn to the most important thing - the production of an underside. If you have never done these manipulations with your own hands, then we advise you to carefully consider each recommendation.

If we are talking about standard concrete walls, then we recommend using a perforator with a capacity of at least 2 J. Crown is needed to work with these coatings with a diameter of 68 mm.

Tip: in stores you can find different types of crowns. Simple crowns (cost around 300–600 rubles) will allow you to make no more than 10 holes. Professional will allow to drill up to 500 holes, but their cost is much higher (1500 - 3000 rubles).

The drilling procedure is as follows:

• We make the outline, in simple terms, for a few (5–10) seconds we drill the wall with a crown. As a result, on the surface there is a notch under the future under the hood.
• Then we drill with a drill (size 10–12 mm) recesses in a circle at a small distance from each other. Their depth should correspond to the thickness of the underlay.
• After that we drill with a crown on concrete for sockets (it is desirable that it be of good quality, otherwise you will have to change part of it).

• The remains of concrete must be hollowed out with a chisel punch.

It would seem a very simple operation, which is under the power of any person. Perhaps it is, but there may be considerable difficulties. In particular, there is a chance to get on the valve.

Consider a plan of action in this case:

• If we are talking about fine fittings (3-5 mm), then it can simply be cut down with a perforator and a chisel. It is done this way: we put a chisel (it must be sharp) as close as possible to the edge and interrupt the armature.
• If you come across thicker fittings (from 1 cm), then the most rational option is to transfer sockets. But still it is not always possible, and in such situations it is necessary to get rid of these metal elements. This is done like this.

1. In the middle of the reinforcement we make a reddening.
2. With the help of a drill for metal we make a through hole in it.
3. As a result, it will significantly weaken, which will allow it to be drilled with a chisel and a perforator (as in the previous example).

findings

With this we will complete our narrative, but if you did not manage to understand all the nuances, then there is no reason for frustration. In the presented video in this article you will find additional information on this topic. It will allow you to understand some of the features of this type of work.