Welcome to THE REAL WORLD of tile.

Some of that stuff is unbelievably tuff to drill.

The best I can suggest is to use those "glass bits" shaped like the spade in a deck of cards. If you've already tried them, then the only step up is a diamond drill and they get expensive and can be hard to find. I have a 3/16 diamond and I paid $104 for that sucker.

If you keep trying you'll eventually get thru it but how much will you spend on drill bits. I wouldn't recommend you use percussion either, that's not a good thing.:)

Man, I can't keep doing what I'm doing. If I do it will be 12 hours for six holes. I'll start looking for that diamond bit. Will one bit do me or will they also get worn down?

Here ya go:

Here is a link that might be useful: Diamond Drill Bit & Tool

Diamonds aren't just a girl's best friend.

Captain Mongo

Sometimes you need a hammer drill for this task. In fact, always, IMO.
Maybe you can afford diamonds on your salary Bill, but that doesn't apply to us mere peons. (jk) ;-)
Casey

When my porcelosa porcelan tile was complete, they had to drill holes not only for the 3 or 4 for each shower curtain mount, but also for 2 grab bars. It took them hours and they also went through many drill bits. Finally they accomplished it, then when they went to put in the screws on one end of the shower mount, the hole was smaller than needed and they cracked the tile. Then the 12" tile needed to be replaced besides. We were lucky we had someone else doing it. Luckily the replaced tile is not even obvious now that it is completed.
Good luck is all I can say and your experience is not unusual !
Margie

I am about to do the same thing (actually DH will do the drilling). We just got a HITACHI Diamond Drill bit - it is circular shaped & says it is for glass, marble, class 5 porcelain, granite and slate. It was about $15 I think. I also just saw this drill bit demonstrated on DIY's Cool Tools show. Let me know what drill bit you end up using & I'll let you know how mine turns out. Thanks.

Casey-- I can't afford NOT to use diamonds!! Could you imagine being on the clock and going thru what Capt dan went thru??? I'd go BROKE!! You oughta SEE all the diamonds I have!! I tolja-- I may be easy, but I'm not cheap!! :-)

Do *not* use a hammer drill--it could crack the nice tile. 850 rpm seems really low.

What kind of tile?

My husband had the same experience. He had to drill three holes thru the porcelain tiled tub surround for the plumbing fixtures. Whatever he used first didn't work too well. Went to Lowes and bought another one. It still took him a long time to get thru the tile. Probably an hour. He can't remember what it was he used but did say "you get what you pay for".
Monica

I needed one 1" diameter hole drilled in the porcelain tiles I was using on the powder room floor. Rather than buying a crappy drill bit, I decided to take the tile to the local tile shop where I bought it, and have them drill the hole (for a fee) They used a water cooled diamond core bit and finished in about 10 minutes (including about 8 minutes of setup).

When I was paying them ($12) I saw the bit they were using was offered for sale for about $100.

Of course, I just read back over your message and realized that your tile is already installed, therefore this suggestion probably isn't very helpful to you.

I recently drilled some holes in porcelain tiles for a friend. You can find core drill bits online but I was in a hurry, was able to find a cheap on at harbor freight. worked really well!

One other thing...half the battle can sometimes be getting through the glaze on the tile. Before you get through the glaze, the bit can just sit on the surface, making no progress at all.

If you can score the glaze, that'll help immensely. A nick with any tool can help the bit more easily get through the glaze.

Mongo

I've scored, nicked, and done everything else. What has worked bast so far is drilling it dry and stopping every minute or so to score the hole.

That being said, I just ordered a diamond bit from Diamond Drill Bit & Tool that Bill mentioned. Seem like nice folks to deal withj.

I'll report back once it comes in and I'll also post pictures of the entire remodel, quite the ordeal!!!!

I'd never thought of pre-drilling a tile before installation, but that is a brilliant idea!

I have some of those spade ceramic bits and what I have used them on, has been fine but I tend to break into a sweat before I even start drilling. At least starting out, I'd work slow, and agree don't use percussion!

I had a glass shelf to install in my beautiful finished bathroom, I have to admit I put it off out of fear, now I'm divorced and it's my ex's bathroom, it's her problem!

I am just doing up a small bathroom myself and will be using quite a lot of tile, I had assumed those bits of mine would be ok but might look out for the diamond sort, in case. Handy to have, anyway...but predrilling? Sounds like a great idea, and if you have a drill press, even better. I'd put rubber or something underneath...

Capt dan-- once that bit comes in, hold a sopping wet sponge against it. It'll cut better, and the bit'll last longer. You'll have a little bit of a mess to clean up after, but that's no big deal, either.

And while it's to late to help Dan, drilling through grout is a lot easier than drilling through tile.