Cutting A Hole For A Tap - One-Off Job

[cpsmusic]

Hi All,

Had a bathroom leak in a brick wall behind tiles which has now been fixed. The plumber was pretty careful and didn't cause too much damage however there is now some repair work to be done. Most is straightforward however one tile will need a hole cut for the toilet tap. Just wondering what the options are for cutting the hole? I have a fair range of hand and power tools however I don't have any sort of tile hole cutter. I'm looking for something relatively cheap as I only have to cut one hole and I don't do much tiling.

Any suggestions?

Cheers,

Chris

[Beardy]

Is the tile porcelain or ceramic?

[droog]

As above !

If ceramic just use a cheap holesaw from the back, don’t need to force it to cut through the glazed face just stop and you should be able to tap the section out from the front. Can even drill a circle of holes with a regular drill bit if there is a cover plate to hide the rough edge.

[cpsmusic]

Is the tile porcelain or ceramic?

AFAIK, ceramic.

[cpsmusic]

As above !

If ceramic just use a cheap holesaw from the back, don’t need to force it to cut through the glazed face just stop and you should be able to tap the section out from the front. Can even drill a circle of holes with a regular drill bit if there is a cover plate to hide the rough edge.

So I don't need to use a masonry bit?

[droog]

So I don't need to use a masonry bit?

No standard timber bits will do the job for a one off, just don’t use expensive ones as it will blunt the tool.
Go slow and use lubricant even just water, it will help cool the tool.

[Beardy]

You can either drill a series of holes as close together as you can and tap the balance out or use a diamond blade in a grinder and cut it out from the rear mainly and knibble out the rest.. A tiler uses the grinder method usually

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Also, there's no law that says the hole has to be round. If the tap has a cover plate, many tilers simply grind out an X and nibble it out squarely.

[tonzeyd]

Unless you've got plenty of spares I'd leave it to the pros. If you've got spares an angle grinder works well. Just take your time and go slow, mark it out and cover plates will sort out any imperfections

[419]

AFAIK, ceramic.

It sounds like you have a fresh tile to fit.

A fairly reliable way to distinguish between ceramic and porcelain is to put a little water on the back of the tile. Ceramic is more absorbent than porcelain and will absorb the water fairly quickly.

What Skew ChiDAMN!! and Beardy said about grinding it out, except mark it out from the front and grind it from there first to the marked lines, then grind it from the back making sure you don't go beyond the lines on the front.