My walls have rocks inside preventing me from drilling cleanly. Any advice?

Submitted by sendcomfort t3_120u1aq in DIY

DIY beginner here. I was trying to mount a shelf but it seems my walls have… small rocks in them? This makes it hard to get a clean hole as the drill bit deflects off the rocks.

Has anyone seen this before? Any advice? Having a tough time googling for this.

All I know is that the walls seem like some kind of masonry — not drywall. Not wood. So I’m using a masonry bit with a hammer drill.

I'm not sure what my options are other than trying other parts of the wall and hoping for the best.

It’s an older building in Berlin if that matters. Thanks 🪛

Pictures: https://imgur.com/a/a723idX

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wischans t1_jdj0fge wrote

Looks like some sort of weird cinder block. Unfortunately, that makes a simple shelf a harder thing to hang as you'll need to use masonry anchors. They tend to be bigger and harder to hide. To control the bounce, go slow and start with a smaller diameter bit.

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Rectal_Reptile t1_jdj19e3 wrote

Drill a hole trough a large wooden sheet first and use it as a guide. Have someone hold the board in place.
Don't try to force the drill to hard, and let the hammering do the work

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thx1138a t1_jdjp5rw wrote

If you have the budget, an SDS drill is a great solution to this. They tend to go where they are aimed!

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crabapplesteam t1_jdj0mmi wrote

Removing this - can you re-post with images in an imgur album instead of on dropbox?

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sendcomfort OP t1_jdj1wcz wrote

Sorry, I'm on my phone and couldn't upload to imgut easily so just used dropbox

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Tymian_ t1_jdm4vvx wrote

If you need for example 5mm hole, then start with 3mm drill bit. Get a proper SDS impact drill and bits. Dont force it, let the bit do the hammering. Buy decent drills, and get at least 2-3 spare ones. After 30s of drilling dip the drill bit into water to cool it off.

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sendcomfort OP t1_jdmga7i wrote

My mistake was assuming a normap handheld (but still hammer) drill would be sufficient for the job I suppose, thanks

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