How to Drill Tiles Without Breaking Them: Avoid Hammer Mode

The sound is sharp, almost more brutal than expected. The bit has barely touched the bathroom wall when the tile splits into a star-shaped crack, sometimes reaching the next grout line. You stand there, drill in hand, with that all-too-familiar feeling that fitting a small shelf has become an expensive repair job. We all know the moment when we tell ourselves we were only going to fit “two screws”. Yet in most cases, tiles do not break through bad luck or because they were necessarily poor quality. One commonplace mistake in the first few seconds is enough to cause a clean chip. It is often hidden behind a simple button on the drill.

Hammer mode: the habit that breaks tiles

When faced with a tiled wall, many DIYers pick up their drill and instinctively switch on hammer mode. It is the setting they use for concrete, brick or breeze block, so it seems like the logical thing to do. Except that a tile is not a standard masonry material: its glazed surface is hard, smooth and rigid, but it copes very poorly with repeated impacts. Hammer action produces a series of tiny blows that spread beneath the glaze. The tile may hold for a few seconds, then suddenly give way. The drill must never strike the tile.

Julien, who wanted to fit a towel rail in his flat, says he heard a “crack” almost as soon as he began. The hole looked tidy at first, then a piece of ceramic the size of a two-euro coin fell away around the bit. His mistake was not dramatic: after drilling into a wall the day before, he had left the selector dial on the hammer symbol. That small detail is often enough. On thin wall tiling, the crack may even remain subtle before widening as you tighten the screw or fit an oversized wall plug.

The trap is also that tiling offers genuine resistance at first. It is tempting to press harder, speed up or assume the machine lacks power. In truth, you need to do almost the opposite. A suitable bit gradually removes material through abrasion or cutting, while hammer mode puts sudden stress on the covering. Proper drilling feels slow, and can sometimes be frustrating, but it is infinitely cheaper than replacing a tile. Let us be honest: nobody really does this every day, and that is exactly why the wrong setting is so common.

The simple technique that prevents cracks around the hole

Before drilling, always turn off hammer mode and select a bit designed for tiles. A carbide-tipped bit may be enough for ceramic or porcelain stoneware; for very hard tiles, a diamond bit gives a cleaner finish. Apply a cross of masking tape over the area: it helps stop the bit slipping and makes your mark easier to see. Start at a low speed, without excessive pressure, while keeping the drill completely straight. The first millimetre is the most delicate stage.

Once you have gone through the tile layer, the wall behind it changes the rules. If you reach concrete or brick, you can ease the bit back slightly, switch to hammer mode and continue with a bit suited to that substrate. This change must only happen after passing through the tile, never before. Many cracks also occur because people force the drill to save time, particularly when the bit gets hot. Take short breaks, allow it to cool and lightly moisten it if the bit manufacturer permits this. A neat hole can often come down to a matter of seconds.

Choosing the position matters just as much as the quality of the drill. Drilling into a grout line can sometimes work, provided it is wide enough and the fitting does not require exceptional strength. Avoid tile edges, corners and areas already weakened by an old crack. A tiler often sums up the rule like this:

“You do not beat tiles with force; you go through them with patience.”

• Rotation-only mode when touching the tile;
• Low speed at the start;
• A specialist tile or diamond bit;
• Light, steady pressure;
• Hammer mode only once the covering has been passed through.

An intact tile starts with two minutes of preparation

Before taking out the drill, spend time checking what lies behind the wall. In a kitchen or bathroom, a water pipe, electrical conduit or hollow partition can make the job far more complicated than a simple chipped hole. A materials detector offers some reassurance, even though it is no substitute for looking at plans or applying common sense. Check the installation too: a tile that sounds hollow when tapped with your fingers is more vulnerable. In that situation, a gentle approach is not optional; it is the only sensible method.

The hole diameter also deserves a moment of attention. Inserting a large wall plug into a small drilled hole forces you to widen it, twists the bit and can sometimes cause the glaze to break away over the final few millimetres. It is better to measure the screw, wall plug and substrate before you start. For a lightweight fitting, there are even drill-free alternatives, such as strong adhesives or certain bonding systems. They are not suitable for everything, of course: a grab rail or wall-hung cabinet needs reliable mechanical fixing. However, for a small accessory, avoiding the hole can also avoid the stress.

What makes a tile chip is not necessarily a poor drill or a lack of skill. It is often an automatic habit learned from DIY work on bare walls: engaging hammer mode, pressing hard and wanting to get through quickly. Tiles demand a different pace. They require you to slow down precisely when you want to be finished. Once that habit is established, fitting a mirror, shelf or toilet-roll holder becomes far less daunting. And if someone close to you is about to drill with the hammer symbol selected, this small warning could save them an entire Saturday spent looking for the “same” tile.

Key point	Detail	Benefit for the reader
Avoid hammer mode	Hammer action weakens the glaze and causes cracks.	Greatly reduces the risk of a chipped tile from the very first hole.
Use the right bit	Carbide or diamond bit depending on the hardness of the tile.	Enables more accurate, cleaner and less tiring drilling.
Slow down at the start	Low speed, light pressure and a perfectly straight drill.	Protects the glazed surface and makes fitting the fixing easier.