How to Drill into Cinder Block

If you’re worried about how to drill into cinder block for your next project, we’ve got you covered! Find out how to do it right the first time.

Have you ever tried to drill into cinder block or cement with a regular drill? It’s hard, tiring and frustrating. 

Let’s start with a little backstory on how we came to know this and finally learned the easier way to drill into cinder block.

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One day, my husband and I decided to insulate one of the rooms in our basement (really just a closet). After some research, we chose to use foam insulation with 2×2 boards. 

The boards would have to be secured to the cinder block, meaning we needed to drill into the cinder block. We bought our supplies (which included masonry screws and a masonry drill bit) and started the project, thinking this would take no time to complete.

But then we got a big slap in the face. After hours of drilling into the cinder block, we only had about 4 finished holes. You can imagine how frustrated we were.

So we went online, hoping to find a solution.

After some searching, we decided to try a hammer drill. In fact, we bought one the very next day.

But again, hours later, we only had 10 finished holes drilled (this worked better than the regular drill but still not easy).

And yes, we were using the correct drill bit for the job.  We even switched drill bits often but after about one hole, the new bit was shot.

Why was it so difficult? We watched lots of videos of people drilling into cement and they did not have this much trouble. What are we doing wrong?

We continued using this process for a few days, not getting anywhere. Except maybe getting more frustrated and worried about how we were ever going to finish our whole basement.

But one night, I decided to look up how to operate a hammer drill – maybe we were using it wrong.

Then, I found this amazing video called rotary hammer vs. hammer drill. Maybe we needed a rotary hammer drill!

We returned our hammer drill and we got the Bosch Rotary Hammer Drill with a drill bit. Then, after saying a few prayers, we tried the rotary hammer.

Seconds later, we had the first hole. We looked at each other in amazement – finally, we found our answer!

We completed 3-4 holes in the time it took us to complete one with the regular hammer drill. And it was even easier to use!

Before, we were using all of our strength (guess we could have skipped the gym that day!). Now, the rotary hammer was doing all the work; we just held the drill in place. 

Within a couple of hours, we finally attached all the wood to the wall. And we only used one drill bit.

I’m glad we kept trying to find a solution. Sometimes, it’s not the way you’re working – you just need smarter tools!

So if you are wondering how to drill through cinder block or cement, the answer is a ROTARY hammer drill! It will make your project go a lot smoother.

UPDATE: We are still loving this drill. We have used it to drill holes through brick & concrete and also remove tile – this thing is amazing for demo! I would recommend it to anyone

Are you working on finishing your basement? Or do you need to drill lots of holes into cement? Skip the frustration and do what we did – buy a rotary hammer!.