How to Do It: Drilling Ceramic Tile

On first glance at the title of this article, you may be wondering who would be silly enough to attempt drilling ceramic tile. But as your bathroom remodeling project moves forward, you may find that the brand new tile wall you spent a week putting up needs a towel bar or a toilet paper holder. And in cases such as these, you will definitely need to know how to go about drilling ceramic tile.

The most important thing to do is to figure out exactly where your fixture needs to go before you begin drilling ceramic tile. If you are installing a toilet paper holder, sit down on the toilet and determine where you want the toilet paper holder to go. Find a place that is easy to reach but is not in the way when you are sitting down or standing up. For a towel bar, assess where the towel needs to be: if it is for hand towels, near the sink is best. If it is a towel bar for bath towels, try to get it as close to the tub as possible. Measure the space between the holes on the fixture, and then, using a level and measuring tape, mark the placement of the fixture on the wall with something that will wipe off the tile wall.

Steps for Drilling Ceramic Tile

Now you are ready to get your drill. Be sure you use a carbide-tipped masonry drill bit. These are made to go through masonry like tile that has been fire-glazed. Regular drill bits will not be able to go through the tile. Once the drill is ready, you can start the scary part: drilling ceramic tile.

Use two pieces of masking tape and place them over the spot you want to drill in an X shape. If it will help you, place your mark on the tape to show you where you need to drill. Drill through the tape and into the tile – don’t worry about the grinding feeling; that is the drill going through the glaze. Drill into the drywall or tile backer board. This hole will allow you to place a wall anchor in your tile wall.