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Making A Hole In A Brick Wall

nunnnunn Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 35,988 ******
edited December 2004 in General Discussion
No...Not with a firearm. This must be more precise and neat.

My dryer vents to the garage, and I don't like it. In humid weather it makes the floor wet and slick.

I want to run the vent to the outside, and the closest route is to go down the baseboard to the front wall of the house. Construction is pretty typical brick veneer over frame.

So, I need to make a hole, about 4" or maybe a bit larger, through the bricks. The wallboard on the inside is easy. Any hole saw will do that.

I thought maybe there might be a hole saw that would do the job. Looked at Harbor Freight and Northern Tool. Both have tungsten carbide hole saws, but the biggest diameter available is 3 1/4 inches.

I guess I could take a masonry drill bit and just drill a bunch of holes in a circle and then chisel out the bricks, but a hole saw would do a neater, faster job.

Is such an animal available? Failing that, is there a good, neat method for doing this?

Thanks.

SIG pistol armorer/FFL Dealer/Full time Peace Officer, Moderator of General Discussion Board on Gunbroker. Visit www.gunbroker.com the best gun auction site on the Net! Email gpd035@sbcglobal.net

Comments

  • nocagesnocages Member Posts: 325 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    nothing I know of that cuts brick in a clean cicle.
    chisling may work.

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  • chorkiechorkie Member Posts: 2,477 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Try a Roto-Zip with a masonary bit. Or call the local tool rental store.

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  • Compact_KidCompact_Kid Member Posts: 257 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Go with the hammer drill with a 1/4 or 3/8 bit, shoot a nice group and wack away. cheapest way, and it won't take that long.
  • ameriskinameriskin Member Posts: 1,859 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    use a mason bit and drill around 8 holes on the diameter, then use a carbide mason sawblade with a ricpricating saw to connect the holes. i still think you should at least try with a firearm[:D]

    cody
  • bigdaddyjuniorbigdaddyjunior Member Posts: 11,233
    edited November -1
    I use my Bosch 1&1/8 SDS hammer/drill with a 1" flat chisel bit and cut around a few times to get a crack then pop it with a short 3lb hammer. You could use the 3&1/4 hole saw and reduce your vent pipe to three inches after four feet or so with no loss of flow.

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  • zr700zr700 Member Posts: 2,430 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Call your rental store, ours has carbide hole saws up to 8"


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  • select-fireselect-fire Member Posts: 69,453 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Your vent will have an oversize end on it to cover up an hole not perfectly round. Mortor mix will cure anything the dryer vent cover misses. I would draw a circle round the vent to get the pattern and do it with a good sharp chisel. Do put on your safety glasses when the chips start flyin'

    " It Ain't Over till its Over"
  • ameriskinameriskin Member Posts: 1,859 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by zr700
    Call your rental store, ours has carbide hole saws up to 8"


    that's actaully probably the best advise, it'll be clean, and renting drills and stuff is pretty cheap.

    cody
  • nunnnunn Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 35,988 ******
    edited November -1
    Thanks. I'll try that.

    SIG pistol armorer/FFL Dealer/Full time Peace Officer, Moderator of General Discussion Board on Gunbroker. Visit www.gunbroker.com the best gun auction site on the Net! Email gpd035@sbcglobal.net
  • toolmaniamtoolmaniam Member Posts: 3,213
    edited November -1
    Buy a Star drill from the hardware store. A Star drill is a chisel like device that you hit with a 2 lb. sledge and rotate after each strike. Doesn't take long to punch a hole in brick and masonary. Star drill several holes in a circular pattern and you have a large hole. A little sweat equity.

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  • nunnnunn Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 35,988 ******
    edited November -1
    Sweat is bad. Same with blisters. Power tool is the way to go.

    SIG pistol armorer/FFL Dealer/Full time Peace Officer, Moderator of General Discussion Board on Gunbroker. Visit www.gunbroker.com the best gun auction site on the Net! Email gpd035@sbcglobal.net
  • JamesRKJamesRK Member Posts: 25,670 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    When I had hand rails put on my front steps, the guy drilled some four inch holes to anchor the rails. He had an outfit that weighed about a hundred pounds. He set it up and the drill did the work. If you know of a metal shop that does hand rails, you might be able to borrow one. I don't know if it will do horizontal holes though.
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  • 1911a1-fan1911a1-fan Member Posts: 51,193 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I would go with the 3 ? if you cannot find a 4" ,just use pvc to down size ,that _ of an inch won't hurt at all ,I would rather have a clean cut for insulation purposes than a jagged cut from drilling
  • dongizmodongizmo Member Posts: 14,477 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    4" is not a problem, here is a 4-1/8"
    http://www.wttool.com/p/08330015p/0833-0215
    We go up to 6"
    http://www.wttool.com/c/08330015p
    Don


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  • eastwood44mageastwood44mag Member Posts: 2,655 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Milwaukee tools. My dad did the same years ago with a masonry hole saw. I don't remember the size, but it seemed like 4 inches.

    Talk to a concrete contractor and see how they do it. If nothing else, use a reducer and pull a smaller hole through the wall.

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  • jl45jl45 Member Posts: 708 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    nunn,

    I used to install appliances 20 years ago and that sometimes meant having to cut dryer vent holes through brick. I always did it by drilling small holes with a star bit and then chiseling the hole to neaten it up. By the time you find a big enough carbide hole saw and then go to a rental place to pick it up and then make another trip to return the thing, you could have already cut the hole and have the vent in place.
    Besides, beatin on stuff can be a good stress reliever.[:)]


    jl45

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  • RosieRosie Member Posts: 14,525 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I rent diamond concrete cutters about twice a year. It is a tube in the size you want with diamond particles bonded to one end and a drill shank on the other. Makes a beautiful hole.
  • boliverthegreatboliverthegreat Member Posts: 398 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Just run it out a widow, paint it and call it art[:D]. No one will notice with a little ive growing around it.
  • easygo6easygo6 Member Posts: 1,465 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    A lot of good advice here, some no-so-good...

    Keep the vent at 4" over its entire length. Drill a series of smaller holes in a circle (and connect-the-dots with a star chisel mason chisel) and use a masonry blade on a recipro saw (sawz-all) to clean up.

    Or,...spend the money to rent a hole saw set-up from a tool rental shop.

    Pick up some silicone/latex chaulking (for masonry) to seal up the space between the cover and the wall.



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