My uncle swore by using a regular ol' drill for concrete anchors and I laughed at him

I was putting up a heavy shelf in my basement in Edmonton and my uncle said just grab a cheap hammer drill from Canadian Tire, don't bother with the fancy SDS rotary hammer I was eyeing. I thought he was nuts because that thing was 300 bucks. But after drilling through 6 inches of concrete with his old Ryobi and it took maybe 2 minutes per hole, I realized he was right. Has anyone else found that the pricey tools aren't always worth it for one-off jobs?

2 comments

2 Comments

thea_chen2d ago

Funny enough I had almost the exact same situation last year mounting a shelf in my garage. I was ready to drop big money on a rotary hammer and my buddy talked me into borrowing his old corded hammer drill from the 90s. That thing made 4 holes in a concrete wall in about the same time you mentioned and I was honestly surprised. For one off jobs like putting up shelves or mounting a TV bracket the cheap stuff works fine as long as you take your time and let the tool do the work. I still use that borrowed drill for random stuff around the house and it hasnt let me down yet.

alicea261d ago

Used to think you had to spend big but yeah that really changes things.