Drilling Ceramic & Porcelain Tile

Q: How do I drill a hole in ceramic tile?

A: If it is truly ceramic tile, you can use a standard masonry drill bit. Place a piece of duct tape over the area that you wish to drill (this will prevent the drill from slipping when you start and scratching the tile). Use a variable speed drill set for between 200 and 300 rpm. Dip the drill bit in cutting oil, if you do not have any cutting oil, then use a sponge to add water above the hole, allowing the water to trickle down into the hole, while you are drilling. This will reduce the friction, flush out the ceramic dust and cool the bit.

Do not apply a lot of pressure, allow the bit to do the work, if you apply to much pressure you will burn out the drill bit.

This will only work on ceramic tile. If you have porcelain or natural stone such as granite or marble you must use a diamond tipped drill bit.

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Locating A Buried PVC Pipe

Q: My kids have broken off a pvc pipe that was connected to the house via the water well. Now the house is on city water, but it was connected to the well. I want to reroute the pipe underground but from the city connection to the house is pvc we think. I had one plumber out. He could not locate it. I welcome any ideas contact me. The pipe was broken below the concrete all I could do is plug it up. The pipe is the 7/10 inside diameter.

A: If you can fish a 14 or 12 gauge wire into the pipe, a buried cable locating company will be able to track the position of the wire. To try, attach it to the end of a fish tape and see how far you can feed it in.

Moving AC Ducts

Q: I have two AC ducts bent in a 90 degree angle up in my attic. The room that they run to, of course, stays a bit warm. Can I just cut the ducts with a box cutter, re run in a straighter path and duct tape them back?

A: It might change the air balance throughout your home. If you do make the change make sure you use tape made for ducts - NOT the grey stuff you buy at your local big box store - that is not made for taping ducts together.

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Painting Door Casings & Trim

Q: We did bathroom renovation, built new baseboards but kept trim and casings. I sanded, primed and painted the trim and casings. The paint started bubbling up and peeling! I can see old varnish that adhered to the paint and pulled away. Not enough sanding apparently! Should I strip everything and start over or sand up to the large spots that seem to have adhered well?

A: If the bad spots are less than a third of the surface I would try to just sand the bad spots, however if it is any more than that I would sand it all down to the bare wood. It may be difficult to get the surface to match in paint thickness on the areas that you sand versus the ones you don't. You will have to feather the areas that are in good shape to try and get an even paint surface.