Core drilling for new infrastructure

Recently the number of core drill holes we have been drilling has been for upgrading of 5g fiber service for individual buildings. There is not much difference in the holes for any other type of utility service except because the data lines that are being installed themselves are usually small, meaning that typical 3-inch penetration will accommodate more than an entire buildings' worth of data lines.

Updating the Fayetteville NC Veterans hospital

While we provide professional core drilling services Fayetteville NC. When we are able to be part of something as important as helping armed force veterans we are proud to be of service. The VA hospital on Ramsey St. in Fayetteville is a particular older building. Made of brick and mortar on the outside facade. The interior floors where we core drilled happens to consist of precast concrete planks that are barely 4 inches thick. You can imagine that it did not take long to drill each hole. The real challenge was the difficulty of keeping dust and water under control so as not to contaminate the air filtration system that is so important to patients with respiratory ailments. Of course, we have had plenty of practice at not making a mess while we are performing our task of boring perfectly round holes into precast floors. But still, it's not what you have done before but what you are doing now that dictates the moment.

This not the first hospital we have core drilled. Having already performed the same type of service for the Concord, Salisbury, and some of the Charlotte area hospitals we were familiar with the protocol. In this time of world pandemic, we naturally had to be masked, but more than that we had to be perfect and not drop even a drop of water or rock down onto the room below which in many cases were occupied by patients of the facility.

Not a rock dropped.

The natural way of things is that when core drilling concrete on a second story floor that the rock drops to the floor below. Luckily we have several methods of catching the rock in case gravity does win out over our countermeasures.

These are the simplest and most common methods used to catch rocks when core drilling.

Core drilling the Cumberland county landfill

Additional Core drilling projects we have recently done in Fayetteville this year is coring twelve-inch holes in water drain basins at the Cumberland county landfill for new sewer and wastewater runoff at the landfill. The Fayetteville landfill is located on Ann St, Fayetteville, NC.

Coring drilling on Bragg Blvd, Fayetteville, NC

Another recent project is 4-inch core drill holes for homeowners right off of Bragg Blvd. The local plumber was remodeling a bathroom and need core drill holes size 4-inch for new shower drains.

Core drilling the Durham VA hospital

turns out a few months later we core drilled some 3-inch holes in the foundation of the Durham Veterans Administration Hospital in Durham, North Carolina. These particular penetrations were for new natural gas piping to be installed into the hospital. Often we are called upon to perform core drilling for the utility companies such as the local power company, internet providers that are running new data cabling to the hubs that power the internet. This, of course, is now September 2021, and when on hospital grounds these days you must practice social distancing to be safe, so everyone on our crew masked up and drilled safely.

Do I need to use a core drill or hammer drill?

How to install a pipe through a block wall? Contractors, tradesmen, and homeowners have used many methods to run pipe through concrete block walls since building with precast cement products began back in the early 1900s. This according to Ball State University and a thesis paper I found online on their site about the history of the cement block. Sometimes, but not always, to get the best results required one may be required to core drill.

But if the cost is a consideration, or the hole is in a place that can not be seen such as above ceiling level or below grade, and if indeed the cement block wall is hollow you may consider other methods.

Hammer drilling

One such method for holes 5-inches in size and under is to take a hammer drill with a masonry bit drill and make an outline of the size hole you are trying to make where you think the hollow cell of the block is located and drill small holes all the way around the outline as close as you can make them while at the same time making sure to drill straight and level all the way through the wall. We call this perforating the wall. When the outline drilling is completed you should be able to take a hammer and knock out the center, leaving a hole to pass your pipe through. Do not be disappointed if it does not come out perfect, or if a bit of chipping or tapping with the hammer is needed to knock out all the debris.

Almost Core Drilling

Another method that is similar to dry core drilling is to use one of the newly carbide-tipped hole saws that have come out on the market at the beginning of 2019. Often in sizes of 1" to 6" at your local Lowes, Home Depot, or hardware store. With these type bits your don't hammer drill but use the drilling mode of your drill and cut relatively quick through a hollow block wall

Core Drilling

But if cement block is reinforced with 5000 psi. concrete and filled with rebar, and you need a professional-looking hole then core drilling may be the answer. Core drilling bits are engineered with embedded diamonds that allow the bit to cut both metal and concrete. Core drill rigs and motors and all the accessories that are needed to go with them are expensive tools and not something that the average person will want to invest in, but they can be rented from many places.

Setting up a core drill is where the magic happens. Most core drills are heavy and must be anchored to the wall being drilled. If the wall you are drilling is poured and reinforced with rebar you can use wedge anchors to mount the rig. If the wall is hollow then the best anchors to use are sleeve anchors, and do not be afraid to use more than one, a core drill rig coming off the wall while you are drilling is not something anyone wants to have happened. You will also need water and a way to pump and connect to the water inlet to keep the diamond-tipped core bit cool during the core drilling process. When finally set up. Start the drill. Do not force the core drill; just apply steady downward pressure on the feed handle, letting the bit do the work. Diamonds are indestructible, but the diamond teeth can break away from the metal barrel they are mounted on so be aware. Apply even pressure throughout the drilling process. Never force down when cutting rebar, which usually produces black or metallic-looking slurry instead of the milky white slurry when cutting concrete.

When running any pipe through a core drill hole make sure to select a core drill bit one size larger than the pipe being installed, especially if your pipe has to be sleeved. Which is one pipe inside another pipe. A hole larger than the outside diameter of the pipe will give you a little wiggle room in case the hole does not line up perfectly with where the pipe has to go. Once you have the pipe installed, you will want to seal up space around the pipe. If the holes were drilled through interior CMU block walls, you might need to use an expanding foam, but if the holes were drilled through an exterior wall, or needs a sleeve, use a masonry water seal mix found at most hardware stores to patch the hole and seal out moisture and humidity. The foam is even tough enough to keep out household pests.

Spreading our wings and expanding our core drilling service to Richmond, Virginia.

This is a small commercial core drilling job we took on that happened to be located on Fitzhugh St. The task to drill three 3-inch holes in a pre-cast floor from the 3rd floor to the 2nd, and then from the 2nd to the parking garage below.Not too hard of a job though every core drilling operation is a dangerous prospect to take on. We accomplished completion by using a trusty garden pond water pump that runs off of 120 volts and a 5-gallon bucket of cooling water to keep the bit sharp. The floor as can been seen is has a ceramic tile covering to enhance the usefulness of the utility room. Diamond embedded core drill bits have no problems cutting tile leaving a token core of the top layer of the floor. A talisman of the core drilling project we did in near downtown Richmond VA. Core drill slurry was not a problem as we caught all of it with a simple shop vac.