Marble can be a troublesome material to work with when having grab bars installed especially when a qualified professional with the proper knowledge and tools is not used. Mr. Grab Bar of Sarasota sat down with us to explain the unique methods and tools to be used when working with marble. Here is a summary of the steps to be taken in order to ensure a successful installation.
- Always use a sharp and fresh drill bit
- Once the proper location has been decided for the grab bar to be placed (see our post on grab bar placement), mark the anchor points with a dry erase marker with the grab bar as template.
- Score all the drill locations with a carbide punch, striking it with a soft mallet. This will prevent the drill bit from sliding and scratching the marble. (see our post on how to score the tile)
- Make initial hole with a smaller glass and tile bit (1/4 inch) and then proceed to widen the holes with a 5/16 inch glass and tile bit afterwards. This will reduce wear and tear on the 5/16 inch bit.
- Combining the use of 5/16 anchors as well as toggles is preferred in many situations
- You soon find out upon drilling how hard the marble tile is as they tend to vary.
- In many cases the best way to preserve the life of your drill bits it to dip them into a small cup of water while working once the bit becomes very hot from the continuous friction.
- Once you feel that the drill bit has passed through the marble and onto the backing board decrease the speed and pressure of the drill so that you can maintain control. Another reason for this is to keep the heated drill bit from making contact with any dry materials that could catch on fire.
- The last step is to probe around the drilled holes of the wall before screwing in the grab bars to ensure that there are no problematic obstacles. Use a 6 inch flexible metal wire for this.
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