The never-ending debate: expansion bits vs. hammer drill for brick (I've got a strong opinion)
I just wrapped up a job downtown where I had to mount six cable boxes on old brick walls, and it got me thinking about this debate that never seems to die. I've always been a hammer drill guy myself (you know, the old rotary kind with a sledgehammer action), but my partner on this job swore by his new fancy expansion bits for the first three holes. Man, those expansion bits were loud as heck and they kept wandering off the mark, leaving these ugly oversized holes that I had to patch with mortar later. I switched back to my trusty Bosch hammer drill with a 1/4-inch carbide bit for the last three, and each hole was clean, straight, and took maybe 20 seconds instead of a minute of fighting. Am I missing something with these expansion bits, or is old school still the way to go for brick work?