Hey friends! Today we aren’t talking about food…but rather how I mounted my brass bar and shelving into my tiles in the kitchen. If you’ve been following me over on instagram, then you may know that I went through a long and slightly horrifying journey of renovating my kitchen….but that’s a story I’ll save for another time! I’ll be sharing a series of posts where I share my DIY tips, sources, paint colour, tile, etc and I cannot wait. But today we’re talking about drilling into this beautiful tile.

The tile I chose is the Lume 2x9 White Glazed Porcelain tile, and I am so in love with how it turned out. This tile has multiple variations and slightly uneven edges with spots of slightly warmer colour sprinkled throughout.

Now, I decided to bring my backsplash all the way up behind my sink and stove, which I love, but meant a lot of drilling into the tile to mount my shelves and hanging rails. (Tip: If you can, install your floating shelf brackets into the studs before the tile goes on as this will make your life so much easier!)

Anyway, I was a little nervous to diy it (after hearing horror stories of folks cracking their beautiful tile!), but it really wasn’t too bad. My tiles are porcelain, which means they needed a special diamond tipped bit (double check your type of tile!! you can use a carbide bit for ceramic!).

I have a simple video showing the steps on my instagram if you’re interested!

How to drill into tile

Disclaimer: these are tips from my own experience! please research your own specific tile and bits to suit your specific scenario, and contact a contractor if needed.

Tools:

1/4 inch diamond hole saw bit with hex drive

1/4 inch all purpose - concrete & drywall alligator af6 anchors - with #10 x 1 1/2 inch screws (if not lined up with studs)

#10 or #12 x 3 inch wood screws (if drilling into studs)

To drill into tile:

The first step before you start is to determine where your studs are. I was able to measure where mine were by using the screw locations from the cabinets adjacent to the area. Mark the studs (I used tape on the tile and sharpie).
Next mark the height of the hanging rail/shelves/etc. I used the grout lines as my guide to keep things level, and marked the top screw for each bracket into a grout line using painters tape and a sharpie, and then marked the bottom holes if necessary (my hanging rail brackets had 2 screws….my shelf brackets only had one).
Next prepare to drill. Fill a small jar with cold water to dip the drill bit into several times for each hole to keep it cool. If the bit heats up too much it will wear out the bit much faster. Angle the bit up to almost 45 degrees when you first start the hole, as this gives you a better chance of getting the hole started without skipping around on the tile. Press fairly hard and slowly bring the drill down to drill straight on to the tile once the hole has been started. Dip the bit into the water every 30-60 seconds. Each hole should take about 5 minutes to drill…don’t be tempted to go faster than this or you may crack the tile.
If drilling into studs, swap out the diamond bit for a regular bit that correlates to the screw size you’re using (#10 or #12 screws).
If drilling into drywall, place a drywall anchor into the hole ensuring it fits snug and flush with the tile.
Hang brackets with screws, and finish tightening by hand. Enjoy your new hanging rail or shelf!

Tips:

ensure the drywall anchors you use don’t have a huge lip on their edge as you want it to sit as flat as possible against the tile. these are the ones I used HERE.
drilling into grout lines is much easier than on the slippery face of the tile, so if possible, line up the bracket holes with those.
painters tape gives some additional grip when starting to drill, but will also tear off and disintegrate, so be confident and press hard to start the holes.