Drilling into brownstone facade

Ahhhh, right. I have seen this setup before. Thanks for the info.

slimc

in General Discussion 6 years and 1 month ago

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kevrob | 6 years and 1 month ago

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Any advice on drilling into the facade of a brownstone without making cracks or causing other issues? Just trying to mount a doorbell, so nothing heavy. But I really don’t want to mess this up.

stevecym | 6 years and 1 month ago

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ok, i do work on doors and entry ways and i never, ever drill into brownstone or the modern mortar used to replace it (that mortar so thin in spots that it may not having the holding power behind it). I flat out tell the customers it cannot be done. now, i may be wrong but after 50 years of drilling into all sorts of things with all sorts of bits, i am aware that certain things splay and crack when bored. someone else may have a solution. but i would be careful. too risky. even putting a small plastic anchor and screw in there could crack the surrounding product if you manage to drill a clean hole and that crack may travel. the one thing you can do, if you find a way to bore the holes is put epoxy in them and insert the mounting screws into the epoxy, thus you will not put pressure on the mortar or stone with an anchor. In twenty five years of working in NYC i have never bored in the stuff.

stevecym | 6 years and 1 month ago

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I will add something. there are other ways to drill a hole besides mechanical means. I have never done it and it will not be practical for you to do, but in the past I have heard men, specialized tradesmen, talk about using a sandblaster to drill a hole in difficult to drill things such as glass and stone. I always paid attention when they were talking as I at one time had a sandblaster (I do not now; too messy in the city). so there are ways to do this and maybe someone else has a suggestion.

stevecym | 6 years and 1 month ago

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ok, I thought about this when I went to work today and I can tell you more. first, I would still not try this on a customer’s house. let me tell you what the problem with masonry bits is: they have carbide tips and those tips protrude and the tend to grab at the stone or concrete and instead of cutting it they chip and break it. if you started with a very very small (and I am not sure how small the go) bit, perhaps you can drill a “pilot” hole which will allow you to drill a larger hole and yet one larger. I do this in marble a lot and in some materials we have to do it as the larger bits won’t cut it. you still have the issue of putting an anchor in and if you put one in and put a screw in there it might pop the stone. so back to what I said earlier, drill a hole and then put a thickened epoxy (from a stick) into the hole and mount the door bell and put the screws in. still risky.

daveinbedstuy | 6 years and 1 month ago

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Mount it with epoxy.

kevrob | 6 years and 1 month ago

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Thanks for the thoughtful replies—I figured it was probably a bad idea given the total lack of info available. Definitely going to go with an adhesive for this.

stevecym | 6 years and 1 month ago

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take what dibs says and ad it to this: find a stick epoxy. they are in a tube and have the consistency of molding clay. you kneed it around to mix the hardener in. you can use it but it is not the best with metal (even the ones for metal are not great with metal). I would drill a couple extra holes in the rim of the door bell and as I seat the bell against the epoxy, I would force the epoxy into those holes and that will become what holds it.

and the lack of other replies on the drilling into brownstone subject tells me we are right to steer clear of it.

slimc | 6 years and 1 month ago

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How would one handle those AC bracket arms for window units? I believe they must be anchored into the exterior wall of the brownstone. At some point I think I need to install one on my top floor.

stevecym | 6 years and 1 month ago

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slimc: I put small ones in that do not require supports. the one time I put a larger one in, I placed a wooden support on the exterior stone sill AND I placed a piece of steel across the window, from frame to frame and between where the lip of the air conditioner and window sash met so the weight of the ac unit was on the steel, not the window. I did not do this because I had to drill into brownstone, I did it because I was in an apartment and could not drill into the exterior stone. that was a 10,000 btu unit btw and I damage neither the landlords vinyl frame nor the sash. also, I think your query should be a topic of its own as you will garner a lot of comments that way.