Hole in the House

Say hello to our not-so-little friend — the latest and probably craziest tool we've rented. It's a concrete core drill, meant to punch holes right into the side of your house. We snagged one to help us vent a new bathroom exhaust fan.

The original plan was for me to climb up a 15 foot ladder and drill into the wall right below the roof, but as you can tell this thing was a little too cumbersome for that. So we went to Plan B. I climbed into our two-foot attic space and drilled a hole from the inside out.


The drill punched through the cinder block like it was nothing, but slowed down drastically once we hit the outer layer of brick. I had to take repeated breaks to let the bit cool down and to give my arms a rest. Even with me bracing it against the ceiling joists, it was a beast to handle.


Success! The guy at the tool rental place told us this was going to be a nightmare, which got me all kinds of nervous. It wasn't fun, but we have surely tackled worse jobs. For the record, once you use a concrete core drill to cut a hole through your brick, allow the brick to cool before stupidly sticking your hand through the hole. Otherwise, you may get minor burns on your forearm. Just sayin'.