Visual Job Solver

Concrete drilling decision guide

Understand what your job requires. Answer a few questions about the work and this guide reports what the manufacturer evidence can determine, what it cannot, and what to verify before you drill.

What this guide can and can’t do

It is a decision guide, not an “exact tool” engine. Where the evidence cannot support a single tool class or SDS system, the guide says so and gives you a verification path instead. It does not approve tools, drilling locations, or compliance.

Step 1 — What are you drilling into?

Confirming the material comes first. Concrete-specific guidance cannot be applied while the material is unknown.

The reasoning behind the guide

These sections from the frozen research explain how the evidence is used: start with the task and material, keep method families separate, use capacity and optimum range correctly, and never invent thresholds.

Start with the task, confirmed material, required hole diameter, required hole depth, number of holes, and corded/cordless preference. For an anchor hole, obtain the dimensions and installation procedure from the selected anchor's current instructions. Do not calculate them from a screw's nominal size. Hilti SafeSet

If the material or drilling requirements are unknown, verify them first. A complete set of six inputs still cannot establish what is behind the surface or whether cutting reinforcement is permitted. Bosch material guidance, Hilti safety instructions, Hilti reinforcement guide

Task & Material → Drilling Method → Tool/Bit Capability → Optimum Range → Power & Workload → Recommendation & Limitations

  1. Confirm the task and material. Keep special core drilling and breakthrough-bit systems outside the ordinary-bit path.
  2. Use confirmed hole dimensions. Anchor specifications must come from the selected anchor system.
  3. Check the exact tool, bit, interface, mode and dust components against their own limits.
  4. Use an optimum range to explain a choice. In this frozen baseline it does not automatically rank or eliminate candidates.
  5. Apply the user's power preference only after technical checks. A cordless SDS-Max tool exists; cordless is not a synonym for low capability. Milwaukee 2717-20
  6. Discuss workload without inventing thresholds. Milwaukee's 2915-20 claim concerns up to 50 holes of 5/8 in × 3 in with its stated XC6.0 battery. It is not guaranteed output or a rule requiring a cord after 50 holes. Milwaukee 2915-20
  7. Show the supporting sources and remaining conditions. If evidence cannot support a deterministic answer, ask for the missing information or direct the user to verify the specific manufacturer's capability.

The JSON freezes seven GREEN validation rules, seven YELLOW explanations and six RED prohibited automatic judgements. Passing a check means only that the corresponding incompatibility was not established. It does not prove a complete job is safe or suitable.

  • Treating SDS-Plus or SDS-Max as a universal diameter band.
  • Calling maximum capacity an optimum range.
  • Applying a core-drilling number to an ordinary solid bit.
  • Reading total bit length as usable hole depth.
  • Ignoring the tighter limits imposed by a dust attachment.
  • Inferring runtime or a corded/cordless cutoff from hole count.
  • Treating a filter label as approval of the entire job.
  • Treating reinforced-concrete capability as permission to cut steel.

The evidence for these distinctions is recorded above and in CDR-001 through CDR-020 of the JSON baseline.

Sources

Access date for all entries: 2026-09-04. See the full registry on the About page.