Best Drill Bit for Drilling Bathroom Wall Panels

A standout feature of bathroom wall panels is how easy they are to work with, even for novice level DIY. Drilling bathroom wall panels is a simple exercise. PVC is far easier to work with than a tile…it wont crack, it wont shatter, there are no issues drilling into panels.

The key point when drilling into a bathroom wall panel is that you are drilling through the panel, the screw will grab into either a solid wall or stud that is behind the panel. The bathroom wall panel will not support weight on its own.

This is a common question and if we focus on the three common types; Brad Point, HSS Metal and Masonry we can show the results of using each type of drill bit on 5mm, 8mm and 10mm wall panels.

Best Drill Bit for Drilling 5mm Bathroom Wall Panel

Drilling 5mm Bathroom Wall Panels is straightforward but with the shallower depth and therefore less material you do have to take extra care when compared to drilling into a far more robust 10mm Shower Panel.

There is very little difference between a brad point drill bit and a HSS Metal drill bit with regards to accuracy and potential crushing when drilling, they are both very effective. The masonry drill bit does tend to crush the panel however.

I would recommend a Brad Point Drill bit for 5mm Bathroom Wall Panels as it offers the best performance plus you don’t need to pilot hole as you do with a HSS Metal bit and Masonry Bit.

Best Drill Bit for Drilling 8mm Bathroom Wall Panel

An 8mm bathroom wall panel will be tougher than a 5mm wall panel (in most cases) so it will offer a bit more resistance.

Again, there is very little difference between a brad point bit and a HSS Metal bit with regards accuracy and potential crushing. The masonry bit did cause a degree of crushing however.

And again, I would choose a brad point bit for drilling into a 8mm bathroom wall panel (there might be a recurring theme here). Best all round performance with no crushing.

Best Drill Bit for Drilling 10mm Bathroom Wall Panel

A 10mm Shower Panel will offer the most resistance of all the panels but they are still very easy to work with and drill through.

As with the other two panels there is very little difference between the Brad Point bit and HSS Metal bit and even the Masonry bit will cut through with no real problem. You wont typically suffer the potential panel crushing issue even with the Masonry bit and that is because the shower panel is an all round tougher panel.

I would recommend a brad point bit for 10mm shower panels but there is such little difference between the three bits it comes down to personal preference.