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Im replacing an old basement door, took the old one out, and putting the new one in, the walls are cinder block, so I used a hammer drill 3/16" bit and using 1/4" Tapcon screws that are 3" long to attach to the block walls.
No problem drilling the holes, the bit was 5" long and it went completely in, The problem is when I went to drive the screws in, they will only go in about 2", they will not go in any further, no matter how much force I put on them...not sure what the problem is?
I even tried backing them out and driving them in harder, they still stop at the same point.
Im considering using the hammer drill to drive the screws, but Im not sure if I should do that or not, I was always told you only need the hammer drill function when drilling thru masonry/ concrete, not driving screws...right?
I'm assuming the bit was drilling the entire 5 inches as in the blocks are filled with concrete?
Did you try using the bit to clean out the hole? Push it in and out a few times, might be some concrete dust still in there.
I wouldn't drive it with the hammer drill because you are going to make the hole larger and possibly too large. This is where those small impact drivers work really well but you really need to be careful about breaking the screw.
thecoalman is beating around the bush that there is dust left behind in the hole when first drilled. It doesn't compress and you can easily find the situation you have. Another issue is that if you used the wrong size drill bit (I know I've tried to wing-it before), as that will Also cause this same issue. Having the correct sized drill bit means the Tapcon (or any other brand) screws go in easily and don't strip out... again, assuming you clean the holes of dust/debris.
I tend to use an air-compressor with a fine point gun, but canned air (for dusting electronics) works very well too. Vacuum doesn't really work well on it's own for deeper holes, but it great for "catching" the mess when you blow it out.
I vote for trying to blow out the dust, and then using a shorter screw.
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