Suggestions for anchoring OSB to concrete for a coal bin.

The other weekend my father-in-law and I started building a 10'x6'x6' coal bin in my basement. We put it in one corner, built the other two walls with 2x4's 16"-on-center and attached them to my floor joists on the top and 2x4's on the bottom. The floor 2x4 we attached to the floor with concrete screws and the mason drill bit that came with them. The inside of the box, we covered with particle board (OSB), including the existing poured concrete walls. ('Cause if I go to sell my house, and someone doesn't want the coal bin, I'd rather it be as easy as ripping out some wood, instead of having to clean coal stains off the wall.)

Now comes the problem. We cannot, for the life of us, drill deep enough in my poured concrete basement walls to install the screws. My father-in-law is a pretty big guy with plenty of leverage, does manual labor for a living, and can't get the drill to go deep enough with his some 250 lbs behind it.

He borrowed a friend's powder-actuated nail gun which worked for a few shots (usually took 2 or 3 shots to get the nails in) and then a small piece of the gun broke.

I feel like I'm dealing with the strongest material known to man here.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to secure a few sheets of OSB to a poured concrete wall and two 2x4's?

Are you using a hammer drill? Hammer drills usually go through concrete like butter. If you are not using a hammer drill and you get one to use I would suggest a new bit as your old one is more than likely junk from getting hot while not making any headway in the concrete.

Get your hands on a Bosch SDS hammer drill. I rented one once & was so happy with it that I bought one. It drills into anything. My milwaukee 5/8 hammer drill does not even come close to the capability of the Bosch.

A good hammer drill should work. Don't use the so called hammer drills that work on batteries, use one that plugs in. The difference is night and day in my experience. Use a new bit as mentioned. The only other thing I can think of is there is a lot of rebar in a poured wall, you are not hitting rebar? It should be quite obvious if you hit rebar with those thin Tapcon drill bits because it will either snap it off or burn the tip off.

gambler wrote:Are you using a hammer drill?

Nope, we were using my cordless 1/2" Milwaukee which has been up to the task for everything else I've used it for. Even bought some Bosch concrete bits figuring the pack-in from Tapcon was trash. (The Tapcon bit seemed better than the Bosch actually.)

Also tried using a corded drill from a neighbor. Didn't do much better than my cordless.


Okay. I'll see what my local rental place offers in regards to hammer drills.


Quick search on Google shows that there are hammer drills and rotary hammer drills. Think I need one vs. the other?


Thanks guys!

Philippe23 wrote:Quick search on Google shows that there are hammer drills and rotary hammer drills. Think I need one vs. the other?

Same things. It hammers as it turns, some may have a selection for hammer only, drill only and hammer & drill. Usually, they are the two latter selections.

I have an 18volt 1/2" Milwaukee hammer drill and a 110volt ac Milwaukee hammer drill and have used both drilling in the same concrete with the same bit and after seeing the results I don't even consider the cordless for hammer drilling anymore. That is just my experience for what it is worth.

For what you are trying to accomplish investing too much time and effort (and money) is not practical. Maybe there is a way you can just attach the OSB at the top, say the sill plate or floor joists and let the bottom hang loose. The weight of the coal will hold it tightly against the walls.

Philippe23 wrote:

gambler wrote:Are you using a hammer drill?

Nope, we were using my cordless 1/2" Milwaukee which has been up to the task for everything else I've used it for. Even bought some Bosch concrete bits figuring the pack-in from Tapcon was trash. (The Tapcon bit seemed better than the Bosch actually.)

Also tried using a corded drill from a neighbor. Didn't do much better than my cordless.


Okay. I'll see what my local rental place offers in regards to hammer drills.


Quick search on Google shows that there are hammer drills and rotary hammer drills. Think I need one vs. the other?


Thanks guys!

A rotary hammer is much better but most, if not all use SDS bits and the bits used for concrete screws are not usually SDS--just straight shanks.

gaw wrote:For what you are trying to accomplish investing too much time and effort (and money) is not practical.

Friend at work has a hammer-drill that he's going to let me borrow. So hopefully I'll be able to pull it off with that. Another guy at work has a manual (read: arm and hammer) powder-actuated nailer, that I'm also going to borrow and see how that does.

Maybe there is a way you can just attach the OSB at the top, say the sill plate or floor joists and let the bottom hang loose. The weight of the coal will hold it tightly against the walls.

My biggest worry is about the 2x4's in the corners that I want to get attached to the concrete walls. Otherwise I think I would have thrown in the towel already like you said.

[...]use SDS bits and the bits used for concrete screws are not usually SDS--just straight shanks.

The Bosch bits I bought were SDS I think (had slots on 'em), but you're right -- the Tapcon bits were straight shanks.

Borrowed a guy at work's Black & Decker Hammer Drill a new Bosch straight shank hammer drill bit and it worked fine. Not quite "like butter", but I got the holes drilled and screws in in about an hour (and I have no where near the leverage of my fore mentioned father-in-law).

Thanks guys!