Section 2: Top Floor

Creating pilot holes in tile floor

Alright let's take a deep breath. If you have not drilled through tile before you might be nervous. You may have heard horror stories about cracked tiles and broken drill bits. Fear not. Haven has got your back.

We are gonna walk through drilling your holes through tile at a nice and slow pace. Before we begin, let's walk through the special tools and gear you will need.

Tools needed:

• 1 Prepare Your HAVEN
  

  At this point, you should have marked the four drill holes from the install template on your floor.

  Take your HAVEN and unscrew the gate. You do this by unscrewing the four screws on the front of the gate as seen here.

  Once you have removed the gate cover, place the HAVEN unit down on the floor so that it matches up each one of the four holes. If it doesn't match. STOP. Go back to the template and make sure you correctly marked the floor. All 6 marks should align with the four holes in HAVEN. Once they align, you can proceed.

  Double check to make sure everything seems right. Will HAVEN be low enough for the door to clear it when it is unlocked. Will HAVEN be high enough so that at least .25 inches of HAVEN will be touching the bottom of the door. This is gut check time. Be comfortable with HAVEN where it is right now since once you start drilling, there is not really any going back.

  Everything is lined up right? Now we need to do it again while putting masking tape down.

  

  Place a piece of masking tape at the center of the door, and then place once on the center of the HAVEN unit when it is in front of the door.

  Next we need to make an x with masking tape where each hole will be drilled into the Tile floor. This will be a little bit tricky since we can't lose our markings. Lift up the HAVEN unit. Place a small x of masking tape over each marked point for drilling. Place four X's. Now replace the HAVEN unit so that the center of unit matches the center of the door.

  Remember you marked these points already with masking tape. With the unit aligned with the center of the door. You can now mark where the holes will go on the X's of tape you just laid down. Be careful and be exact as you can.
• 2 Prepping Pilot Holes
  

  Alright now it is time to drill. Take your Power Drill and install the special Diamond-tipped drill bit. If you have never drilled into tile before, take it slow and steady. This is about precision not power. NEVER USE A HAMMER DRILL ON ANY NATURAL STONE, GLASS OR PORCELAIN MATERIAL.

  Before we start drilling, we are going to use the Punch to get the hole started. Place the punch on the exact drill spot you have marked on the tape. Use the Hammer and gently tap on the punch. Gently! This will take a little bit of the glaze off the tile. Do this too hard and you will crack the tile. Just gentle tapping will take the glaze off.
• 3Drilling Pilot Holes in Floor
  

  Now replace the HAVEN unit so that the center of unit matches the center of the door. Remember you marked these points already with masking tape. With the unit aligned with the center of the door. You can now mark where the holes will go on the X's of tape you just laid down. Be careful and be exact as you can.

  Now that we have starting point, let's start drilling. Do not have your drill on Hammer if your drill has it. NEVER USE A HAMMER DRILL ON ANY NATURAL STONE, GLASS OR PORCELAIN MATERIAL. That will crack the tile. So use normal drill setting. The key to drilling in tile is finding the right amount of pressure. You need to give the drill modest pressure. Don't press too hard but press moderately.

  

  Slowly drill your hole. Tile can be very hard. Even with a diamond-tipped drill bit it will take time. You might also want to have a small cup of water next to you as you drill. Drill for a few seconds, stop, dip the tip in water, and continue to drill. You don't want your drill bit to get to hot and wear down. Using water is the best way to prevent this.

  Drill down into each hole two inches in depth. You can mark or tape your drill bit to measure the depth.

  Now that wasn't that hard was it? Move onto Level 3 Subfloors. Now if you have a wood subfloor head to Lesson 3-1 Securing Haven into a Hardwood floor or subfloor. If you have a concrete subfloor, head on over to Lesson 3-4 Securing Haven into a Concrete floor or subfloor with Anchors