We are novice DIYers attempting to finish our garage walls in a 10 year old Ryan Home with a poured concrete foundation. I had planned to lay the 2x4s flat against the wall, meaning I need a fastener of 1.5" for the lumber and additional length for the concrete.
Initially I purchased a Ryobi hammer drill and two packs of Tapcon 2 1/4" concrete anchors which came with a drill bit. We were able to drill one hole with difficulty and the bit was burnt out by the time our second hole was barely started. I tried drilling several different places in case I was hitting reinforcement. At this point I was concerned I had done something wrong and damaged the bit.
I stopped at Ace hardware and asked their advice and they weren't sure what was causing the problem. They recommended I try a powder nail gun, which I purchased along with Ramset 3" pins and yellow loads (listed as 4/5 power, the strongest Ace had). When I tried this the nail was still protruding 3/4" from the wood, which means that it made it less than 3/4" into the concrete. This has led me to believe that there is some sort of reinforcement in the wall or in the way the concrete was mixed that is causing problems.
Is there something special about some concrete walls that needs to be taken into account and worked around when finishing them out? What could cause the standard methods of securing lumber to concrete to fail like this? Should I simply try again with the same powder load and a 2 1/2" pin?
EDIT
Given the difficulty in getting through the concrete, would it work to treat it more like an interior wall and completely frame it on the floor, then lay the whole thing against the wall? That would allow the 2x4s to provide structural support against each other instead of the wall, minimizing the concrete anchors I need. It would also address issues with the concrete wall not being completely flat.
Or would that not be a good idea?
Best Answer
easy solution that we use all the time. get yourself a powder actuated gun (you will have a much easier time if you get a strip load gun instead of a single load gun). use 3" pins and red loads. just make sure when you pull the trigger, you have a good amount of force on the gun (so it can't kick back at you). this should set your 3" pins almost flush. if your concrete is super hard (for whatever reason), just hit it a second time with the gun. its seems dangerous, but we have put probably 10,000 loads through each one of our guns, 10% are probably second hits. no problem. if you would like a tip - strap the furring afterwards with 3/4 ply ripped at 3", with shims between the furring and the strapping. this will give you a perfectly flat wall with wider attachement points for all the drywall. much easier to make the joints line up in the drywall.