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Originally Posted by arnoldk57
Thank you for your input. I broke a titanium tipped drill bit attempting to get through or at least into the steel beam. How thick do you think the beam is? My house was built in 2018 south of 44 (village of Desoto). Thanks, Ken
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The beam is a poured in place reinforced concrete lintel. Check your construction drawings marked "MO" or masonry openings. There are several details that show how each section of the construction is done. The part where you try to drill through is a poured in place lintel.
1. If you look at a house under construction of the block walls you will see a silver looking steel box resting on the walls and it spans the opening for windows, doors etc..
2. The next day, the masons put reinforcing in the box (lintel form) and pour concrete 12 inches deep.
3. The day after the masons can continue the block wall up to the bond beams as specified by the truss manufacturer.
Now that steel box is 18 guage which is 0.048 inches thick which about 1/20 th of an inch thick so it is thin but tough to drill through. The shade installers at our house used the drilling screws and it would use up several screws to get through and fasten the shade hardware. They said it was cheaper and quicker than using drill bits. The now duller screws would still work in wood so they could salvage some use of these screws.
Good luck!