Investing in professional equipment, such as a cable avoidance tool, is the safest option to avoid wires. However, if you don’t have access to this, most wiring runs horizontally 6 inches or 12 inches above the receptacle, so avoid these areas. If it is possible, only drill shallow holes.
Can you drill into a wall with wires behind it?
Avoid drilling near light sockets or outlets
Wires in the wall often connect vertically and horizontally behind outlets and sockets and can lead to electrocution. Hitting a pipe in the wall can cause flooding. A simple rule of thumb is to avoid drilling anywhere near where there may be electrical hookups or piping.
How do you not get electrocuted when drilling?
Electrical Wires
First off, electrical code requires that metal plates be placed in front of wires that go through studs. Metal plates are hard to drill through, so if you hit something that your drill won’t penetrate, stop trying! Your drill should easily bite into wood and drywall.
How do I know if there are wires behind a wall?
According to Popular Mechanics, the best tool for locating wires is a stud finder with AC wire detection. Use painters’ tape around the area you wish to scan; this will serve as a place to mark the location of the wires after detection.
What happens if you drill into a wire in a wall?
Hitting a wire or pipe could cause serious injuries to the person holding the drill and could damage the home as well. Aside from you getting electrocuted and ending up in the emergency room, a fire could start, or your home could get flooded.
What to do if you hit a wire while drilling?
If you suspect that an electric cable has been hit, it is absolutely necessary to repair it. You should immediately ensure that the power is switched off before touching anything. In the worst case, if the protective earth conductor has been damaged you otherwise run the risk of a fatal electric shock.
Would I know if I drilled into a wire?
One way to tell if they have screwed into the wiring is to measure AC volts from screw to hot, screw to neutral screw to ground. A Wire that is somewhat free behind the dry wall might not always be centered and I have seen a wire get caught in a home that was built in 1997.
What happens if a nail hits a wire?
It could get hot enough to ignite a fire on the wrong side of the walls. Of if the wire is cut entirely, or passing through the nail, it is bound to start arcing. Arcing makes a tremendous amount of heat – it will heat up much, much faster than a nicked wire, and could start a fire going in less than a minute.
