Drilling and electricals

T

TaLamia

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Hey guys

I'm planning to put up a bunch of shelves with L-brackets but am scared of hitting any electrical wiring in the drilling process. The plugs are only about 2cm long each. I know very little of how electrical wiring gets laid during construction but was hoping at least the top 2cm of plastering should be nothing but plastering, is that a correct assumption? I don't have one of those electrical detector devices (wouldn't want to get one unless they were cheap, which I heard they are not).
 
Its probably not a correct assumption.

Just try not put your drill holes directly above or below any plugs because most electrical wiring will be run in the ceiling and then vertically down the wall to the plug (its the easiest way to do it).

If you are unsure, open up the plug and see which way the wiring goes out of the wallbox, then avoid drilling in that specific line.
 
Thanks @TB, good advice!

And that's a great option @SFourie, thanks! Didn't know what to look for so this really helps.

@Stokstert you don't think that will hold? It's only for light weight items of pine shelves that are about 20cm in width, I don't think they need to be much deeper...?
 
TaLamia said:
Thanks @TB, good advice!

And that's a great option @SFourie, thanks! Didn't know what to look for so this really helps.

@Stokstert you don't think that will hold? It's only for light weight items of pine shelves that are about 20cm in width, I don't think they need to be much deeper...?
Click to expand...

Very definitely not enough.. the plaster will come away from the wall the minute you put even a small amount of extra weight on the shelf.
 
Ok thanks everyone :) I have longer plugs so will use those, after I buy a detector because, well, prevention is better than cure.
 
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Stokstert said:
2 cm plugs to attach the brackets into only the plaster of the wall won't be strong enough.
Click to expand...


This!!!
Just get 5/6mm nail-in-anchors (also called hiltis)
 
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Never used one of those detectors and never needed to.

As Toxic said it's a simple process of elimination. Tubing will either go up or down from the plug so just avoid those areas.

If you are really worried get into the roof and have a look around. Do this anyway so you have a better understanding of how your house works.
 
I did few renovations (keeps me busy and out of trouble) and mostly it is true what are you saying but I came across quite a few scary situations where wires were going diagonally. Last one was for extractor, they first did wires diagonally then something went wrong so they pulled wires from the outside. So you had wires going out and in to the house.
R1000 for one of those detctors is small price to pay for being confident that you will not damage something or worse die in the process.

SauRoNZA said:
Never used one of those detectors and never needed to.

As Toxic said it's a simple process of elimination. Tubing will either go up or down from the plug so just avoid those areas.

If you are really worried get into the roof and have a look around. Do this anyway so you have a better understanding of how your house works.
Click to expand...
 
SauRoNZA said:
Diagonal...that is pretty scary.
Click to expand...

Then again.. the electrics in my house were done by a muppet before i bought it...

I have light grade wiring running a double plug in the kitchen, and the cable is just buried in the tile mortar....
 
I'm planning to drill a hole near a plug, but it's diagonally to the plug, not directly above, below or to the side. I have checked the wires in the plug and they run horizontally into two pipes.

Am I safe to drill to the top left of the plug?

I have attached an illustration to show where the hole will be in relation to the plug.

Drawing.jpeg
 
derp90 said:
I'm planning to drill a hole near a plug, but it's diagonally to the plug, not directly above, below or to the side. I have checked the wires in the plug and they run horizontally into two pipes.

Am I safe to drill to the top left of the plug?

I have attached an illustration to show where the hole will be in relation to the plug.

View attachment 1024206
Click to expand...
Which way do the wires run from the plug?

Maybe invest in something like this
www.4home.co.za

Power Tool Accessories: Ryobi Wall Detector (WWD-100)

Compact and easy to use Ryobi Wall Detector (WWD-100) for safe drilling in walls. Detects ferrous metal, non-ferrous metal and live wires with LED warning lights. 2 Year Warranty.
www.4home.co.za www.4home.co.za
 
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