Home Page link

Locating Wires in Walls ?

Home| Search | About
Login Password
Register Now! Lost Password?

Building Construction - Building Construction Industry Discussions. 

Page 2 of 2       << first < 1 2 Bookmark this page:  YahooMyWeb Yahoo!  Google Google  Windows Live Favorites Windows Live  del.icio.us del.icio.us  digg digg  Add to Netscape Netscape
Subject Author Date
Locating Wires in Walls ? James 01-24-2008
If you were  Registered and logged in, you could reply and use other advanced thread options
Posted by James on January 24, 2008, 10:43 pm
Thanks for the great replies !! Basically, I think this reply will help
me a lot.......
-----------------------

Assuming you're using a hole saw, just stop drilling when you get through
the siding and sheeting, and you shouldn't hit anything.

----------------------------

Duhhh, maybe I should have thought of that myself !! But, that is an
excellent approach, as once through the siding, I can probe around and if
there is a wire, hopefully I can force it to one side or the other, to allow
me to go fully through the wall, on to the outside of the wall.

Thanks a lot !!

James



Posted by Robert Allison on January 24, 2008, 11:12 pm
James wrote:

> I have to drill a 2 1/2 inch hole through an exterior wall, and I know that
> it is possible that I could run into wiring. While I know that I could
> turn this circuit off and drill away, I can envision that it would be hard
> to access both ends of the 120 volt wiring if my drill should cut a wire.
> (repairing would normally be easy, but I don't know if I would have
> appropriate "slack" and/or if I could get to both ends to do the repair. )
>
> Isn't there a gadget to allow one to locate the exact wiring location in a
> wall ?
>
> Thanks for any tips !!
>
> James
>
>

All the other answers are good, but here is another way:

Determine exactly where the hole MUST be and mark that spot. Most of
the wiring in your entire home will be right behind it. Now, spend a
considerable amount of time figuring out how to put it in a different
spot and mark that. Your main gas line will be behind the new location.

Do this again to find your main water line and sewer stack.

After you have located every utility in your home with this method, and
have selected a new location (which will require you to completely
rearrange all of the furniture in your living room), you will find some
sort of engineered wood support with a flitch plate made of some
impenetrable metal from another planet.

After you have successfully gotten through that with a cutting torch
(which compromised the structural integrity of your building and started
a smoldering fire in the stud cavity that won't burst into flame until
after you have left for the movies) you will go outside to find that
somehow you have drilled a hole completely through the engine block of
your lawnmower.

:-)

Seriously, you can buy a device that will locate live wires in your
wall, and for a lot more money, you can buy one that will locate almost
any wire in the wall, hot or not.

http://tinyurl.com/29vxw9

--
Robert Allison
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX

Posted by Red Green on January 25, 2008, 9:04 pm

> James wrote:
>
>> I have to drill a 2 1/2 inch hole through an exterior wall, and I
>> know that it is possible that I could run into wiring. While I know
>> that I could turn this circuit off and drill away, I can envision
>> that it would be hard to access both ends of the 120 volt wiring if
>> my drill should cut a wire. (repairing would normally be easy, but I
>> don't know if I would have appropriate "slack" and/or if I could
>> get to both ends to do the repair. )
>>
>> Isn't there a gadget to allow one to locate the exact wiring location
>> in a wall ?
>>
>> Thanks for any tips !!
>>
>> James
>>
>>
>
> All the other answers are good, but here is another way:
>
> Determine exactly where the hole MUST be and mark that spot. Most of
> the wiring in your entire home will be right behind it. Now, spend a
> considerable amount of time figuring out how to put it in a different
> spot and mark that. Your main gas line will be behind the new
> location.
>
> Do this again to find your main water line and sewer stack.
>
> After you have located every utility in your home with this method,
> and have selected a new location (which will require you to completely
> rearrange all of the furniture in your living room), you will find
> some sort of engineered wood support with a flitch plate made of some
> impenetrable metal from another planet.
>
> After you have successfully gotten through that with a cutting torch
> (which compromised the structural integrity of your building and
> started a smoldering fire in the stud cavity that won't burst into
> flame until after you have left for the movies) you will go outside to
> find that somehow you have drilled a hole completely through the
> engine block of your lawnmower.
>
>:-)

You SOB Robert! You lived next door to me. I looked around and thought no
one saw what happened.

>
> Seriously, you can buy a device that will locate live wires in your
> wall, and for a lot more money, you can buy one that will locate
> almost any wire in the wall, hot or not.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/29vxw9
>


Posted by =?ISO-8859-15?Q?Tekkie=AE?= on January 27, 2008, 9:37 pm
Robert Allison posted for all of us...

> James wrote:
>
> > I have to drill a 2 1/2 inch hole through an exterior wall, and I know that
> > it is possible that I could run into wiring. While I know that I could
> > turn this circuit off and drill away, I can envision that it would be hard
> > to access both ends of the 120 volt wiring if my drill should cut a wire.
> > (repairing would normally be easy, but I don't know if I would have
> > appropriate "slack" and/or if I could get to both ends to do the repair. )
> >
> > Isn't there a gadget to allow one to locate the exact wiring location in a
> > wall ?
> >
> > Thanks for any tips !!
> >
> > James
> >
> >
>
> All the other answers are good, but here is another way:
>
> Determine exactly where the hole MUST be and mark that spot. Most of
> the wiring in your entire home will be right behind it. Now, spend a
> considerable amount of time figuring out how to put it in a different
> spot and mark that. Your main gas line will be behind the new location.
>
> Do this again to find your main water line and sewer stack.
>
> After you have located every utility in your home with this method, and
> have selected a new location (which will require you to completely
> rearrange all of the furniture in your living room), you will find some
> sort of engineered wood support with a flitch plate made of some
> impenetrable metal from another planet.
>
> After you have successfully gotten through that with a cutting torch
> (which compromised the structural integrity of your building and started
> a smoldering fire in the stud cavity that won't burst into flame until
> after you have left for the movies) you will go outside to find that
> somehow you have drilled a hole completely through the engine block of
> your lawnmower.
>
> :-)
>
> Seriously, you can buy a device that will locate live wires in your
> wall, and for a lot more money, you can buy one that will locate almost
> any wire in the wall, hot or not.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/29vxw9
>
>
Bob, you either have seen me in action or have the same obstruction finding
knack as me. I'm not alone in this world...
--
Tekkie Don't bother to thank me, I do this as a public service.

Posted by buffalobill on January 25, 2008, 7:34 am
> I have to drill a 2 1/2 inch hole through an exterior wall, and I know that
> it is possible that I could run into wiring. While I know that I could
> turn this circuit off and drill away, I can envision that it would be hard
> to access both ends of the 120 volt wiring if my drill should cut a wire.
> (repairing would normally be easy, but I don't know if I would have
> appropriate "slack" and/or if I could get to both ends to do the repair. )
>
> Isn't there a gadget to allow one to locate the exact wiring location in a
> wall ?
>
> Thanks for any tips !!
>
> James

buffalo ny: consider drilling an exploratory hole behind an existing
inside wall hanging art for camouflage. the main breaker and the smoke
alarm breaker red should be turned off after you shut down the
computer. you can use some electrical boxes that mount anywhere to
hold a blank electrical cover plate or a decorative blank plate with a
couple of anchor screws for covering your exploratory hole. you might
buy a hinged service panel for the mystery areas of the home you
explore, available in several sizes, see hdsupplysolutions. these are
of use for the closet wall behind the dripping shower fixture/tub as
well. a decorative medicine cabinet spanning the stud spacing which
can be dismounted with several deck screws at repair time may be of
use in many places in the home.
in an uninsulated home with no fire stops between floors invites your
inspection mirror or cellphone movie camera.

Page 2 of 2       << first < 1 2
Similar ThreadsPosted
Tracking hot wires inside walls April 26, 2006, 12:15 pm
Practicality of 2x8 walls February 1, 2007, 10:02 am
Help! The walls are falling down! February 8, 2007, 11:10 am
Bathtub walls March 21, 2007, 4:35 pm
Best Way to Tie in New Porch Walls October 3, 2007, 4:43 pm
Re: Commercial bathroom walls August 2, 2006, 8:26 pm
Wet Insulation in Basement Walls August 5, 2006, 12:25 pm
Lightweight siding, walls August 28, 2006, 4:03 pm
Second Story Walls Framed October 18, 2006, 9:20 pm
Wet Insulation Basement Walls June 16, 2007, 1:28 pm

Contact Us | Privacy Policy

XML SitemapXML Sitemap