How To Avoid Drilling Through Cables In a Wall | Cable Zones Explained
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- čas přidán 4. 08. 2023
- In this video i will be showing you prescribed cable zones in a simplified way which will help you to avoid hitting electrical cables when you are drilling or cutting into a wall. I will also be showing you how to use a multi detector to find wires in a wall. If you like the video then leave a like and please subscribe for more content like this.
Check out the other videos on my channel as there is loads more to learn!
Tools Shown In This Video
🔵 Bosch Multi Detector - amzn.to/3DK1tnk
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Important to note that circuits have to be switched on for the detector to beep. :)
Use the metal detection function and it picks it up regardless
Worth mentioning a couple of other tricks: check what is on the other side if the wall is internal, and take the switch or socket off to see which way the cables exit
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This video is a life saver / literally i mean/ but seriously most of them are ignoring this part of the scanning problem only caring of the stud findings. idk this topic is crucial not to mess it up. so big kudos to you.
You are very well spoken. No um's or uh's. Thank you for that!
Thanks a lot 🙌
Funny because I agree, but I read this as soon as he said an umm @4:42 😆
great video, so useful and well presented. Thanks!
Brilliant stuff really enjoying this channel and all the help you are giving us keen to learn home owners,keep them coming,very important to avoid electrical wires and pipes when drilling for obvious reasons
Thanks a lot. Glad to help
Me too! Helped me put my blinds up, sort my radiators, learn which drywall fixings to use & now how to safely put up my heavy metal kitchen pan shelves & hooks too!
Very helpful. Just rented a new apartment and I will follow your advices when drilling. Thank you
Quality vid
Might be a stretch but would be good to see the inside of wall and how the cables/pipes and any other bits are “typically” routed so we get a better understanding of what it looks like.
Thanks
Happy days another great vid from The DIY Guy!
Thanks a lot! Just the beginning
Very helpful as usual
I've never had much luck with all these detectors they seem to beep all over the place!!
With my Bosch one, you have to 'earth' it by placing the hand you're not holding the detector with against the wall whilst you scan. Otherwise it just bleeps constantly.
Exactly this. Someone told me to Earth it also. Makes the world of difference.
And if it's not, some of them apparently suffer from static from where you run them on the wall/flock wallpaper I imagine. "Earth" them by bopping them on the head or tapping them on another surface if you're in your DMs.
@@excalibur9768 good to know. 👍
Same here, just used it on the wall and it shows wiring all over the four walls
I was about to drill a hole very close to the fuse box and then decided to get some knowledge about the cable zones.
Thanks a lot for teaching us valuable lessons. Liked and subscribed channel.
Thanks, I didn’t know about these zones. Very informative 👍
Glad it was helpful!
My detector told me the whole wall was electrified when I was putting shelves up in the utility room, now I understand why - vapour resistant plasterboard! Thanks!
This is the most useful channel on CZcams!
Glad you think so!
Beloved thank you for the video.
Hello, great video, I have a question regarding the zone at the joint of two walls. Would the ‘don’t drill’ zone apply where a chimney breast meets a wall? In other words, I’m wanting to put up some alcove shelving and would like to know if the 150mm zone as per the video would apply where a chimney breast meets a wall.
Thank u for helping me diy safely
So helpful for people that don't know this good help !
Great
Good content, it’s worth mentioning that although regs are in place and should be followed I’ve seen cables at 45 degrees across a wall (dot and dab) I’ve also seen ables run down the outsider reveals right where a curtain hook would go. Great information as per👍🏻
Absolutely right
Useful information
I enjoy watching your video, Thanks!
Thanks for watching!
So helpful!! Thank you❤
You're welcome!
Bless you
I’ve been looking for a video like this for years so thank you!
Please could you also clarify where we’d be likely to have pipes, i.e. if you want to drill in a bathroom?
Very informative video, thanks
Glad it was helpful!
My daughter has just moved into a new build and needs all sorts to be screwed up. This video will help act as a belt and braces approach when my detector throws a hissy fit!
Absolutely 👍
Great video 👍🙏
Thanks mick 👍
great video , thanks 👍👍
Glad you enjoyed it
Learnt something useful today …thanx mukka ….😉😉😉
My pleasure 😊
Will these work for Brick and Mortar (Cement) walls to detect wiring underneath? What about water pipes under tile and cement walls?
How do you calculate materials for media wall , all timber studs , all plaster board and rest of it please
As a spark good shout bud I rember working in a golf course n a guy wanted to hang a picture above a picture light he did but mangled the cables so we had to open up the newly decorated wall fix his bodge fair play he didn't know.. but we did 👍
Thanks for sharing. This is why I make videos like this to try and increase awareness 👍
Great video
Thanks!
Cheers m8!
Bloke like myself done drilled a damn wire
Blimmey
Great vid very informative, could i just mention that its a good idea to look on the over side of the wall incase some one has tailed of for an extra socked or thinks like wall lights,,, not a criticism
Good tip that !
Hi. Does that go for every wall or just those with a light or plug socket on? Great vid. Very helpful. Cheers! 👍
As an added check, if in doubt, I loosen off the fixture and look which way the cable is routed.
I have a medium to large bedroom wall the plug double socket is in the right-hand corner of the Wall no light switch on that wall I tried, well my uncle tried to drill 4 holes for a mirror in the middle of the wall but the drill won't go all the way in to 3 of the holes its as though something's there and the drill head will not go any further? The main front bedroom is on the other side of this back bedroom. what could be stopping the drill from going in, it's an old house I know the brick is hard but not so hard for the drill not to go through for plug and nail to go in. Please help?
Great video. Just one question - at 1:59 when you talk about where two walls meet (i.e.. inside corner of a room) there is a zone at that corner. Would this also apply if a corner edge is formed at the back of those walls e.g. if two walls meet in an 'L' shape - the inside edge is a zone (as in your video) but is the outer edge a cable zone too?
Lots of professional electricians refuse to install cables unless they are vertical. The only exception is a adjacent socket less that 12inches away or a cooker,or other outlet with a local isolator switch. That’s why most cables get drilled as other trades and most DIYers don’t expect a cable to go sideways.
When I was an apprentice it was drummed into us that horizontal or diagonal cable runs are bad practice. There is nothing in regs to say not to run cables horizontal, it's just bad practice.
Excellent video mate. It would great if you could do a video on adding sockets horizontally for kitchens along with how you wire them up.
Great suggestion!
@@TheDIYGuy1 thanks, look forward to the video. You could even do an ‘ L’shaped connection for cooker socket if you know what I mean.
A series of down and up again "U"s
@@JP_TaVeryMuch Agreed, ring under the floor coming up and down, up and down etc.
I remember in another video you had said about spurring off from existing sockets. how can you tell if an existing socket has been spurred from another socket? was thinking as well how you can tell if your wiring is "ring main" setup or a " radial circuit"?
Count the cables entering the back box of the socket. One cable means it's already on a spur. Two cables means it's a regular socket on a ring or radial circuit. Three cables mean it supplies a spur.
Great video, two tips to people in the comments:
1. In my experience there isnt much difference in accuracy between the cheap Amazon/ebay detectors and fhe expensive bosch ones
2. To be doubly sure, kill the power at the consumer unit then unscrew the faceplate for the lightswitch and socket to see which direction cables were routed
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I've had cables do a sharp right out of the top of the back box so even this tip sometimes isn't enough.
Then theres water and gas pipes and studs, of course.
Hello, another good help tip. I am getting confident with electricity thanks to your clear guidance. Could I ask, have you built a workshop? I am curious to see your workstation. I am keen to transform my garage into a workshop but keen to understand how you can add more sockets, should you add protection to the walls I.E to make them damp proof etc. thank you in advance.
A workshop build series is coming later this year 👍
Excellent thank you. I really appreciate your videos. Recently I have been going on a live feed called shed heads on Thursdays at 7. It’s where people talk about their workshops, tools. Really interesting. The channel is on the small workshopadventures. If you get a chance, have a listen. Thanks once again.
Great
👍
I have a multi detector by bosch, maybe the same model. It detects live wire across the entire wall, not just at the location of the actual wire.
" check out my Amazon shop etc " well I tapped what should have been a link that says the quote above but sadly it's not sensitive to touch so I couldn't go to your Amazon shop I'm watching you on CZcams I don't go to the other sites how about you send me your Amazon shop link and thank you for this video I have to drill into a small wall space and I'm scared. If my electric drill did hit a wire what would happen what's happened to others?
Thanks for being there and helping us out....
Maybe teach us the beginners guide on how to drill from choosing the drill bits to please
👍
Can you do a vid for the ceiling?
my house, 1959, had some cables upstairs that went down and along like an L so that threw us a few curve balls when doing the loft conversion, especially as it went through behind a door frame
Ouch, can happen.
Ditto skirting boards. Nice gaps at the edge of plastered walls sometimes too tempting for a DIYer.
i think i heard you say the device was set to "electricity". does that mean electricity has to be going through the wires (lights turned on for example) to be detected or is it just detecting metal?
It just means he has the device in his hand set to electricity,these devices would have a setting for wood as in studs in the wall and metal for metal pipes also so you need to have the correct setting switched on,the device will pick up any electric current behind the wall regardless of wether the lights are on or not
@@eddiecotter7201I have that device and it doesn't always pick up cables on electric setting but it always does on metal setting
Can u do a video of running network cabling from one room to the next via the loft and down the drywall.
I’ll see what I can do, thanks
Is this applicable in the United States?
Is there a similar set of prescribed zones for plumbing? With more radiators being fed with plastic pipes, using detectors is often impossible. Easier to repair a cable than a pipe too!
There should be
Not as lethal either. Unless it's a gas main.
Have you or can you do one for running electric to a shed.
I’m the future I can do that 👍
@@TheDIYGuy1 I will look out for that one 👍
@@TheDIYGuy1
Me too. Number of times a customer has wanted a sharp turn in a bit of buried Armoured to avoid a shrub. Ha!
How about drilling from hallway in bedroom how about I drill through skiryen board
I'm one of those cool people who drilled a cable. Scared the life out of me. I used an existing hole as guidance that I could drill safely. Turned out the original installer had put their cable 1cm out of zone and nicked their own cable.
Are these specific standards international?
Thanks to whoever rewired my house before I got it. I followed the up down zone when fitting new kitchen wall cabinets, drilled 100mm to the left of socket, hit the bloody cable, it wasn't running straight up, was going at a diagonal!. Luckily they used conduit so I could pull it out from l the upstairs bedroom..... 😂
Ouch. These things can happen but as you say, luckily you could pull it 👍
👍👍💯
👍 cheers
Remember, when first picking up the stud detector, you are obligated to use it on yourself and comment that it isn't working!
😂👍
Regardless of safe zones I always check with detector . Better safe than sorry
Good idea 👍
5:07 how to hang pictures on a plasterboard/stud wall please
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Any switch or socket vertical or horizontal is a danger zone. Should have also included wall lights too in that description
Yes Wall lights are an ‘accessory’
Install rj45 cable
You _are_ a boy aren't you?
Clear, quick and concise. Congrats, couldn't fault it!
You even mentioned the "green" alternative that's messed these (+ zone knowledge) life-savers up; namely replacing the studs with metals 5:48.
My school art teacher would be happy that her love of the artist Mondrian is finally useful in the big bad world (03:45). Yeah, exactly!
I dont think my detector is very accurate. I have two plug sockets that look like they come together along the bottom and go up vertically in the middle of the wall. Its a wall in a loft conversion so its possible. But when my detector picks up this supposed cable it seems to then say live wire on every part of the wall. I turn it off and back on again then it picks up nothing at all, even where it previously said there was a cable. Im not picking up anything above the plug sockets either or the light switch yet the fuse box is directly above that. I can avoid those areas anyway its just bugging me that my detector is not giving me results that make sense. And i am reluctant to drill into the wall i need to even though i know it "should" be a safe area.
Masz bardzo fajny język angielski. Mógłbyś być nauczycielem.
150ml?
I have to use this everyday for my job.
Trouble is there’s not much you can do when the whole place is built with foil back plaster board and plastic pipes. I’ve used it where I know 100% there’s an electric cable with power switched on and it doesn’t detect when it’s not even that deep in the wall.
Yeah he says exactly this at the end
RCDs removed the need to follow zones so alot of installers ignore this; a scanner is the best thing you can use.
Also watch out for plumbers 🤣 they have no zones
Haha 👍
Can there be wiring just above the door frame?
Man, That detector doesn't work for me! It says the whole wall has wires... When I know it doesn't
Possibly Vapor resistant plasterboard mate
@@TheDIYGuy1Or plaster and lath if on "stud-finder" setting.
Bang 😂😂😂😂
New house old one
I always remove a box from the wall to see which way the wires and tubing go. Most are obvious. You can generally figure out that if a box in low to the skirting board the wires are going to go under the floor. Personally, if you have no intelligence, get a qualified electrician in.
Up to a point...
Many DIYers hoik off the skirting board, see a nice channel at floor level if the plaster was a Friday afternoon job and so slot in their ring main/whatever.
Be prepared.
Like the Scouts in Korea!
I’ve got that exact model of detector and it’s absolute junk I’m afraid, it beeps and gives off all manner of false signals, I even run it over some studwork I had just put up and nothing corresponded with what I knew to be behind it. It’s at the bottom of the van cubby box and that’s where it will stay. A complete waste of money. I’m not mocking the video in anyway just saying I’m a tradesman and I wouldn’t trust that particular model (just in case someone was tempted to buy it) as far as I could throw it, shocking really as I think I paid over £100 for it, a crystal ball would be more reliable.😀
Thanks for sharing your experience. It’s strange because mine has been very very good in most circumstances. I wonder if you have a dodgy one?
WEREWOLF'S ARE REAL AND HAVE BEEN SEEN IN THE UK
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