What's inside my walls?

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mdf

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#2874157 24-Feb-2022 16:36

Bung: He doesn't have a hole yet. If you already have drilled a pattern of holes into gib, join up the dots and remove a small piece of gib. You'll be able to glue it back in. It is possible you do have a steel plate protecting cables if it is close to the meter box.

^ This. I've found it easiest to cut a square hole, then once done, replace and fill the joins. If you don't have something solid to glue it to, you can run a spar of something across the inside of the hole. Superglue works well for that.

I would however suggest some investigations with a strong magnet first. A steel plate in your wall could be whether strapping, joining or cable protection but you'll quickly (and non destructively) figure out it's boundaries sweeping a magnet across it.

Lizard1977

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#2874178 24-Feb-2022 17:19

The magnet is a good idea. I have some strong (but small) magnets that I could try.

I took another look when I got home last night and properly measured with tape to see how close this area is to the meter box. Turns out, it almost certainly is the meter box, based on measured position and depth. So I think I will call this one closed. It just means the space is no good for mounting a shelf to the wall, except perhaps for a larger one that will span the framing. I filled in the holes with putty and will slap a bit of paint back on there.

There was another wall where there was a similar issue drilling a hole, which is what led me to wonder about something strange in my walls. However, I think it may just be a coincidence. In that situation, I was drilling pilot holes to mount the charging bracket for my Dyson, which required two vertical mounting points. I found what I thought was the stud, and the first screw went in fine. The second didn't, and testing around the same location found similar resistance. That was also an interior/exterior wall (and why I connected it with my other wall problem), but it may have just been a piece of metal strapping or similar. I shifted my mounting location to the adjacent wall (also interior/exterior) and was able to screw the mount in on a stud with no issues.

A Walabot or something similar would be great. I suspect there will be a bit of DIY in my future, so it might be worth the investment.

SomeoneSomewhere

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#2874302 24-Feb-2022 19:27

Yeah, meterbox will be recessed right back to the gib on the other side.

richms

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#2874403 24-Feb-2022 22:08

mdf:

Bung: He doesn't have a hole yet. If you already have drilled a pattern of holes into gib, join up the dots and remove a small piece of gib. You'll be able to glue it back in. It is possible you do have a steel plate protecting cables if it is close to the meter box.

^ This. I've found it easiest to cut a square hole, then once done, replace and fill the joins. If you don't have something solid to glue it to, you can run a spar of something across the inside of the hole. Superglue works well for that.

I would however suggest some investigations with a strong magnet first. A steel plate in your wall could be whether strapping, joining or cable protection but you'll quickly (and non destructively) figure out it's boundaries sweeping a magnet across it.

I do round with a big holesaw, sticks in easier as there is no corner of the middle bit to lift up with the compound when you're trying to smooth it out.

Richard rich.ms

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