How far can I Drill into a Gibbed wall? (To avoid water/power)

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tdgeek

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#298474 20-Jun-2022 12:03

I want to fit some wood planks to the garage wall for hanging/supporting things. Is there a safe depth I can screw that will avoid water pipes and electric wires? I know there are water pipes in there as the shut off tap is there

I have a stud finder, I assume that can detect a water pipe if water is flowing, I guess I just turn the outdoor sprinkler on, or a cold tap to get it flowing?

But if water/power has to be at least a certain distance form the outside of the wall, thats helpfuil

TIA

Bung

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#2932079 20-Jun-2022 12:16

The safe depth is 10mm. Regardless of how far from surface wires and pipes should be there'll always be that guy that chiselled a groove in the face of the stud to get past it so there could be something trapped against the back of the Gib.

wellygary

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#2932081 20-Jun-2022 12:23

if you are going straight in to the Gib, using drywall anchors will give you more strength, but will have the added benefit of unlikely piercing any wiring or plumbing, ( being plastic)

tdgeek

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#2932082 20-Jun-2022 12:29

wellygary:

if you are going straight in to the Gib, using drywall anchors will give you more strength, but will have the added benefit of unlikely piercing any wiring or plumbing, ( being plastic)

Was wanting to screw into studs, for hanging stuff up that might have a reasonable weight

tdgeek

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#2932084 20-Jun-2022 12:31

Bung: The safe depth is 10mm. Regardless of how far from surface wires and pipes should be there'll always be that guy that chiselled a groove in the face of the stud to get past it so there could be something trapped against the back of the Gib.

Already been burnt, someone's DIY plumbing cause me to pierce a PVC water pipe, what a mess of the hidden leak, then when I pulled the screw, sprayed in the kitchen, bugger!

Hence my caution

mdf

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#2932144 20-Jun-2022 12:55

Yeah, as above, there is no guaranteed safe distance. Penetrations are supposed to be in the middle of a stud (so you've usually got 30 odd mm at least) but there is no guarantee that's the case.

If there are areas of concern, you're only surefire ways are:

- An expensive detector that will check for wires and pipes

- Cutting a hole in the gib first.

Second is usually a non starter, but if it's a garage and you're covering up with planks or ply anyway, that might be okay.

tdgeek

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#2932148 20-Jun-2022 13:07

mdf:

Yeah, as above, there is no guaranteed safe distance. Penetrations are supposed to be in the middle of a stud (so you've usually got 30 odd mm at least) but there is no guarantee that's the case.

If there are areas of concern, you're only surefire ways are:

- An expensive detector that will check for wires and pipes

- Cutting a hole in the gib first.

Second is usually a non starter, but if it's a garage and you're covering up with planks or ply anyway, that might be okay.

Makes a lot of sense, thanks. I can find the studs with my stud finder and drill a half inch hold next to it, use a torch to visually check then get to it

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lchiu7

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#2932149 20-Jun-2022 13:09

tdgeek:

wellygary:

if you are going straight in to the Gib, using drywall anchors will give you more strength, but will have the added benefit of unlikely piercing any wiring or plumbing, ( being plastic)

Was wanting to screw into studs, for hanging stuff up that might have a reasonable weight

When I was hanging a projector screen from the ceiling that would have regular pulling to raise and lower it and I had no ceiing braces in the right place I used these

https://www.bunnings.co.nz/cobra-m6-x-75mm-plasterboard-driller-toggle-4-pack_p0155697

Worked really well and would easily support heavy loads (you don't say what reasonable weight means)

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

mdf

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#2932150 20-Jun-2022 13:21

tdgeek:

Makes a lot of sense, thanks. I can find the studs with my stud finder and drill a half inch hold next to it, use a torch to visually check then get to it

That will absolutely work. Another option is to use a craft/stanley knife (or a multi tool if you have one) to remove a small square - much more time consuming than drilling a hole but you can use the square you remove to patch the hole if needed (use this technique).

elpenguino

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#2932151 20-Jun-2022 13:25

Are there any power points or power switches on the wall you're interested in?

Those things are often screwed to a stud so you can loosen the switch or power point and see which side of it is mounted to the stud.

Door frames ??

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

pih

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#2932161 20-Jun-2022 13:52

Another thought: consider whether this might be a good time to cut an access hatch. I had to screw a shelf into the wall near both water mains and drain pipes recently and figured I might as well have access to the pipes for the future, with the added benefit of knowing exactly where everything is for future reference. I carefully cut out a neat panel that I've made a replaceable access hatch by backing the hole with stops, and the new hatch screws back into place.

The cut can be hidden in a number of different ways, often as you say by what you're attaching to the wall.

neb

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#2932343 20-Jun-2022 23:26

tdgeek:
Makes a lot of sense, thanks. I can find the studs with my stud finder and drill a half inch hold next to it, use a torch to visually check then get to it

You can also get cheap USB boresight cameras with 90 degree adapters that go through a 5-6mm hole for around the $20 mark off Ali or even TM if you need to inspect several locations and want to minimise damage.

Edited to add: If you're in Orkland you can borrow my one, bit of a pain to set up but works OK once you're through the process.

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#2932346 21-Jun-2022 00:03

If ceiling is 2.4m, dwangs should be at 800 and 1600 from slab height. If I had to pick a spot least likely for services to run, it would be that those heights on the studs. As an ex tradie, they were the last places i'd drill due to nails being there. You'd have to be pretty special to run services in that exact spot. Wouldn't expect too many services in a garage wall. So do homework before anything else. Check for items of interest on other side of wall. Could get into roof space and check for services running down from above where you plan to fix it too.