I want to drill a hole through a wall....

Goose

Goose

Goose

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I want to get an ethernet cable through the dividing wall of two bedrooms and even though it's just a thin plasterboard wall The Internet tells me I need to buy an expensive multifunction scanner thingy to check for a cables and pipes etc. I'm obviously not going to do that but I also don't want to go blindly drilling through a wall without seeking some advice first since i'm not an experienced DIYer.

Are there any simply precautions that I can/should take that dont require the spending of money?

Thanks
 
I would say it's still best to spend the £15-20 on a cheap wall scanner to be safe, you might use it in future too.

Being a stud wall you'd probably have to be really unlucky that there would be some cabling clipped directly where you want to screw, but it's possible.. and are there any radiators close? as that could indicate if there could be any pipes behind?
I say this and I have two wall scanners and I still took a recip saw to some plasterboard without checking and cut through a lighting cable, thank god for RCD's :p
 
On a serious note, don't drill above or below sockets or light switches or directly horizontal to them. Try to avoid above radiators as well if the pipes run in the walls. If you have to drill above a radiator then it's unlikely the pipes run in the middle of it and will most likely be at the sides, if you don't know if they come from above or below.

The only issue is if your house has had DIY numpties do the work then the cables could run any way they wanted to and could be diagonal or loop the loop!

Edit: Although the newer plastic pipes could actually run up the middle now as they're super flexible and they might even do it that way to avoid being seen at the edges. Your cheap scanner isn't likely to pick up plastic pipes either so good luck!
 
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I would (have bought) buy a cheap scanner as I knew there were some cables in my daughter bathroom. The cables were just where I thought they would be confirmed by the scanner.
 
Nemiyen said:
On a serious note, don't drill above or below sockets or light switches or directly horizontal to them. Try to avoid above radiators as well if the pipes run in the walls. If you have to drill above a radiator then it's unlikely the pipes run in the middle of it and will most likely be at the sides, if you don't know if they come from above or below.

The only issue is if your house has had DIY numpties do the work then the cables could run any way they wanted to and could be diagonal or loop the loop!

Edit: Although the newer plastic pipes could actually run up the middle now as they're super flexible and they might even do it that way to avoid being seen at the edges. Your cheap scanner isn't likely to pick up plastic pipes either so good luck!
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This is the best advice.

It's not just DIY numpties, I live in a new build and asked the site manager there was anything behind a bit of wall, he replied "well, they shouldn't be anything, but......"

Lidl have a scanner for £9.99 atm
https://www.lidl.co.uk/p/parkside-multi-purpose-detector/p10036812
 
Thanks all, I was obviously looking at the wrong devices because they were all in the hundreds of pounds. :D

There's absolutely nothing on the wall, no radiators, plug sockets etc.
 
If you don't mind spending money on something a bit more multi-purpose, I've had really good usage out of my endoscope camera. Carefully make a small hole in the plasterboard and you can form a plan of attack from there. Easy to repair with filler afterwards.
 
Goose said:
Thanks all, I was obviously looking at the wrong devices because they were all in the hundreds of pounds. :D

There's absolutely nothing on the wall, no radiators, plug sockets etc.
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There could still be a pipe or cable running from the floor to the ceiling.
 
Assuming it's upstairs bedrooms, also check to see if anything comes up from that wall into the loft.

You'd have to be really unlucky if there's absolutely no evidence of anything on or above the wall and then for it to turn out to contain something.
 
I have a simple scanner thing from b&q. It works and has saved me a few times. A mate just drilled the wall and shorted the lights. It’s a buy once use repeated over time - just take the batteries out so they don’t leak.
 
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