Drilling into a wall-wiring issues!!

Purple-flower

Hello everyone,

I'm planning to by some coat hooks. The ideal place to put them is an area above the light switch for one of the security lights. I just wanted to know how to drill into the wall without hitting a wire :eek:

I'm not sure about wiring etc so please explain any technical terms!! Thank you

themacster

You are most likely to have a wire above the switch as they should be arranged vertically above/below switches and sockets, although they can often go at a slight angle! Use a wire detector to be sure, available in hardware stores for a few quid, otherwise don't take the risk.

Purple-flower

Thank you themacster, so does that mean that the whole area above the switch up to the ceiling is potentially dangerous? Or is there a clearance area above the level of a switch? Thank you

BillTrac

And surely then your coats would cover the light switch...:T

Seriously, the cables should be routed at right angles from any device(note I said SHOULD). If you feel unsure then buy a cable detector. Just thinking though,will any of the fixings be directly above the switch? If one of the fixings is above then don't use it. Unless you mean individual coat hooks. If so then it may be a good idea to fix a pice of timber to the wall(avoiding directly above the switch) then fix the coat hooks to the wood.

Several years ago I was senior electrician on a site, and one of my team called me to look at the cabling in one of the houses we were wiring. The cables left the consumer unit under the stairs, went vertically for about a metre, then it was like a starburst. Cables just radiated away in all directions...:rotfl:Suffice to say, that 'sparkie' didn't do too much else for us that day, or any other actually!! Hopefully he didn't wire your house...

themacster

Purple-flower wrote: »

Thank you themacster, so does that mean that the whole area above the switch up to the ceiling is potentially dangerous? Or is there a clearance area above the level of a switch? Thank you

Yes, whole area dangerous!

I remember my previous house (which was a new-build) and visiting it when it was being built - to one wall switch the cable came up vertically for about a foot, then skewed off at about a 30 degree angle to the ceiling! Don't assume anything about location of cables (or pipes!) - ALWAYS check with a wire/pipe detector

Purple-flower

Excellent advice everyone, thank you. The coat hooks are on a wooden mount not individual ones. The switch, relative to the length of the wooden block, will be somewhere in the middle. The coat hook unit will be placed approximately 25-30 cm above the switch hopefully. Does this make any difference?

themacster

Doesn't make any difference - as I say, don't make any assumptions, other than there's bound to be a wire just where you want to drill.....

Purple-flower

Thank you all, I'm heading to homebase now to pick up a detector

vaio

Nah, forget the detector, get some glue

keystone

vaio wrote: »

Nah, forget the detector, get some glue

:rotfl::rotfl:

mole2704

Strongly advise using a detector and not just risking it. Years ago i recall my dad flying off the wall with a loud bang and the TV went off. Since i was watching the program i was more annoyed about that till i realised what had happend. The cable he drilled into was about 2 foot off vertical over the hight of the wall. For £15 for a checker i'm glad i bought mine.