fixings - how do you know what your drilling into

Ashley23

moved to a new house and would like to put up some shelves but I absolutely hate drilling into walls because you just never know what your drilling into ( and your essentially damaging the walls ), 

Anyway one of the walls I want to go into is the shared wall with next doors terraced house. Theres also some other walls where tapping them and listening to the sound im not sure if they studded , thin plasterboard or thin drywall etc.  

Ashley23

Just to add, last time I tried drilling into drywall large chunks of the rendering kept crumbling away which ruined the fixing and as a result my confidence has taken a huge knock

531063

Always start off with a small drill bit ie 5mm & go up in size depending what your hanging, as in a old house the plaster will break away, I've seen people on here recommending a 8mm bit to hang a mirror/picture.

Homer_home

Pretty much only 3 things you will drill into in a house , brick, plasterboard/plaster or wood or a combination of the above

If you get yourself a multipurpose bit set , this will allow you to drill all these substrates with only one bit 

As above build up your confidence by drilling a hole with a small bit and working up to the size you need

Oh and don't drill directly above sockets and switches 

https://www.toolstation.com/dewalt-multi-purpose-impact-rated-drill-bit-set/p77648

This set will do the majority of jobs around the home 

Emmia

Perhaps you should also get a pipe /wire /stud detector too, if you don't have one.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-Detector-Truvo-batteries-detection/dp/B01J1FN7ZE

Le_Kirk

The wall between you and next door is unlikely to be anything other than brick or breeze block.  Just, as others have said, avoid drilling above/below sockets or switches.  If you have a wet central heating system, have a care where your pipes run.  If they are not visible, they may be buried in walls.  I would also suggest the use of a detector for pipes, wires and studs.

baga

Hi we have solid bathroom walls with tiles on them but now we bought cladding walls panels to go on tiles, can you help me if we can drill them or use hammer to fit new shower, shower accessories, led mirror in bathroom and radiator? Are these panels strong enough to hold them and long lasting after that .

grumbler

baga said:

Are these panels strong enough to hold them and long lasting after that .

What 'these'? I think, there are various panels. But, I think, none are strong enough to hold a radiator or a shower on their own.

we have solid bathroom walls with tiles on them but now we bought cladding walls panels to go on tiles, can you help me if we can drill them or use hammer

Again, to drill or hammer what? Tiles of panels?

MrsStepford

My husband has a bit of kit which he got from a DIY store, which will detect whether there's live wiring under the wall before he drills. 

Emmia

MrsStepford said:

My husband has a bit of kit which he got from a DIY store, which will detect whether there's live wiring under the wall before he drills. 

The detector I linked to in a previous post does that...

ic

There's a budget friendly multi detector coming up on Thursday at lidl... https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/p/diy/parkside-moisture-meter-or-4-in-1-multi-detector/p35962