Will there be any wires behind kitchen splashback/cooker hood.

MarinaTrench

Hi ,
   I'm planning to replace my kitchen hood (makes a lot of noise).

For the new hood, I will have to drill new holes. 

I'm not sure if there will be any wires behind the splashback near the hood, especially for cooker and hob sockets below. Do the wires for  cooker and hob sockets drop at right angles from ceiling ? 
Image attached. Please see the blue line in the picture. Will there be any wires there ?

DullGreyGuy

Have seem too many botched home DIY jobs to blindly trust where cables should and shouldn't be without actually checking where they are. 

tacpot12

The wire looks like it will be very close to where you need to drill. I would suggest you buy a stud/cable finder. This one is cheap and will work for you: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204548037174

onejrmmrj

Regulations allow wires to run vertically and horizontally in line with fittings. So your left green box is in a zone, where cables are allowed to be. However, just because cables are allowed in a location doesn't mean they necessarily are there. Unfortunately too, lots of builders, kitchen fitters, diyers etc are not too fussy about following regs so in practice cables could be anywhere - you have to check.

travis-powers

tacpot12 said:

The wire looks like it will be very close to where you need to drill. I would suggest you buy a stud/cable finder. This one is cheap and will work for you: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204548037174

I fit a lot of kitchens and as above I have gone through cables which shouldn’t be there, I’ve even cut cables when trimming architrave for flooring!
A cheap detector will pick up cables

FFHillbilly

It's anyone's guess really. probably will be fine if there hasn't been any alterations since it was wired up, but who knows?
A very common kitchen fitter bodge is to just leave any switches or sockets that will be covered by the cooker splashback and go horizontally to a new box, so there could be allsorts there.

Mutton_Geoff

Does your existing hood extract to the outside or just recirculate? If the latter, then a new one might not be any quieter. The best solution is always a large clear duct (preferable solid 5 or 6 inch/ 125/150mm) to the outside. Routing along the top of the cabinets works well.

As DGG says, it looks a bit bodged to me. It's also a bit old fashioned to have your kitchen tiles peppered with fused spurs. Better to hide them all away in cupboards these days, how often do you need to turn them off? Only access for maintenance is required.

MarinaTrench

Many thanks everyone for your comments. 
I realised there is an error in labelling in the above picture. Where it says hood switch it should read hob switch and where it says hood socket it's actually hob socket. 

Nevertheless, with regards to stud cable finder, I have had experience. Many years ago I picked a Black and decker stud and cable finder at B&Q for 25 pounds. It picked nothing.
Can you suggest a good one. Looking online there is a big range you could get something for 40 pounds  or 400 pounds for a professional version. You wonder why would anyone buy a 400 pound version if the 40 pounds device did the job. Do the cheap ones do anything?
Lastly how much would a professional charge to do this? Do I need an electrician or any handyman can do this. 

FFHillbilly

there isn't such a thing as a good and reasonably priced cable detector, I've tried £600 Bosch version and it couldn't provide repeatable results.
there are reliable ones but you don't want to know how expensive they are
if you could take some tiles off that will be covered by the new hood, you could find out if there are cable into the wall before you drill