Hit metal when drilling into a wall. What is it?
Hitting an unknown metal obstruction behind drywall leaves people guessing whether they've struck a safe lintel or accidentally ruined a structural stud. Without knowing what is hidden behind the plasterboard, attempting to continue drilling risks damaging crucial building supports or utility lines.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Using an electric stud finder
- 2Asking the building maintenance person for guidance
- 3coating a dowel in wood glue and hammering it in
- 4drilling a new hole in the correct spot and ignoring the mistake
- 5doing nothing and leaving the hole as is
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I measured out from the wall as best I could to translate where to drill up from the basement to hit the wall cavity, but ended up drilling a 1-3/8 hole directly into the bottom end of one of the studs.”source ↗
“Depth of the hole from the underside of the subfloor is 5-1/4 inches, so it extends about 3 inches into the stud”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 9Unexplained clicking or tapping noises inside the walls
- 3How to anchor heavy shelves or curtain rods in old plaster and lath walls
- 2Is it safe to use a big jackhammer for DIY demolition without experience?
- 3Crack along ceiling and wall joint
- 4How to find underground utility lines before digging
- 2How to run cables through a wall without cutting drywall