Where is it safe to drill in my Floor?

Where is it safe to drill in a floor?

As with our article on Floors, we follow a simple rule that we run the cables through the joists, as close to the centre of the joist as possible, at a depth of at least 50mm from the top and bottom of the joist. i.e 50mm from the ceiling/floor. This hopefully stops any nails or screws hitting the cable.

If this is not always possible to follow this rule, then there are often existing holes and notches in a joist. It is extremely likely that in times past, cables have been run all over the place. Cables should not be run the same hole as pipe work, and if new holes are needed to feed the cables through, then they should be at least 30mm away to the side.

How not to run wires with pipes

Floor boards should be lifted, to ascertain where the cables, and various pipe works are located.

Always mark the floor boards, and which floor board is next to each other, for example A / B /C, then A/B, B/A etc., there is nothing worse than laying a floor board back down, and hitting a nail straight through a water pipe.

If cutting a tongue out in a floor board, do not use a jig saw, or a circular saw, as cutting full depth, you can cut cables & pipes.

Measure the depth of the floor board, and adjust your cutting depth accordingly. Where you have had the floors sanded & polished, do not assume the standard thickness of floor boards all over the room. There is nothing worse than providing a nice water fountain in a living room!

Diagram from Volitmum.co.uk

In the case of chipboard flooring, at Bright Spark Electrical Services we avoid lifting the chipboard, sheets, or cutting out large squares, as the strength and integrity of the boards are affected.

At Bright Spark, we use a specialised hole cutter, where we can access the floor void, without a long drill bit which could cut into pipes and cables.

The hole is replaced with a circular disc.

(in which case, it is worth checking very very carefully first)

Chipboard Floor solid Access plate Photograph from Super-rod.co.uk

Because it is not always possible to run cables this way, the current electrical regulations allow cables to be run outside the zones, provided they are protected by an RCD.

If the wiring in your house is old and you have a Consumer Unit which does not have an RCD, then you should be even more cautious.

If your current consumer unit does not have a functioning, healthy RCD, then advance with precaution, or ask us for a quotation, for a replacement RCD or new consumer unit.

In fact, if you have any doubts at all, then give us a call, and send us some photographs.

Thankyou for reading! We hope this article was of use to you. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to let us know.

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For further Information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Telephone: 01892 531728

Email: karen@brightsparkelectrician.co.uk

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