How do I know where it's safe to drill in wall?

[justaftb]

I have some shelving I want to put up. How do I know where I can drill without drilling through some electricals / pipework?

There's a magic little box tool that checks walls for metal (pipes!) and also senses electricity. Possibly called a stud finder?

Thanks. If I am hanging shelves on a plasterboard wall, I've read that I need to find two 'studs' that I will need to drill into to hold the shelf. But this will then dictate the size of the shelf I can put up...?

I'm very confused. It seems like it should be an easy straightforward job but I am really nervous about doing it!

I already have a shelf unit and the brackets are in a fixed position so what happens if they don't line up with two studs?

You can also mark the hole where you want to drill ,then get a very small screwdriver or similar tool and poke/tap gently through the plaster till you feel the brick, then you’ll know it’s safe to drill. If there is a pipe or pvc cable there you will be able to tell as soon as you start to poke.

Most cables will go up or down so try not to drill directly above a socket. They can be anywhere though so just be careful.

Yes, you need to make sure that the shelf brackets line up with the studs in the wall, if you ever want to put anything on your shelf!
Plaster board is only a cm or two thick - you need the screw to go into whatever is behind. It might limit where you can put things.
There might be some special fixings designed for plasterboard; I'm not sure. Hopefully a DIY expert will be along soon!

Tap on the wall gently and it will sound hollow in places and solid in others ( where the studs are) they will usually be 600mm or 450mm apart, look on the wall closely to see if you can see where any of the joins in the boards are or any of the fixings are slightly showings

I'm having one of those moments where I don't trust my judgement on whether or nor the sound is hollow when I tap on the wall!

I should have thought of this before I bought the shelving unit. It is actually almost a freestanding item, with just 2 screws at the top to anchor it to the wall. It has to be anchored, wouldn't stand otherwise, but there won't be pressure on any brackets, if you see what I mean.

Studs (strange name really) are the vertical pieces of wood from floor to ceiling, that the plasterboard is screwed onto.
They’re usually 40 or 60 cm apart (can’t remember which).

There are visual indicators that give you a start in working out where the studs are - studs themselves are usually minimum of 47mm wide.

Mains sockets are usually located next to a stud ( if the socket was put in when the stud wall was built.

If you happen to have a really strong magnet , you can use it against the wall (or ceiling) to find the vertical lines of screws used to fix the plasterboard.

Failing all that , you need a studfinder as a pp mentioned.
Here’s one from screwfix www.screwfix.com/p/magnusson-3-in-1-material-detector/3062x

B&Q is also Screwfix.

Finally, if your shelving fixings don’t line up with the studs, you could firstly fix a piece of wood to the studs, the fix your shelving to the piece of wood.

Could look ugly though.

Good luck!

So it's floor based, but with top brackets to steady it?

If you are going into plaster board, you need special rawl plugs to hold the screws in. They come with their own screw so make sure it fits the holes in the bracket. They are cone shaped, you screw them in first until flat to the wall, then use the screw. It doesn't matter about screwing into the lath behind. You still need to avoid the pipes/electrics though. I've used these a lot.

There are bigger fixings which open out at the back to spread the load over a bigger section of plasterboard. I've never used them.

If you look at the wall there will be a stud right at the end then measure in 600mm then 1200 and so on, you could poke a small hole in the plasterboard where you think it will be, if you miss try again near it. These little holes will be covered by the unit ( if it has a back on it ) if you ever move it you can just fill them and repaint. 1 solid fixing will be enough to hole the unit.

I usually poke holes with an old terminal screwdriver or bradawl. You could also use a very small nail.

Thanks! This is all great info.

These screws aren't load bearing - just to prevent the unit from toppling, so the simplest plasterboard fixings will work - no need to worry about studs or cables for that matter - you're only going to drill through the plasterboard and then push the rawplug in.