Pipe or Stud??

     When drilling or nailing into your walls it is essential to know what is behind the hole you are creating. This image is an example of what can happen if you aren’t certain it is a stud you are hitting. Behind your walls are items such as pipes for plumbing and/or natural gas and wires for your electricity. It is very important to know you are not hitting and damaging those items when drilling or nailing into your walls. The best way to find the studs in your wall is to use a stud finder that differentiates the studs from pipes, there is also usually a separate indicator light for the presence of electrical wiring. Even after you feel certain you have found the stud drive a panel pin through the wall, if you feel the resistance of the wood you will know it is the stud. Creating a hole in the wall blindly can cause major problems. In this case the pipe was thought to be a stud and several holes were drilled into it creating a water leak. The pipe was replaced but is a great example to all of us what can easily happen.