Extra long drill bit????

larry1302

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Yes, you could have a VERY bad day if it turns out to be electrical cables or plumbing pipes :eek:. Survey both sides of the wall below for electrical outlets, wall switches, or nearby plumbing. If you are not sure and worried, you might cut a small drywall inspection hole in the wall before drilling thru. I would rather patch the wall than fix a drilled plumbing pipe or electrical cable :). It appears from your pic that electrical cables are routed down the same wall top plate.

I use one of these inspection cameras, but it's kind of costly for occasional use. There was a post that recommended one of these less costly endoscopes that might be a good lower cost tool for your tool collection.
The Giraffecams work well, a couple suggestions, if you are using it with a laptop, get a usb extension cable. Also, the rigid version Amazon.com: GiraffeCam 3.0 Rigid | Flexible Endoscope Borescope Inspection Snake Camera | Android PC Mac: Camera & Photo of it is definitely easier to manipulate to get the image you are looking for.
 
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code2

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mat200

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Trying to run my first cable through the attic and down to the floor. I was able to drill about 4 inches through the wood but as I was fishing the cable through, about 12 inches,I hit something solid. Could it be more would or even drywall?
If so, do I need an extra long drill bit?



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Besides the other great suggestions here, I would use a stud finder on the dry wall side at the approx location to see if it reports a 2x4 fire blocking stud there.
 

tangent

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Besides the other great suggestions here, I would use a stud finder on the dry wall side at the approx location to see if it reports a 2x4 fire blocking stud there.
to attempt to locate fire blocking you rotate the stud finder 90 degrees so it's horizontal instead of vertical.
 

TechBill

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"please turn around"
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Xeddog

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Years ago I was drilling a hole through a ceiling into an attic to run some wire and hit something rather solid. I couldn't figure out exactly what it was so I just spun the drill to high speed and started pushing. The shower of sparks that came down upon me set my hair on fire and almost burned the house down too. It was the 220V power line for an oven two rooms away. I kept that melted spade bit around for years to remind me just how bad assumptions could turn out to be.
 

tangent

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Years ago I was drilling a hole through a ceiling into an attic to run some wire and hit something rather solid. I couldn't figure out exactly what it was so I just spun the drill to high speed and started pushing. The shower of sparks that came down upon me set my hair on fire and almost burned the house down too. It was the 220V power line for an oven two rooms away. I kept that melted spade bit around for years to remind me just how bad assumptions could turn out to be.
I partially cut through some 14-2 with a reciprocating saw once, it was easier than I expected fishing wire back through the exterior wall to get to the next outlet. The typical failure with an extra long flex bit is popping through the front of the wall.
 

HMS

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As bad as hitting Hi voltage is, there is nothing like hitting the 2" copper main line for buildings water supply with a 6ft long 1" Spiral bit. Breakers trip, nothing getting people running like freaked out mice like water blowing the sheet rock right off the wall in a slow mo explosion :smash: and Nope, wasnt me but it was a shocker that it took them over 10 min to find a valve to shut it off. LOTS of water....:facepalm:

OP. Buy on of those bore scopes and attach it to a coat hanger or fiberglasss rod.. They work..
 
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