Nail through electrical wire

poolio · 12 Dec 2012

Hi all,

Last night I managed to hammer a nail through a gas pipe under a floorboard (not ideal!) Gas is off and the pipe is being fixed up tonight, so no drama.

However when the board was lifted this morning, to my horror I saw that I was literally about 0.5mm away from driving the nail through a white cable, which the chippy told me was a mains electrical cable.

So I was just wondering, does anyone know what would have happened if I had hit that cable? I've read various things from certain death to simply tripping out the electrics.

Does anyone know what the reality would have been? I realise it's a bit moot now, but must admit it freaked me out quite a bit thinking I was a gnat's whisker away from electrocuting myself, or worse still blowing the house up!

Thanks
Poolio

Jackrae · 12 Dec 2012

You've answered you own question

Worst personal case - electrocution

Worst domestic case - house fire if consumer unit failed to trip circuit

Question why did you manage to pierce gas pipe and almost same with electrics - is there no protection (metal shields or simply air space) over these to prevent such events

poolio · 12 Dec 2012

Nope there is no protection. I thought I was nailing into a joist below, but some kind soul has in the past cut the joist and laid cables & pipework directly under the floorboards. Nice.

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maltaron · 12 Dec 2012

Hole in the gas pipe and spark from piercing cable!!! Does'n't bear thinking about.

xr4x4 · 12 Dec 2012

Thats normal. (not on gas tho afaik)

They should be laid in the middle of floor boards, or clearly maked if on sheet flooring.

Jackrae · 12 Dec 2012

Bl**dy cowboys

You are indeed "lucky". That gas leak could have been a very slow weep, building up in the enclosed floor space and then just waiting on a source of ignition (light switch). Result BOOM !

I'm baffled - what's supposed to be the purpose of the rags

xr4x4 · 12 Dec 2012

stop the pipes rattling/squeaking maybe.

poolio · 13 Dec 2012

Yeah I asked about the rags, the engineer said they were told "hold it all in place"... ?! Think you're probably right about the squeaking. But it's a big ol' mess down there, the whole cavity is filled with crap - paper, sawdust, cardboard... seems like quite a big fire hazard to me but the engineer seemed unconcerned. Not much I can do about it without raising the entire floor.

Also the wiring seems to be in pretty poor shape, with several chafed cables and - fanfare please - one mains cable which somebody else DID put a nail through!

The engineer said if it was his house he'd just put the boards back and not worry about any of it, as it's been fine for years... I must say this runs against my cautious nature, but on the other hand I don't really want to open a very expensive can of worms.

Argh!

Jackrae · 13 Dec 2012

Excuse me - but that guy ain't no engineer !!
For that matter neither is the telephone technician, the washing machine repair man, the gas technician, the car mechanic etc etc etc (unless of course they have the paperwork to confirm otherwise).

turnups · 19 Jan 2013

poolio said:
Yeah I asked about the rags, the engineer said they were told "hold it all in place"... ?! Think you're probably right about the squeaking. But it's a big ol' mess down there, the whole cavity is filled with crap - paper, sawdust, cardboard... seems like quite a big fire hazard to me but the engineer seemed unconcerned. Not much I can do about it without raising the entire floor.

Also the wiring seems to be in pretty poor shape, with several chafed cables and - fanfare please - one mains cable which somebody else DID put a nail through!

The engineer said if it was his house he'd just put the boards back and not worry about any of it, as it's been fine for years... I must say this runs against my cautious nature, but on the other hand I don't really want to open a very expensive can of worms.

Argh!

B just joined have read your delemer can't see why a tradesmen would tell you to put the boards back and forget about it take my advice and get the job done with the wiring and the cleaning up or you could end up in a (wooden overcoat) RIP i have been an electrician for 55 yrs still working so I,ve seen it all. Get the job done you and your family should be safe in your own home let me know how you get on ( cheers Turnups ) :shocked

Rapidkirk · 22 Jan 2013

Should have been ok, you probably would just blow the fuse, I once sawed through a house mains cable, in my early years, it had a wooden handle, so it just blew a piece of the end of my saw. Might be worth investing in a wire and pipe detector, Stanley do one for about £20 onlinehttp://www.rapidtoolsdirect.co.uk/product/stud-finder-stanley

poolio · 17 Feb 2013

Thanks for all the replies.

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Nail through electrical wire

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