Do I need to do my own drilling?

[Brainfish]

Hi,

Guy came yesterday to install my V+ and move the old box upstairs.

First he asked how I'd like the old box cabled. I asked him to route the cable out the back of the living room, up the outside back wall and into the bedroom.

He told me that as I have tiles on the back wall he couldn't drill through them.

So I asked for the cable to be routed up through the back corner of the living room ceiling into the bedroom. He said no problem and handed me the drill. Told me that installers were not allowed to drill through floors or ceilings and I had to do it myself (which I ended up doing). Is this normal?

Cheers

[MovedGoalPosts]

I don't know if it's normal, but it's a sensible precaution by the installer when they can't see what's in the floor (pipes, wires, etc). At least with walls there are rules where stuff should be, and moreover, detectors that can show if a wire or pipe might be present.

As for drilling though the tile clad walls, again I'd expect this to be a precaution. Those things easily break when disturbed. Equally there can be all sorts of damp proof membranes behind which could be disturbed but not resealed as they are hidden.

[punky]

Seems a bit ridiculous that a user has to do nigh on all the drilling. Can't the installer have a stud, wire, pipe and conduit finder? They are only a few quid nowadays.

I suppose with the tiles, its cheaper just to avoid doing it than to rely on insurance when things go wrong.

[Stuart]

Do the detecters actually work on floors? I'm thinking that (in the case of wood floor at least) wouldn't the nails in the floor set off the detector? I know that mine can be quite senstive to things like that.

[Crooky]

The installer won't drill through tiles as they break and he would have to pay for them to be repaired. Also, there is nowhere to tack the cable to as you can't tack into a tile.

The installer is not allowed to drill up through ceilings or down through floors for the potential safety reasons as stated by Rob.

[The Installer]

Seems a bit ridiculous that a user has to do nigh on all the drilling. Can't the installer have a stud, wire, pipe and conduit finder? They are only a few quid nowadays.

I suppose with the tiles, its cheaper just to avoid doing it than to rely on insurance when things go wrong.

No its not rediculous at all. Detectors will not work through floors etc as the wires/pipes will be too far away from the detector for it work. As for the tiles on the outside wall as mentioned above, they will break as soon as the drill tries to go through them.

[tweetypie/8]

Hi,

Guy came yesterday to install my V+ and move the old box upstairs.

First he asked how I'd like the old box cabled. I asked him to route the cable out the back of the living room, up the outside back wall and into the bedroom.

He told me that as I have tiles on the back wall he couldn't drill through them.

So I asked for the cable to be routed up through the back corner of the living room ceiling into the bedroom. He said no problem and handed me the drill. Told me that installers were not allowed to drill through floors or ceilings and I had to do it myself (which I ended up doing). Is this normal?

Cheers

you were lucky,at least you got someone with a brain,you could have ended up with an iiijjjjjot causing havoc in your home.:confused:

[Brainfish]

LOL That's true tweetiepie.

I'm not exactly handy with a drill but I done not too bad a job myself :)

[themelon]

you were lucky,at least you got someone with a brain,you could have ended up with an iiijjjjjot causing havoc in your home.:confused:

Yes like the idiot Sky Installer who came to my old house and drilled a hole on a slant into the room, needless to say the rain came through! DOH (as the home of Simpsons)

[Morden]

When I got my V+ installed recebtly and the other box put upstairs, the installer did not want to drill through floor (easiest route).

But after inspecting outsude of house where cable would have been very unsighlty running up the wall, he did drill through the floor.

(though I would have done this had he not wanted to)

So maybe its at their discretion to do this ?

[Wicked_and_Crazy]

At least with walls there are rules where stuff should be, and moreover, detectors that can show if a wire or pipe might be present.

Modern houses quite often have plastic pipes. Detectors dont work too well then.

[NTLVictim]

I thought professional detectors detected stuff like that, including in floors?

And as for walls having rules where stuff should be, please please please everyone out there, NEVER assume that for one second!! Every house we have bought has been a doer-upper, and I have nightmarish tales to tell.....

[ntl engineer]

Nope they dont work which is a big pain for us all the time wen like people av said plastic pipes and we av been told not to drill up or down through floors or ceiling door frames windows frames so it is the company rules that are in place and any damage we do we got to pay for it our selfs as i found out, a water pipe in the cavity wall and i payed alot of money to fix but i add insurance to cover it.but i must admit it is getting harder with the new houses with plastic pipes in.

[NTLVictim]

Apparently Capacitive Tomography is the way forward..I'll have to do some digging, no pun intended.

---------- Post added at 21:02 ---------- Previous post was at 20:41 ----------

On the market.."
Bosch DTEC100 Wall Scanner


The DTEC100 is totally unique in that rather than simply detecting the presence of an object, it displays a virtual picture of what lies beneath the surface on its LCD screen. This is a tool aimed at the professional trade, where a slight mistake like an unnoticed slow leak in a water pipe caused by a misplaced fixing can end up costing thousands in a compensation claim. In some ways it functions like an archaeological ground-scanning device, and is tracked over the surface with wheels at each corner to aid smooth operation. The uniqueness doesn't end there, this is one of the few machines that can even detect plastic water pipes, that obviously wouldn't register on a standard type detector. The DTEC100 also gives a recommended safe drilling depth (there is NO safe drilling depth over a live wire), and has three levels of sensitivity, to a maximum depth of 100mm. It will detect and display the presence of water pipes, both metal and plastic, wires and cables, reinforcing rods, studs, voids etc."

And now the price.... £567.53!!!

I have a stabbing pain in my wallet...