You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
As above to be used mainly in our new garage before fitting ground anchors and wall mounted bike racks.
Also the occasional picture hook to keep Mrsstu happy.😉
Cheaper the better please.
I bought a little green Bosch one. About £50. Don't know if I can recommend it over anything else, but I didn't drill into any pipes or cables so must've done its job... or not, maybe there just weren't any pipes or cables.
This thing, bought a couple of years back, seems to be cheaper now.
6mm masonry bit and an SDS hammer drill is quite good at finding cables and pipes.
All the detectors I've ever tried have been a bit rubbish.
Best bet is to take time to work out where the services run.
I used to fit security systems in all sorts of buildings and planning/checking worked the best. I think in the 10+ years I did it, I hit one cable and two pipes.
Best bet is to take time to work out where the services run.
This. If it were my own place I'd just crack on. I was doing a lot of drilling in somebody else's house so adopted a 'belt & braces' approach.
They're inherently shit and give false positives. The only thing they reliably pick up is active wiring. As above just work out where things should be and then drill slowly.
I've got that Bosch one above. It's ok. I hate drilling in folks houses but have to do it and that helps.
Got an older bosch one and like it a lot. Would say i trust them to make stuff that works
Anything cheap is likely to be rubbish, I'm a semi-retired handyman and take any beeps or silences with a pinch of salt.
Plastic water-pipe won't be detected either.
I have one of these, improvement on previous cheaper one. Still some false positives but scans deeper, auto calibrates and doesn’t have separate modes for metal, studs and electricity.
Won’t be any good going deep enough into concrete floors for ground anchors though. Definitely check the routing as other people have mentioned already. You can get second hand or display models a fair bit cheaper.
Bosch GMS 120 Pro Multi Detector-Live Cables,Metal,Wood-9v Battery&Case inc.-New https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353231932084
Project Farm over on YouTube has recently tested a load of these. Might be worth a watch if you're having trouble sleeping.
The good ones are expensive and generally hired. Hired a big one to trace a water main once. Really good but about 450mm long detector and another part that clipped onto the pipe coming out of the concrete.
Lime this really good but you wouldn't buy it!
https://www.hss.com/hire/p/cable-avoiding-tool-ecat4-plus
Thanks for all the replys so far.
I was planning on checking the routing and using the detector as a kind of confirmation.
Any tips on how to check routing?
I know power cable should go straight up from sockets but any other tips?
Kinda wish I had one of these before I drilled loads into my garage wall to put shelves up. Somewhere on the other side is the electrical cupboard for the whole house. I seem to have got away with it but it does keep me awake at night. Very briefly. Occasionally.
I was planning on checking the routing and using the detector as a kind of confirmation.
Any tips on how to check routing?
Pull off face plate and see which ways cable runs. If up double check for cables in ceiling popping up where you expect
This is going to be a nightmare for me when we move into our new house and start putting up pictures, mirrors etc.
I need to get the electrician to brief me on the convention for cabling - I guess always vertically down to a socket.
It's allowed to go horizontal too. I've only hit two wires having drilled tens of thousands of holes over the years, don't use a detector as they just don't work.
As above, you can pop off the face plates if unsure. Always allow for a bit of diagonal just in case of cowboys.
Before drilling be sure the stop cock is accessable and turns ok. Overkill but a good idea anyway.
Top tip, a self tapping screw wrapped in ptfe tape can buy you some time if you nick a pipe.