The day I put my drill bit through the wall on the WRONG side of the stud

I was hanging a shelf in my laundry room last weekend and drilled three pilot holes before I realized I was aiming for the stud but somehow kept missing it. Then I noticed the dust was coming out way too easy and the bit went straight through the drywall on the other side. Turns out I was holding the level crooked and marking the holes based on my bad line. Ended up with four extra holes to patch in a 2x4 area. Has anyone else ever drilled into a wall and immediately known you messed up before you even pulled the trigger back?

2 comments

2 Comments

patricia_wright13d ago

I read somewhere that you should always use a stud finder and mark the center before you even think about drilling. But honestly, that advice goes out the window when you're tired and just want to get the shelf up quick. Your story reminds me of a tip I saw on a home improvement blog about using a piece of tape on the wall to draw your level line so you don't have to hold the level with one hand while marking with the other. Saved me from making the same crooked line mistake on my last project, but I still managed to drill into a pipe anyway. There's nothing like the sound of drywall cracking to make your heart sink.

charles_henderson13d ago

Well now, is drilling through a pipe really as big a deal as people make it out to be? I mean sure, if you hit a live water line you're in for a mess. But most folks I know have patched up drywall holes and moved on with their lives. Stud finders are handy but they aren't foolproof either. I've had mine beep at me over nothing but an electrical box. The tape trick for level lines is a good one though, I've used that myself. Still, I think we get too wound up over perfection. A few crooked shelves or a small hole in the wall never killed anyone. It's just drywall and paint, both are easy to fix.