I was drilling a hole for curtains in my living room last night when my drill bit apparently hit a electric line behind the wall. I saw some sparks and I luckily did not get electrocuted.

I went to my fuse box and simply flipped the switch back on to make the lights work again. It appears that everything is back to normal - although I probably still have a small cut in the electric line behind the wall.

So do you think it is OK to leave the cut in the electric line? I really hate to tear a large hole in the wall to fix the electric line!

JohnMaz, January 2006

Right, what you need to do, is to the power off, locate the wire, and make 2 cuts, 1 on 1 side of the cut and the other on the other side, about a foot away each side of the cut. Next you need to get some terminal blocks (Chocolate Blocks), and place the wires in the terminal blocks opposite to the same colour, and tighten the screws up, Job Done!
Or you could pay about £30 for an electrician to do it for you, but they'll probably just say it needs rewiring.

T.R.N. Ent., April 2006

I agree that the problem needs repair sooner rather than later, and recommend using a cable locator when you start drilling holes in the wall next time.

Is the wall solid or of stud wall construction (hollow)? If the wall is hollow then the fix is easy.

Using a cable locator, trace the run of the wire using a pencil (draw lightly) and then, using a padsaw, remove a small rectangle of plasterboard around the drilled hole site (switch off the power first), then using a pulling hook (or bent wire coathanger), pull the damaged wire out throught the hole, then cut the wire at the damaged point and repair using a strip terminal. Tape the junction with electrical tape and re-insert into the wall, then repair the wall with filler.

I hope this helps.

Preseli Computing, February 2006

You have to cut a bigger hole i am afraid. What you have done in effect is cut the thickness of one of the wires in half or less. This means that you are using a very thin wire to carry a lot of current. It will stuggle to cope until it gets red hot and burns out, often causing a fire. It probably wont happen today, but certainly soon.

If there is a plug socket or light switch or similar directly below or to the side of where you drilled the hole, there is a chance you can disconnect the wires, attach some draw wires to the ends and then pull the wires up through the ceiling, repair them and then pull them back with the draw wires. REMEMBER TO SWITCH OFF THE POWER FIRST.

Dave, January 2006