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My deck rebuild turned into a three-month saga after I ignored a single stud finder beep
Last spring I decided to replace a few rotting boards on my back deck here in Portland. Thought it would be a weekend job, maybe two. Then I went to attach the new ledger board and my stud finder gave a weird faint beep in one spot. I figured it was just old wiring or something and drilled right through. Turns out I hit a gas line for the grill hookup. That one mistake cost me $400 for a plumber and two weeks waiting for permits before I could even touch the wood again. Has anyone else had a small tool reading throw off a whole project timeline?
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olivere303d ago
That faint beep on the stud finder got me too, but with old cast iron pipes in my place. After that, I learned to always double check with a magnet before drilling into anything near a wall. Did you end up upgrading the grill line while the plumber was there?
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danielmartinez3d ago
Hold up, is it REALLY that serious though? I mean yeah, you hit one pipe and everyone acts like you just set off a bomb. Most of the time it's just a small leak you can patch up with some epoxy or a rubber coupling. Unless you're dealing with old cast iron that's already rusted through, a little oopsie with a stud finder is not the end of the world. People on here act like you need a whole hazmat team and a permit to drill into drywall. And upgrading the grill line while the plumber is there sounds like overkill unless you're planning to feed the whole neighborhood. Half the time those plumbers will upsell you on stuff you don't really need just because they're already there.
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