Flexible drill bits and drilling stud walls

[markthespark]

Hello i was wondering how people go about drilling down a stud wall to install a socket at 450mm without makin as much damage as possible.

i have been looking at flexible drill bits which sound great but have had bad reviews, does anyone know of any decent ones?

As most new build floors are chipboard these days i am going to buy a hole cutter and some repair plates to give access into the floor space.

Are most people cutting the box out and drilling down at the top of the skirting board into the floor space and patching up the hole afterwards?

thanks

 

[RyanCheetham]

I use a 4" hole saw to cut holes above noggins the drill through the noggin and use a bit of door stop timber to re attach the 'biscuit' then a skim of easifill and jobs done

 

[Andyfm]

There are some American made long flexible bits available, but they were about £100 -150 when I last searched for them

 

[Aindowsimon]

Chipboard floors are a pain . I think there should be provisions in place for future maintenance in new property's like a carefully located services channel across property's as it stands Lifting up chipboard never go's back well without a substantial amount of reinforcement with noggins ext.....
And the hole cutter with cover plates seems( personally haven't needed to use them myself ... Yet ) handy thing but bit of a boj really ?? You may feel different ?

 

[polo1]

The solid board cutters are ideal for working on chipboard floors, must have used dozens of the cover plates and never had a problem. In fact I had a local engineering co make me up metal ones for less than the price of the plastic ones. They also allow future access (assuming the customer does not subsequently lay laminate or hardwood!)

 

[uksparks]

I found a video on YouTube on how to Do this actually, it was really helpful, I'll see if I can find it, I probably book marked it.

 

[D.A.B_SOULTIONS]

i made the mistake of buying that Ideal drill bit, heep of junk, used it once, got stuck, the end rounded off in the chuck, 45 quid, the video on youtube looked brilliant, thought it would pay for itself after wiring 2/3 sockets in stud walls, a metre long and really flexible, going to try and get it ground off so it has a hex end for the drill chuck, and sharpen it up and give it another go, but after the first time i felt like throwing it in the skip, i use the bosch self cut 400 long wood bits with the irwin lockable 300mm extention piece, drill at a steep angle and bingo, no mess

 

[Eddiesparks]

I use a 4" hole saw to cut holes above noggins the drill through the noggin and use a bit of door stop timber to re attach the 'biscuit' then a skim of easifill and jobs done

If you're patching up you cant be a real spark. At least thats what the decorators keep telling me when I do this

 

[amlu]

£20 drill will be gone when you hit your first nail/screw and there will be lots of them in the stud walls. holes below, above and notch in the joist for me... patch up with some scrap plasterboard and bit of a filler.

 

[D.A.B_SOULTIONS]

Rough *******s : )

 

[D.A.B_SOULTIONS]

whats wrong with on floorboard flooring cutting a trap and using either a angled drill or stubby drill bit and drilling up into the stud work, or on chipboard flooring using the trend routabout cut out plate using a router, cuts a hole 250mm x 250mm plenty of room for a drill, and plenty of room for a maintenance free jb if needed, get your hands right in to work, can't beat it, the discs are not cheap but thats life, more important to leave a nicely decorated house the way you found it!

 

[nickblake]

If you can get to the top of the stud there is a way get a piece of steel rod meter long with the end machined into a small socket with a hole and grub screw to hold it in just big enough to fit in a flat drill bit can cut most noggins by drilling through the main stud from above only accessible from above mind

 

[Dcf]

Starrett do holesaw extension bars which are chunky that will take augers... And holesaw arbors.
i put 2 together to get down a stud wall recently.
going way back when a bit and brace was part of a sparks toolkit a scotch auger was the tool for the task.
about a metre long with an auger on the end of it turned by hand with a bar or cold chisel.
Cordless drills yeah right!