Experts have shared 3 places where you should never drill holes with a cordless drill, impact driver, or other hole-boring power tools.
My news feed just featured an article about 3 places where you shouldn’t put security cameras, with the first two being “ineffective spots” and “behind obstructions.”
That wasn’t a one-off article; I feel that there’s been an over-abundance of news stories and “expert advice” like that. So, to express my frustration at how nonsensical things have become, here’s a satire post to help me vent.
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Here is where there would be another paragraph describing to you what a hole is. Because why should a news article answer questions posed in headlines quickly or effectively?
And what about the difference between cordless drills, impact drivers, hammer drills, and rotary hammers? Gosh, the longer we can keep you waiting until the main story points, the better, am I right?
Oh, and let’s not forget a paragraph about why you might want to drill holes in the first place. Let’s delay the main points with an interjection about screws, anchors, wall plugs, and different wall materials such as plywood, drywall, brick or block, and plaster.
This paragraph should mention a social media video or similar external link, talking it up and making it sound interesting. But, at least 50% of the time, there’s no embedded link, image, or video.
Without further delay, here are 3 places where experts say you shouldn’t drill holes!
See Also: How to use a cordless drill, 99% get this WRONG!
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Don’t Drill Holes Where They’re not Supposed to go!
Be mindful about what you’re drilling into!
Experts say that you should only drill holes where they’re supposed to go! For instance, if you’re drilling holes to mount a shelf bracket, use the existing holes for guidance. Drilling additional holes can reduce structural integrity or make alignment more difficult.
Are you mounting something to the wall? Then don’t drill holes in the ceiling, that would be highly ineffective!
Avoid Drilling into Body Parts
When drilling holes into workpieces, be mindful of what your drill bit might grab or bore into.
This was meant to be a satire point, because everyone knows you shouldn’t drill into body parts. But in truth, carelessness can lead to injury and harm.
If you’re drilling into a handheld board of wood, ensure that you don’t have fingers behind your hole placement. I have also seen users place boards on their knees or shoes for drilling. Try not to drill into your feet.
In all seriousness, there is a non-zero chance of users drilling into their hands, feet, or other body parts. You can reduce your chances of injury by paying attention to what you’re doing and how you’re holding or supporting a loose workpiece.
Avoid Drilling in Occupied Spaces (without Permission or Barriers)
Drilling into different surfaces can produce metal chips, sawdust, drywall powder, and other such materials. The work can also be noisy.
Diners might want parmesan sprinkled on top of their pasta, not chunks of drywall.
Avoid drilling in spaces while they’re occupied, such as busy restaurants. If you must, cordon the area according to professional or official safety guidelines and regulations.
Rob G Mann
Lol. Been kinda lurking here for the last 3 months and have REALLY enjoyed the quality articles and robust discussions I have found so far.
When I first saw the title and thought to myself, “Wow, that’s an unusual article for this site. I haven’t seen them post crap like this before.”
Well played, sir. Well played.
Keep up the great work.
Stuart
Thank you, much appreciated!
Jim Felt
Totally agreed!! And then the laughter.
Tom
SOME OF THOSE COULD HAPPEN TO ANYONE!!!!!!
MM
I’ve got two to add to your list: fuel tanks/lines, and wiring. I’ve seen plenty of evidence of shadetree mechanics having done both.
Many years ago when I had worked at Ace hardware we sometimes received special decals along with the merchandise. These came from Ace corporate and we were supposed to apply them to the product just like we did the price stickers. Three specific examples that I can recall were:
1) labels for WD-40 cans which warned the customer not to allow the can to roll across the terminals of a car battery.
2) walk-behind lawnmowers arrived with enormous pre-applied stickers on the exterior of the box “Warning: Not to be used as hedge trimmer”, with a diagram showing someone picking up a mower by the deck with a big line through it, sort of like a no-smoking sign.
3) labels for outdoor extension cords warning they were “not to be used as tie-downs or tow straps”
…there were others as well. Every time we received those with merchandise I always wondered just exactly what happened which prompted those warnings being made in the first place.
Stuart
Oh, definitely – but keep in mind that the point of this post was to protest against the state of “how-to,” DIY, and tech media today!
Some safety warnings are more relatable than others. For instance, a lot of tool boxes have “do not sit” and “do not stand on” warnings because they know many users will want to do just that.
MM
Warning people not to sit on a tool box is reasonable. Nobody should have to be told that using a lawn mower to trim a hedge is a no-no, or that the extension cord for your electric weedwhacker isn’t appropriate for towing your car.
tim Rowledge
“But an extension cord has metal wire in it and metal is infinitely strong so …” 🙂
Rob G Mann
I’m a patent attorney, so this is just what I remember from law school many decades ago, so take it with a grain of salt.
There is a cause of action that is essentially “failure to warn.” Companies have a choice: if a company does NOT warn people not to do incredibly stupid stuff, then when they get sued, they will have to have a full trial to a jury decision. This is time-consuming and expensive EVEN IF they do win in the end. Alternatively, they can warn stupid people not to do stupid stuff. If they get sued, then any case about “failure to warn” is tossed out quickly and cheaply.
Hence, it’s just much cheaper to warn the stupid people at the cost of the rest of us thinking “who in the hell would ever do that?”
MM
That logic makes sense. But, I can’t help but feel there was a specific underlying incident behind each one of those cases, like what Kevin Davis mentions below. After all, there’s lots of stupid things someone could do with an extension cord, for example, but the one specific thing they chose to warn about seems oddly specific.
Munklepunk
I believe it’s something like, “you can’t out engineer stupidity”
Matt+the+Hoople
This what caused Blitz (the gas can company) to go out of business…. They went broke battling law suits from people that were injured when they poured gas directly from their gas cans onto bonfires. It is also why you cannot buy a gas can without a stupid auto shut-off spout any more.
Adam
I assumed everyone just know that you use a riding mower, not a walk-behind for hedge trimming: https://www.craneblogger.com/safety/riding-lawn-mower-crane-flying-hedge-trimmer/2009/11/20/
TomD
I actually kinda *hate* those “do not sit/stand” warnings on toolboxes, because EVERYONE knows they are entirely ignored at all times, and it basically gives the manufacturers a pass on making something that will withstand how it is ACTUALLY used. I don’t know if anyone who has Packout (even Milwaukee) could testify under oath that they’ve never stood on any Packout box.
If you want people to not sit on the toolbox, design it with upward facing spikes!
Munklepunk
Even Milwaukee reps know people do this, that’s why they always do a wink and nudge when saying they don’t.
Mac
This is actually likely because of OSHA. It’s the exact warning ladders have. They believe we all have terrible balance and will die, or worse – be injured but alive and with time on our hands to sue.
Most people are wise enough to be extra careful while dumb/dangerous. it’s possible just the warning and that occasional pants-soiling wobble saves lives though
Jerry
You do realize that the big warning sticker to not use your lawn mower as a hedge trimmer is there because people actually did just that, and then sued the lawn mower manufacturer for their injuries claiming they never said not to.
MM
Of course, that was the whole point of my post. I bet there is a crazy story behind every one of those examples.
Kevin Davis
The “don’t use push mower for a hedge trimmer” warning label was due to a lost lawsuit when a couple of drunk lawyers lost their fingers using a lawn mower as a Hedge trimmer.
DC
True, very true. All good points.
Ben G
Thanks for the laugh Stuart. Part protest, part troll post. Well played.
Wayne R,
And that’s one of the most irritating photos, too.
Stuart
I know! It continues to amuse me.
Mac
Big fan of the throwback to the photoshopped collage of sds bit, not chucked in the poorly held drill, randomly sticking out of a pre-existing drywall hole(maybe j box) while resting on top of the wiring.
That is A) not how you twist pigtails;
And 2) those are wagos
This is why I love your site Stuart. Thank you
Robert
My problem is I’m scared to death to drill into my house walls because of all the PEX running to the fire sprinklers in the ceilings. Haven’t found a reasonably priced sensor that reliably detects PEX. Friend of mine in a similar house drilled into PEX and ruined lots of things before he could get to the shut off valve. Even after shutting off the water it was a huge hassle.
TomD
If you have a “drill stop” you can set it so you won’t go beyond the depth of the drywall, and then you can poke in with a wire and see if you’re hitting the stud you expected. It might work.
But this is a strong reminder that if anyone EVER is building a house, take LOTS of pictures BEFORE the drywall goes up! Include references to things like doors and windows so you will be able to work out the cavities with power, water, etc.
Mac
If properly designed, you should not have anything (much) running horizontal through studs above 4ft from the floor. Almost everything should be between mid calf and waist(maybe belly if short) if running horizontal, or in floor/ceiling. A vent or drain in the wall below upstairs fixtures that needs to travel back to the main stack, or wiring near a relocated switch box/thermostat/awkward midwall receptacle or between countertop and upper cabinets. Everything else? SHOULD be vertical and fixed to the sides of studs
Mac
There also, again emphasis on the should, should be protective metal nodrill plates over anything running through a stud closer than 1-¼ from stud edge or back of finished wall. Thats nearly 2 inches from the face of finished ⅝ drywall. Drilling mid cavity for anchors can be risky though
Bonnie
That’s an amazing picture Stuart. Bravo.
Stuart
https://toolguyd.com/greenworks-24v-cordless-drill-marketing-2022/
George
I knew you reused that baffling greenworks image for a reason. This is the kind of writing that keeps me coming back to this site. So many of these articles you’re making fun of might as well be written by AI, since they seem to be following an approved corporate protocol to qualify as acceptable for publication. (Either that or it’s written by an AI and edited by a lazy human writer). Posts like this (among all your other great work) garner a faithful and real audience. Corporate templates do not. They race to the top of the search results to gather clicks instead of return customers.
Oh yeah, and this post is hilarious, thank you for the laugh!
Johann
I love that you used the misaligned bit into a low voltage wire Greenworks photoshop 😀
Very appropriate for this ‘article’.
Steve
Great advice, but could you add “don’t drill holes in the coolant tank of the soyuz space capsule”?
I’m asking for a friend…
Ct451
You should include nails in your warning because people might be see ‘no drill’ and think nail gun is fine, and perhaps add it to submarines, boats, airplanes etc and not just spacecraft.
Paul
Answer (from Amazon answers):
I don’t have a soyuz personally but I would probably drill holes in it.
Brandon
Here’s a legitimate one…we have a small entryway to which the door is open basically 100% of the time. We usually forget it’s even there. Until it’s time to mount something on the wall that it slides into (pocket door!). I was about two seconds from doing this before the realization struck me and my heart skipped a beat.
Ct451
May I suggest that monitors and tablets an phones should come with warnings about the stupidity of information they can display. And perhaps a warning not to peel off those warnings and toss them away like they have on mattresses.
Paul
I need to hang some curtains. Should I drill a hole?
/sarcasm
BrianA
Some new knockoff tool company with a lawyer who got their degree through the mail. is going to google tool warnings and these will actually be on their next product now.
Yadda
Great article. I needed the laugh. Reminds me of the warning on microwaves prevent the tradegedy of people using them to dry pets.
Ed
Great laugh first thing in the morning. More, please!
Nathan
I remember watching a guy drill a blister on this finger when he jammed it in something. I forget what – but you know finger nail has a black bubble under it.
so he drilled in nail to release the pressure. Yeah that was cringe worthy – I’ve always used a hot nail.
meanwhile yeah be careful with your tool.
Ron
I really wonder if AI is writing the articles your referencing.
Stuart
Could be, some channels recently got in trouble for that.
But a lot of the times, it seems they’re written by content “experts” who spit out garbage posts loosely related to trending topics.
Seth Rowell
Thanks for the laugh!
There are so many problems like this with the internet right now. I have stopped using Instagram because it’s now mostly videos and my feed is only half content I have chosen.
Thanks for having a great website and sticking with your format.
MichaelT
Fantastic satire and really speaks to what gripes me about so much “media” these days. Today, I had a news feed article for a “jar opening hack”. I couldn’t resist the click; the “hack” was to pry the lid with a spoon to break the vacuum. Is that really where we are?
Stuart
That’s exactly where things are now.
We’re also at a time when “best cordless drill” articles feature an impact driver as the top image, and news articles about cordless power tool deactivation tech only show corded power tools in the hero image.
Scott F
The “See also” is good- LOL. Thanks for the laugh!
Mopar
Bah, I knew right away it was fake, because you didn’t put each sentence on it’s own page with a barely relevant photo and 10 popup ads.
Bart
Get an adblocker
Ryan
I’ll take a shot at adding to the satire:
Avoid drilling small holes in the same location as an existing larger hole. It is very difficult to drill holes in the proper location since there is no material available to mark. The drill bit will fail to contact any material since it has already been removed, and the lack of friction will make it very hard to keep the bit aligned with where you wanted the new hole to go. You will also run into problems when you try to install a fastener in the new small hole because it will not have any material to grab. Failure to identify this condition may lead to wasted time trying to tighten a screw that will keep turning indefinitely, or, in severe cases where the original hole was big enough, a screw that pushes all the way through the hole and gets lost in the wall.
loup68
I worked at the MTD (Modern Tool & Die) original plant and the lawn mower/hedge trimmer incident happened to them, I was told. And they settled the law suit from the two men just to not have to go to court over this very stupid incident. Can you picture putting your fingers inside the rotory mowers deck while it is running!
JR Ramos
Would you consider doing an article on how to use this revolutionary new shapeshifting contour gauge I bought? It was designed by an ex-Army officer and nobody wanted me to know about it but I got one anyway. I just need to know how to use it.
Kevin+M+Smith
The world wide web is completely useless.
Shawn+Y
Could you post a link your your last satire article about how to know if you should renew your Costco membership? I couldn’t find it w “Costco”, “renew”, or “membership.” As good as this is, I had a bit of a laughing fit w that one. Thanks!
Nathan S
You forgot that “one weird trick” clickbait. Drives me nuts.
John Blair
No need to ever write your own pointless text again. Here are ChatGPT’s awesome and amazing list of obviousness: (lol)
1. In a gas tank or fuel line. Drilling a hole in these areas can cause a dangerous fuel leak, which can lead to a fire or explosion.
2. In electrical wiring or circuit boards. Drilling into electrical wiring or circuit boards can cause a short circuit, which can lead to electrical fires or damage to electronic devices.
3. In structural areas of a building or vehicle. Drilling into structural areas of a building or vehicle can weaken the structure and make it unsafe. This can also cause damage to the building or vehicle and make it unsafe to use.