Where are the plumbing pipes located?
 

I installed some shelving in the laundry room of my Wisteria and hope I have not pierced a pipe. I looked everywhere for some schematics from the builder but cannot find anything.

I drilled a hole above the laundry wash tub sink, and thought I found wood. Now I am wondering if it was a PVC pipe. It is about 6 inches from the ceiling, but directly over the sink. I measured the wall and checked the garage which is on the other side. Nothing seems to be there.

Any ideas?

Plumbing pipes are in the slab & they only rise to meet the outlet of the appliance, the only pipes that rise above the appliance are the vents.

We once installed cabinets in an office (not here) and trust me; if you hit a pvc pipe, you will know. We instantly had water coming through the wall.

In the slab, but you might want to call Home Warranty Services for support.

Take a ride thru the new construction area's....you will see the PVC sticking up from the slab's. This will also give you an insight to other parts of the house construction.

A simple electronic stud finder should be in everyone's toolbox. They are cheap and take out the guess work of where the studs are. But like perrjojo said, if you hit a waterpipe you will know it.It is possible that you may have hit a plumbing vent pipe the runs to the roof though.

I have a camera that allows you to look inside walls, but you would need to drill an 3/4 to 1 inch hole. So if you really want to see what is in there I could help. I agree with the use of a stud finder. By the way, there are both wood and metal studs in the walls.
I is possible that some plywood or '2 by' were installed for cabinets, this is sometimes done in kitchens to hang cabinets.
Hope this helps.

Thanks. I did use my stud finder but this did not show. No wet walls so it must be ok.

There could very easily be a vent pipe where you drilled. Water would not spray out, as it is a vent pipe and not a water line. Usually the laundry area is near your garage attic access, so you could go in the attic and look over to see if you see a vent pipe above where you drilled.

If this vent pipe does not have a vacuum breaker on top of it and goes through the roof, whenever it rains you may have a problem.

I would not be comfortable assuming all is well. Hope this helps!

Frank

I usually look at the drill bit shavings, they will tell the story.

If you have a natural gas dryer, the piping goes thru the attic, then down thru the wall to the gas hookup. Hope you don't smell gas.

perrjojo: We had a case where a subcontractor hammered a nail into water pipe ( cooper). it did not leak until the nail rusted so thoroughly then the flood began
its amazing the combination and permutations of the impossible things that can occur to people