Tried using a stud finder to locate a gas line in an old building in Pittsburgh

So I had this job last Tuesday, running coax through a 1920s building near the Strip District. I figured I'd be smart and use my Franklin stud finder to check for pipes before drilling. Well, it beeped like crazy on one spot, so I put a small pilot hole in... and immediately smelled gas. Turns out the old metal lath in the plaster was setting it off, not anything behind it. Landlord was not happy, had to call the gas company and everything. Anyone else ever have a stud finder trick you like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

jordan46411d ago

Call the gas company over a pilot hole? Seems a little dramatic unless you actually hit something. Plaster and lath mess with stud finders all the time, you just gotta know your tools limitations. A little gas smell probably cleared out in five minutes.

phoenixking11d ago

Laughing at @jordan464 thinking a little gas smell is no big deal. Sure, it cleared out in five minutes this time, but that's like saying you only tripped on the stairs once so they're probably fine. I'd rather have the gas company show up and tell me I'm an idiot than have my house go boom while I'm patching drywall over a leak I didn't know I made.