On Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:20:21 -0700, "Roger Shoaf"
wrote:


wrote in message
.. .
Just about every stud finder out there also detects live AC wires - no
reason a contractor should EVER hit an un-expected live wire.

There is a live wire there untill you prove there is not. PERIOD.
ASSuming there is not is both dangerous and foolhardy.

I disagree with this.

The contractor was putting up molding on the ceiling. Any wires should be
in the middle of the plate approximately 2 1/4" from the face of the plaster
or wall board. If the trim was 3/8", then you would have to be using a
pretty long nail to hit any wires that one might reasonably expect.


And we still don't know how long the nail was, do we???

Lots of guys use 2 1/2 in ardox finish nails to install cove molding.
And we don't KNOW the wire was inside a 2X4. It may have been running
down the side of the stud, strapped on properly. With a power nailer,
if he missed the stud it could quite concievably puncture the wire.
Without a stud finder he has no idea if he's nailing into a stud or
not.