Metal between drywall

[Limpas4]

Hi,

I was going to put up a shelf on a drywall this weekend. I drilled the first hole and it turned out to be double drywall. When I went to drill the second hole a few decimeters to the side, however, it stopped when I got through the first drywall, and when I looked inside, I saw something shiny. Tried a few centimeters to the side and there was no metal, just double drywall again. Tried a few decimeters directly above the hole with metal, and there was metal behind the first drywall there as well.

What could it be and is it safe to continue? It's in an apartment, newly built a year ago, and there's a bathroom on the other side of the wall but there shouldn't be any water where I'm drilling, especially not directly behind the first layer of drywall when there are two layers beside it.

Thanks in advance!

 

[useless]

It is probably framed with steel studs.

 

[hempularen]

And "stålreglar" sounds a bit sturdier than it is. They are studs made of bent sheet metal. No problem drilling through. When drywall is mounted against such studs, the screws drill through the metal almost as quickly as into a wooden stud.

If you're going to put up the shelf there, first drill with a bit that is at least 1mm narrower than the screw, preferably even smaller. And let the screw anchor in the metal, you don't need a drywall plug if you have a stud behind.

 

[Janus82]

It could be a proper craftsman who has protected water pipes with a sheet metal so that it's not possible to accidentally screw into the tap water.

 

[Limpas4]

It's probably framed with steel studs.

It could be a proper craftsman who has protected water pipes with a plate so that it's not possible to accidentally screw into the tap water.

Ok, but shouldn't the plate/stud be behind both sheets in these cases? It's behind the first layer of gypsum in a wall that has double sheets. That's what's so strange. If it were behind both sheets, I would probably assume it was a stud. Is it common to put up a plate as protection against water pipes in newly constructed apartments?

It feels unreasonable that water runs there, but you never know. The main pipe is on the other side of the wall in the bathroom, but not where I'm drilling, and nothing with incoming water or sewage is directly on the other side of the wall.

 

[Andreas_kalmar]

Could perhaps a joint plate be the apartment-separating wall?

 

[Limpas4]

Could it be a seam plate, is it the apartment-separating wall?

Used to splice the first layer of gypsum? Sounds more reasonable if that's the case. Not apartment-separating. On the other side of the wall, we have our bathroom.

 

[hempularen]

OK, I didn't realize there was metal in the middle of the wall. It feels odd. Spontaneous guess, joint plate, as someone suggested. If they wanted to lay the second layer of drywall with an offset seam. The first layer screwed into studs, the second layer has its seams in the middle between the studs, so they lay a metal strip to have something to screw into. Don't know if that's "done".

 

[S_B_O]

Just an idea, but wouldn't you try to get an image of the metal's distribution with a magnet or stud finder?

 

[Andreas_kalmar]

Joint plate is included in the fire compartment between layer 1 and 2 feels excessive in an inner wall