Nail Plates. What are They?

Have you ever tried to drive a nail or run a screw in a wall in your house and your nail bends or the screw just won’t seem to grab?  You may be up against a nail plate hidden behind the drywall. These protective plates are installed by your builder to protect things like plumbing supply lines, drains, vents and electrical wires from being punctured when drywall is installed and future home improvements from the unaware homeowner.

These plates are thin mild steel pieces that are about a 1/16th of an inch thick. They are thin enough that the drywall installs over them without causing a bulge. They typically have a coupe of ‘teeth’ on them and a couple of hits from a hammer holds them in place until the drywall is installed.

You won’t find these on older homes but modern code calls for them to protect the house. I’ve seen ‘mystery’ leaks in plumbing that show up around the baseboard at the floor or on a lower level ceiling that were eventually traced to a nail puncture in the plumbing from a picture that was hung years ago. Sometimes it takes a while for something like this to show up because the nail acts as a plug in the water line or vent.

There have also been house fires from nails driven into the wall where a fastener was unknowingly run into a Romex electric line. This can lead to an immediate shock or it could take years of movement through the natural expansion/contraction of the home to finally wear through the insulation to the point that a problem occurs.  

Reach out to me if you need a Realtor in Kettering, Beavecreek, Bellbrook and surrounding areas, I’ll be glad to help. 

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