How do I know I'm not going to drill into electrical wires?

Hello. I am going to hang a curtain rod so I can put up some curtains. Please see the attached image. I plan to drill into the wall as indicated by the red circles on the picture. Is this safe? I'm only going to go as deep as a standard-size screw.

Another thing that concerns me is that I tapped where I plan to install the curtain rod and it felt pretty hard. Not as hard as concrete, but not nearly as soft as cheap drywall.

Thanks for the guidance!

 

I severely doubt you'll find any electric there.

Assuming the sheetrock is fastened to the poured concrete with furring strips..... there should be solid wood framing in the very corner.
That would be the best place to attach your curtain rod.

You can take an ice pick and tap it into the wall to find a solid mounting surface.
The ice pick won't enter the concrete.

 

OK. You seem to be suggesting that I should want solid wood as opposed to weakish drywall? Am I right?

 

Definitely. With a heavy curtain rod of that length..... solid wood is a lot more secure.

 

Regardless of anything else, I agree with PJ in seriously doubting that you would find an electrical cable or conduit in that area. But looking at the type of structure it appears to be, I would suspect that you have metal studs rather than wood, so don't be surprised or alarmed if that's what you find. You might be able to remove the cover from a receptacle or light switch, shine a light in there and see what you have. And, assuming that all work is to code, cables would be set back a minimum 1-1/4: from the face of the framing member, so as long as your fasteners do not extend farther you should have no issues.

 

In looking again.... aka pedro raised a good point.
With that building you are more likely to find steel studs.

 

Yes, I don't know what metal studs are, but there was something back there: it wasn't drywall.

In any event, I didn't have that hard of a time drilling through it with my bits, which are designed for metal.

However, I had a hell of a time screwing in the brackets.

Part of the problem was that I drilled all the way through whatever was back there: it wasn't very deep. Then, partly due to that, I couldn't use the anchors. Another issue is that the product was just junk.

Another problem is that I have an 11-foot ceiling and didn't have anyone to help.

To make a long story short, I used my own screws and what washers I could find and secured the brackets the best I could. I attached an image of the result. You guys may not be impressed, but getting this curtain rod installed took some poor man's ingenuity.

Thanks again for the help. Absolutely love this website. Have saved so much money on here.

 

Looks pretty good to me. Nice job.

 

You are probably OK the way it is. If you want to be sure, check out these screws below and replace the screws you used. The wall dog screws will grab into drywall or thin metal/material with no anchors required. They are hard to strip out in any material because they have what is called Hi-Low threads.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/The-Hill...6246/202243039

 

Looks like an expandable shower curtain type rod could be wedged in between the walls there too.