How to Drill Into an Upstairs Wall From the Basement

Locate the main circuit box for your home and turn off all power to the home. This prevents injury if you accidentally drill through a wire inside the wall.

Insert a 1/4-inch bit into a drill and create a hole near the base of the wall just above the location where you want to drill the hole up from the basement. If desired, pry the baseboard molding off using a pry bar and drill the hole in the wall location under it.

Remove the original bit and replace it with a 1/8-by-18-inch feeler bit. Insert the bit through the hole and angle it downward as much as possible. Feel around the interior of the wall using the tip of the bit to ensure you don’t feel any wires or pipes. Push the bit down until you feel the wood base plate at the bottom of the wall.

Squeeze the trigger just until you feel the bit penetrate the wood base of the wall.

Go to the basement and turn on a stud finder that can detect metal. Place it on the attic ceiling and run it over the wooden beams in the location of the wall. If the device lights up, it indicates metal pipes above the wood. Mark each location using a pencil so you do not drill there.

Insert a 3/4-inch diameter bit into the drill and insert it in the location of the pilot hole you drilled from above. Squeeze the trigger and hold the drill steady to create a hole all the way up through the basement ceiling.