After putting laminate flooring in the apartment, I need to install floor transitions under the doors/room connections.
Since in a couple of places, there is ~2mm difference in height, I decided to fix the transitions tightly and bought the transitions that require holes in the floor concrete.
But now I realize that I should be worried about accidentally drilling a pipe or wires in the floor. At one place I do know that hot water pipes are running as the floor is warmer.
Other than that I cannot guess where are the dangerous zones. I don't have the full info about the wire/pipe placement in the apartment as I am renting it.
I wonder if there are some rules on how pipes and wires should travel from one room to another? (I am living in the Netherlands)
I have heard that electricity wires usually go vertical or horizontal but in my apartment, I have seen the wires going diagonally in the ceiling, or the pipe probably going diagonally under the floor (based on the patch on the concrete before covering it with the laminate).
Best Answer
I note that you asked for the Netherlands.
Usually wires run vertical in the walls, but sometimes they can run under an angle too. Same thing for ceilings, they run parallel to the wall, but not always. And if you live in an "upstairs" you never know what's in your floor.
Typically drilling 1cm or maybe 2cm deep is not an issue for wires, but this cannot be counted on.
The best way is to chisel the concrete, confirm there is no wiring or piping, fill it again, then drill into the filling to insert screws or plugs.
Wires run in PVC conduits embedded in the cement/brick/concrete, so if you're careful you'll likely not cause damage while chiseling.
Without this you'll need a "leiding detector" or wire finder.
For heating pipes the trick is to spray the floor while the heater is on, and determine from the moisture pattern where the pipes run. Then simply stay away from those areas no matter how deep you'll drill.