What have I drilled into??

[aimee555]

I'm attempting to put up shelves on my kitchen exterior cavity wall, however 1 cm into drilling I ran into resistance so stopped.

I've taken a picture through the hole and it looks like I have hit something plasticky looking.

I didn't use a stud detector as was not in the crossline of any electric outlets, and didn't believe piping ran through exterior cavity walls? I am right below a 2nd floor radiator however so am now worried that it is piping of some kind (although my pipes are copper not plastic)! Any thoughts?

 

[Rocketsql]

At this point, for safety you might just want to carefully cut out a bigger piece of drywall, which you can later patch, so you can see what exactly is there. If it isn't leaking you could just patch it back up and forget about it. Or call the the guys at This Old House, they'll know exactly what it is.

 

[piglet11]

I would agree with Rocketsql that you do need to see what's going on by removing more material, presumably plaster.
The plaster should be on blockwork either concrete or lightweight but a lot will depend on the age of the property.
I'm curious to know what the fibrous stuff is just below the top layer. It almost looks like plywood.
It's fair to say that anything can be discovered out of the ordinary in buildings so you need to proceed with caution and until you know what it is, treat it as live power, a water pipe, a gas pipe or anything else dangerous.
What people should do and what people actually do can be two very different things.
I've seen quite a few gash jobs, including someone using yellow gas pipe for a soakaway connection and a plumber friend was lucky to escape alive after hacksawing through a lead sheathed electricity supply cable that looked like a lead water pipe.
It might possibly be a cable which are run under plaster but would normally be in channel, white plastic or galvanised steel.
Try a small magnet to see if you find anything.
Copper pipe can be run in plastic ducting.
What you can't do now is ignore it and you will have to expose a larger area, say 150 x 150 mm to start with.
I have to say that drilling into a wall without at least some sort of metal or voltage detector is chancy.
It will be interesting to see what you find.

 

[tpeerson]

I'm thinking it could be construction adhesive. But yeah, I'd cut away a section and investigate!

 

[piglet11]

Just an afterthought.

" I didn't use a stud detector as was not in the crossline of any electric outlets, "

Never, ever make assumptions like that.
If you can't see what's below the surface the only thing you can assume until proved otherwise, is that there might be something that could harm you or others or cause a lot of damage.

Some years ago, the daughter of an MP was electrocuted doing just what you did and all hell let loose.

If you have to go in blind, especially in solid walls as opposed to stud walls, do it in very gradual steps. It's almost like uncovering an unexploded mine. Not unlike Corporal Jones in Dad's Army.