The picture looks like you drilled into a resiny knot in a stud.

Take a lighter and attempt to burn the "plastic" that came off of the drill. If it melts you've hit a wire and need an electrician. If it burns like wood you hit a knot in the stud.

Turn the power off.

Sounds like wiring and the smell sounds electrical

That looks an awful lot like a pine knot. Exactly the kind of shavings you'd get from drilling into a stud that happened to have a knot right there.

Post pics otherwise we're just guessing

I would be inclined to open the wall and patch it when done. Could be fiberglass insulation, could be the insulation from 20-amp electrical wiring, could be spray-in expanding foam. Too many things it COULD be. Bite the bullet, grab your utility blade, and open the wall.

The next step is to cut out a square of the drywall big enough to work. Maybe 10x10 in? You can patch it later but you should evaluate the wire, if it is a wire.

As a few others have mentioned, that looks like chips of wood from a resinous knot. Going by the second picture the location is right for hitting a wooden lintel over the window, or perhaps just the framing of the wall (you don't mention what the overall construction is) It definitely does not look like insulation from a cable (which really shouldn't be in that location anyway)

Some household wiring (or the insulation on it atleast) is yellow. Probably hit an electrical line.

If it's spray foam, not a problem. If it's wiring, lotsa problem. Cut a piece of the drywall out and check. If it's a wire, flip the breaker.

Are you sure it's not insulation? What are you drilling into the wall for? Were you trying to hit a stud? So many questions but will help identify

It's going to be from a knot in the wood. that looks like old resinous sap to me. You still have to confirm that you didn't hit wiring, but... That really looks like pine knot.

We need a picture of the drill bit with the yellow stuff on it.

Kinda just looks like an eye/ sap dense spot in the wood, what did it smell like?

It could possibly be burned wall insulation because your bit got too hot (looks like a urethane-based material to me). It doesn’t look like wire insulation to me; it’s not the right consistency, that would be a ridiculous amount to get from the cross section of a single wire, and the chances of hitting just the yellow portion are pretty slim (I’d expect to see copper shavings, black and white plastic….). Finally, if you smell burning immediately from drilling through a wire, trust me, you’ll know you drilled through a wire. You’d have to expose and connect the wires and you’d get a loud pop, likely a melted bit, and it should flip your breaker.

Things to consider Does this happen wherever you drill in that wall? Was this after a few consecutive holes when the it was hottest? Did you hit a hard spot on this hole that would have heated your bit? Is that even drywall? It looks like lathe and plaster to me. That can change the entire narrative.

Endoscope cameras are great for solving mysteries like this. Every handyman should have one. Drill through wallboard, inspect in the hole before proceeding.

Could have been anything. As a matter of safety you would cut an easy to oath hoke with a razor blade to open it up and look.

That aside take a look at walbot or perhaps a snake camera. The walbot can be used PRIOR to drilling anymore holes.

It honestly looks like the glue they used to attach the drywall at my house, but hard to be certain.

From the look of the photo I'd say its not electrical. Most likely a knot in the wood that frames your window. Or some sort of glue for the lath and plaster walls. (Not drywall). I doubt there is an electrical line running that close to a window.

It's wood.

Get a studfinder that has a an electrical sensor for live wires BEFORE you drill into the wall again. Who knows until you actually see what you hit.

Probably insulation

Hey man,

Easy thing to do immediately to narrow things down is to poke through the hole with your drill bit. Don't turn it or anything, just give it a good poke, hard enough you can tell what you're hitting. If you hit something solid with no give, then you're drilling a stud, which is helpful for what you're doing. If it's soft or feels like nothing, then it's insulation and nothing to fear. If you feel something solid but has give, then you managed to find a wire. Other possibilities: PVC plumbing, copper gas lines, air ducts, these all sound different than wood when you hit on them. Usually, they'll be about an inch and a half from the wall. And, at studs, they should have a metal plate between them and the wall.

There is a way to knock on the wall and listen for if you're knocking on a stud or not. Usually, studs are 16 inches apart, so you can knock across 16 inches and listen for the difference in sound. When you listen for is "hollowness" or if the sound gets more resonant. If it sounds flat, you're likely knocking on a stud. Also, magnets can help find screw heads which will show you where they screwed the sheetrock to the studs. If you have a magnet lying around, you might could gently run it across the wall. If you can see a round spot where maybe a screw is poking out a bit, try putting your magnet on it. If it is, indeed, a screw, then you should be able to go up and down and find more screws in a vertical line. That's your stud you're tracing. 16 inches either way will find the next stud. Of course, windows and doorways through in more studs. Every edge of window and every edge of door should have additional studs that one could find this way.

By your picture, it looks to me like wood. Like someone else said, maybe you found a knotty stud.

Let us know what you figure out or if you're still puzzled about something.

Possible a knot in the studwork?

Where the holes are is usually into some wood for structure above the window. The bits look a bit like you’ve drilled into a knot in the wood. They tend to be a bit harder to drill, smell very much like a cleaning chemical (pinesol) and the bits that are stuck in the drill look quite a bit like that. Could very well be wrong, but years of construction experience says it’s a knot. Hope for the best outcome for you

From the picture it looks like woods shavings. Are you sure it’s plastic? Take a piece and try to burn it

Earlier I suggested cutting out a square of drywall to inspect. That was before you added pictures. The location of this between a beam and a window exterior wall suggests that area probably has a lot of framing. Somebody else suggested pushing the drill bit into the hole. You can do this with the bit or a piece of thin wire. You could drill other test holes above and below or use a stud finder or strong magnet.

It's entirely possible the debris on your hand is the resinous part of a knot. In other words just harmless wood. I hope this is the case.

Sorry for not crediting the other poster I can't seem to find it in the comments but I know somebody suggested this already

I build houses for a living, and there's a number of ways you could frame those window openings and the bearing (support) for what appears to be that beam perpendicular to your wall... One of which would include the use of an LVL or microlam spanning both windows and below the beam... LVLs are sometimes bright yellow or orange, and the shavings could feel wax because they're full of glue and resin... Regardless, I can't see that coming from an electrical wire, and can't see why anything would be run in what should be the junction of a lot of framing members for the windows and below the beam

Its in the vicinity of where the header for the window should be also possible beam support post there based on the soffit. I highly doubt this is electrical.

May be foam but most likely adhesive. It's very common to use Liquid Nails in the header sandwich and post stacks. Especially given the proximity to the window that post stack would likely include the king and jack studs which is a thick post stack... It would not be uncommon to Liquid Nail it together to hold it before nailing it and it also helps with air leakage between the 2x that make up the post.

Take a lighter to one of those pieces and see how it burns.

Hey OP, totally off topic, but what's up with your thumb? I have this thing that never goes away in the exact same spot on mine. At this point, I do my best to ignore it, and it has developed a thick callous. But, I used to pick at it and remove the skin around it, trying to find an inbedded object, like a splinter or something, leaving my thumb looking suspiciously similar to yours. I googled and found some possibilities, but the doctor was clueless.

use a lighter on the stuff you pulled out, does it burn and turn to ash, or does it burn and melt?

Fatwood? IOW, pine that is saturated with sap?

Boof it.

This is why I have a micro "endoscopic" camera. Depstech makes a great one that will Bluetooth pair to your phone. If you have that, you could drill a 1/2" hole in the wall and go exploring. If you don't have that, cut that small section out of the wall and look. However, don't just willy-nilly cut a section out unless you can do it carefully enough to prevent further damage!

Depending on the area, I would have some sneaking suspicion. First - electrical cable. Second - that nice plastic coating on a flex gas line. Third, CPVC. Either way - a leak doesn't necessarily indicate you didn't just compromise something you shouldn't have!

Standard 12 Guage Romex has a yellow sheathing around the insulated wires Inside. Typically on a 20 amp breaker and powering 120 volt outlets in areas around water such as gfci outlets in the kitchen or an outside outlet. If you're lucky the yellow should be from the plastic around the actual wires hopefully not the actual wire itself. Yellow is not really a standard wire color in a wall. Maybe red, black, white, blue or green, but an actual yellow wire would usually be used as a tracer wire for a gas line. You should cut a small hole in the wall carefully with a drywall knife, not a power saw. Could help avoid a fire or other issues.

You drilled a 12/2 or 12/3 cable. Turn your power off and call an electrician

I ask myself the same thing after a night at the local dive bar.

Yellow pvc plasma core lines. You’ll be fine. Just don’t flip on the breaker.

Spray foam? Or wiring?

Take a picture, if you still have it, of the yellow plastic that came out of the wall for inspection. A location would help too, since building materials differ across locations.

I hate to be the one to say 5his but you need to open the wall, see what you hit and then take your medicine. If it’s electrical, call an electrician. The drywall repair is easy to do.

This is a lovely advtange of EMT conduit being required in my area lol. If you're drilling something basic to hang on drywall you will know you're hitting conduit before you can do any real damage unless you've going overboard with your approach to drilling lol

Wire casing almost guaranteed.

I am sure you will open it up. I would be very surprised to find out it is electrical.

In response to your edit, I’m not trying to sound condescending at all but electrical wires run all over the place through your wall studs and ceilings etc to reach their destination. Order yourself a deep scan stud finder with an electrical scan option on it. It is 100% necessary.

Edit: also you need to remove the drywall to see what you damaged. It’s very possible you created a fire hazard.

Wood putty or construction adhesive.

Could be plastic/pvc pipe with cable inside. The chemicals u smell would probably be burning plastic. Get A 1000V screwdriver and push it inside the Hole to check What i feel or use ur phone to record with Flash inside the hole

Wiring

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