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Post by Johnkenn on Aug 2, 2015 11:10:49 GMT -6
I'm threatening to finally make a cable run down from my studio to the great room area. Never done a wall fish...but don't want to pay somebody $200 to do it.
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ericn
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Balance Engineer
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Post by ericn on Aug 2, 2015 11:12:32 GMT -6
How old is the house? Interior or exterior wall?
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Post by Johnkenn on Aug 2, 2015 11:19:30 GMT -6
8 years old. Interior wall. I have a feeling it will be pretty simple - I've just never done it before.
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Post by tonycamphd on Aug 2, 2015 11:26:10 GMT -6
the most reliable way is to buy an electrician's fish tape, the cheapest way is to take an old piece of heavy gauge solid(not stranded) wire and try to push it to you destination, then pull back the runs you need. The biggest pitfalls are bottom and top plates on platform framed structures(walls, then floor, then 2nd story walls etc), balloon framing is easiest(one length of 2x? from foundation to ceiling of 2nd floor), then the only other obstacle could be fire blocking, which is placed horizontally between studs every 4 feet here in Cali, it's supposed to slow down a fire from rising.
that said, i'm thinking of booking a flight to come to nashville for a week over wiz's trip, maybe we can take a half day and get it done? even if we have to cut out some drywall it's no big deal. Unfortunately for me, i somehow learned how to make drywall patches disappear from detection over the years, i refuse to paint though! haha.
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ericn
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Balance Engineer
Posts: 15,080
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Post by ericn on Aug 2, 2015 12:05:59 GMT -6
Remember any thing in the wall should be plenum rated not your regular rubber mic cable! For very little coin Mogami 3159 AES / EBU!
Take Tony up on his offer!
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Post by Johnkenn on Aug 2, 2015 12:22:24 GMT -6
the most reliable way is to buy an electrician's fish tape, the cheapest way is to take an old piece of heavy gauge solid(not stranded) wire and try to push it to you destination, then pull back the runs you need. The biggest pitfalls are bottom and top plates on platform framed structures(walls, then floor, then 2nd story walls etc), balloon framing is easiest(one length of 2x? from foundation to ceiling of 2nd floor), then the only other obstacle could be fire blocking, which is placed horizontally between studs every 4 feet here in Cali, it's supposed to slow down a fire from rising. that said, i'm thinking of booking a flight to come to nashville for a week over wiz's trip, maybe we can take a half day and get it done? even if we have to cut out some drywall it's no big deal. Unfortunately for me, i somehow learned how to make drywall patches disappear from detection over the years, i refuse to paint though! haha. Yes! I'll take you up on that! |
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Post by wiz on Aug 2, 2015 16:49:03 GMT -6
just before tonycamphd takes to your walls with a chainsaw... 8) Get some mic cables, or a really really long one, and run it down... find out where you want it in the room, and indeed if you want it in that room. cheers Wiz PS it is for artistic purposes only that I reference the use of chainsaws for electrical installation purposes. Tony doesn't use any chainsaws that I am aware of. |
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Post by tonycamphd on Aug 2, 2015 17:49:02 GMT -6
chainsaw? who me?...  |
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Post by wiz on Aug 2, 2015 18:10:27 GMT -6
chainsaw? who me?... Great GREAT GREAT Film!! One of my favourites.... cheers Wiz |
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Post by keymod on Aug 2, 2015 18:23:35 GMT -6
8 years old. Interior wall. I have a feeling it will be pretty simple - I've just never done it before. As an electrician for over thirty years, I guarantee you, it's never simple. The handyman shows on TV make it look like everything only takes a couple of minutes. You will have to open up and patch drywall to go two stories in an eight year old house. Balloon framing has been banned from building codes for decades because of how fire can spread up the "balloon". Like Tony said, fireblocks will always give you the kabash. Funny how they always appear right in the middle of a wall that was just papered with the most expensive wall paper known to mankind. In the old days we could try to follow a plumbing vent line, which often times ran from cellar to attic. |
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Post by mulmany on Aug 2, 2015 18:52:14 GMT -6
There are ways to do it cleanly, but the tools cost a fortune (relative to tools). Been running low voltage audio/video/data in residential for 11 years now. Some days you get lucky most days you don't.
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ericn
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Balance Engineer
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Post by ericn on Aug 2, 2015 18:58:50 GMT -6
8 years old. Interior wall. I have a feeling it will be pretty simple - I've just never done it before. As an electrician for over thirty years, I guarantee you, it's never simple. The handyman shows on TV make it look like everything only takes a couple of minutes. You will have to open up and patch drywall to go two stories in an eight year old house. Balloon framing has been banned from building codes for decades because of how fire can spread up the "balloon". Like Tony said, fireblocks will always give you the kabash. Funny how they always appear right in the middle of a wall that was just papered with the most expensive wall paper known to mankind. In the old days we could try to follow a plumbing vent line, which often times ran from cellar to attic. After completely rewireing a 1813 house back in Galveston I couldn't agree more ! That's why I say let Tony help! Shit happens and it always looks easy when pros do it! I remember a former DIY Network PA telling me how often what should have in theory been the simplest shoots were always the most problematic! |
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Post by tonycamphd on Aug 2, 2015 19:15:37 GMT -6
we put a new 200amp entrance panel, and rewired my brothers entire house a bit back, i was thrilled when we sent a fishtape down from an upstairs wall, and it dropped right down to the basement! we actually ended up pushing romex with the end folded over down most of those bays with no need for even the fishtape, probably the easiest rewire i've ever done, usually they are much more difficult. I will say, that of all the construction trades, i always feel i'm on a bit of a vacation when ever i do electrical or plumbing work, concrete has got to be the toughest of all the trades i've partaken in..., that and certain types of roofing.
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Post by jeromemason on Aug 2, 2015 20:05:00 GMT -6
Let me know if you need some help John, I've had to do this more times that I would had liked to.
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Post by gouge on Aug 2, 2015 20:21:31 GMT -6
if I sent a line down from an upstairs wall and it went all the way down I'd be very concerned.
no nogging, plates, joists?///////
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Post by keymod on Aug 3, 2015 3:58:59 GMT -6
If a wire is going all the way through with no problems that means there's no insulation in the wall, which is not a good thing for the homeowner. Now, with sprayed-on Styrofoam insulation being used everywhere, along with the code-requirements for fire-caulking all of the plate penetrations - fageddaboudit. Hey Tony, you won't feel like you're on vacation running wire through an 160*F attic crawl space with blown-in insulation. Lol, why don't the attic jobs ever come in the winter? |
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Post by jayson on Aug 3, 2015 6:11:18 GMT -6
You're going to want one of those really long drill bits with the fiberglass shanks that they sell in the electrical aisle at the Lowes/Home Depot of your choice. Like this. It makes it fairly easy to get an effective drill bit behind the drywall that can get through sub-floors & around joists, etc. Running conduit can certainly make things a lot easier over the long haul if you're going to want the flexibility of rewiring more frequently over time, but I wouldn't advise anybody to retrofit just to install it. It's one thing to take that on if you're opening up the walls anyway to work on other plumbing or wiring - but it might be a bit much as it's own project. |
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