Just stopped by to see how you ran electrical wires thru studs in a wall ... and ended up at amazon buying many of the tools you used. The technique's you offered were so useful, I decided to look deeper into your playlist of uploaded videos and was very impressed with how useful they are for the DIY Home-Owner. So I decided to SUBSCRIBE and watch all the future videos that you might find time to post. VERY NICELY DONE ... thanks for giving me choices and sharing the tools you use ...
I had to install several can lights in a ceiling with 10" center joist. I end up using short extensions and when i got to the other hole i used a pull string for pulling my cable through. They did not any patches in the Ceiling and plus it was 2" thick of plaster.
Excellent video, thank you. There are almost no videos like this for simply running across walls so this is very helpful. I need to run a 12 volt wire across walls in my kitchen. I have one side of the kitchen with under-counter LEDs and need to run a spur to the other side for a very short section of lights there. I am inclined to simply locate the metal studs and cut out a narrow horizontal grove across each one to run the wire, just plastering over the wire. With low voltage that should be OK, yes? Thoughts would be appreciated.
I rewired a 1920's house a number of years ago. I ran a number of wires down to the rooms on the second floor electric "boxes" from the attic. The tactic I used was to use a 10 foot piece of lightweight yarn with a weight tied to the yarn leaving a foot of yarn after the weight. I would drop the weight down a hole in the top stud in the wall that I had drilled. I ran a shop vac in the room and sucked the end of the yarn into the box. I attached a more suitable stronger string to the yarn pulled it through and then used the string to pull the wire down from the attic. No plaster / drywall work to do.
You forgot one thing fire stops in the middle of the wall or even two are put between the studs. You will have to drill through the fire stops. I can run my wires under the house and avoid fire stops for outlets, switches run in the attic and if I want to control the outlet with a switch just one fire stop drop is needed just do the open square to get through the fire stop like in the video but drilling vertical. 73
Nice tutorial friend! As an electrician for over 25 years...I have to mention that this is an "idealistic" not a "realistic" situation. Your job will vary considerably. You might cut a hole in your wall only to find you can not "fish" wires to your designated location (i.e.: insulation...fire stops...double studs...etc)....You should always look for other routes before you cut (i.e.: upstairs....basements...closets). Just an FYI.
Hi J Starr I need a coaxial cable outlet installed in a room that does not currently have a coaxial cable outlet... Should I let the cable company do the installation or should I hire an electrician or a contractor. My Landlord has given me permission to have the work done...so I want the BEST option.
@@systemsbroken They all tend to surface mount the cable (along baseboards, up/over/down door trim). I've seen houses where they even run their lines outside, then drill through the walls into each room. What you get for a $0 cost install.
Good video! Regarding the traditional old work boxes you mentioned not liking (the ones with ears that clamp when screwed down), here's a helpful tip. I'll glue a popsicle stick horizontally on the inside of the hole along the top and bottom just using some wood glue / caulk / joint compound (whatever is handy). You're gluing this to the paper on the inside, nothing visible on the outside, and the popsicle stick is long enough to easily cover the width of the box opening plus an inch (or more) on each side. This gives MUCH strong backing, preventing the old work box back post from cutting into the paper when you screw it in, and prevents the corners from getting blown out from the box ears pulling in too much - spreads that clamping load out considerably better with solid backing. Only takes a minute to do, costs pennies, and you don't have to wait for the glue to dry; the box itself if working as the clamp to hold it in place. I agree in general though, I love the alternative smartbox you show there that allows easily attaching an old work box to a stud. But sometimes you need that box between studs, OR you remember that those smartboxes lose a decent chunk of space on the inside to the area used for screw attachment and make certain large outlets like GFCIs a really tight fit 😀Definitely less obstructions in those cheap old work boxes with the ears.
I would recommend using a side handle on the drill (if available) when using large diameter hole saws; it gives you better control of the drill and you're less likely to break your wrist if the saw jams suddenly.
Great video, good instruction. When I cut a patch of drywall for access I use my craft knife at an angle, makes for easier fixing and prevents the patch falling through the hole. Thanks for sharing.
Any problem with that brand endoscope staying connected with a signal/picture to your phone? I bought one that plugs into my phone on amazon and it won't keep a signal at all, the plug is just to loose.
When I was mounting my TV, I had to cut out a big section of drywall so I could put in some additional bracing. The studs in that particular wall weren't exactly 16" on center. This house was built in 1969 and a lot of the stud spacing isn't 16" on center. Some of them are more, some are less. So I could get one side of the wall mount into studs, but the other side was just in hollow wall. So I cut out a big section, put in some additional bracing, and then ran my wiring while I had that ginormous hole in the wall, lol. It made it SO easy to do as I could get both my arms, my head, and my shoulders in the hole to see anything inside the wall. Unfortunately, I couldn't cut it out as a single piece and then use it as a plug to close the hole then tape and mud over it. I had to take it out in pieces. But I had a larger piece of drywall so I just cut a piece from that to fit, afterward. But it wasn't too bad. The bad (good) thing is I like all my wires to be hidden. So i have a lot of wires (both power and low voltage) that I run inside my walls. And that means I have a lot of patches in my walls at various places. But thanks to videos like this, it made it easy to do and I wasn't left with a bunch of crappy looking walls with crappy patch jobs.
If you cut your drywall access holes with a beveled angle, you can just butter up the edges, squish the cutouts in place, then do your tape/etc over top without using screws or relying on a stud behind them.
On my phone and cant find your videos about fishing to attic or basement. You have a TON of parts and PLAYLISTS but sometimes you should really just put ALL of a single topic into one video. This is TOO difficult to find related topics like fishing cable through attic & basenent... especially when you have MULTIPLE cable fishing videos (in general).
Its a good method. I'm a plasterer and decorator, and don't own half these tools but really should. Especially the endoscope. ;-O If you have 'off cuts' of plasterboard its easy to fix hole in plasterboard with some strong adhesive as backing supports. Although some mini clamps are ideal to hold it in place. I found out GORILLA GLUE 290 ML Grab Adhesive White is amazing for quick grab for board on board bonding.
Fantastic video! I always wanted to know how to run the wires behind the walls. This video is an eye-opener for me. thanks! Congratulations to your 100K subs!
What a great video. I learned something new. I have wondered how to do this but I never wanted to open up the wall to do it. I like the idea of making a couple small openings and using the same cutout for patching. Simple but effective. I need to get me and endoscope and a long bit. I look forward to your next video.
Thanks alot, very helpful, I like the holesaw method better, did not know about using a piece of wood for backing, pretty smart. I'll try and subscribe to your channel, thanks again for the info
Just now found your page on here and man, I wish I had seen your tips sooner!!! I plan to watch every video! Your garage door tips is what brought me here! I didn’t even know those green hinges existed before now!! Thank you!! Ps. Wonder if you have or can make a video specifically for running speaker wires for home theater 7.2.4 type of setup (ceiling speakers also). Would be awesome if there was a way to run cables in a rental where the owner would never find them. 🎉
If there's no access overhead or underneath, and doing sheetrock damage seems necessary, look at the shoe molding... I've done this a few times due to the homeowner not having that particular color paint anymore; happens often in older homes... With a nail punch, punch through the thin nails and carefully remove the shoe molding...you'll find you have a little bit of room to run your wire, especially 14 wire... You can either drill holes through the bottoms of each stud (avoiding the nails from the base plate,) or slightly notch out each stud and use staples and nail guards while replacing the shoe molding...
This was a great video, I am apprensive about cutting into my drywall but I want to mount TV's in our new home and I don't want to see any wires. I have watched other videos and no one showed your method of cutting the access square on the 2x4. Thanks now I onto your video on how to patch my drywall after I cut into it.
Excellent demonstration!! Question-I have used a replacement blue box with the two tails (upper and lower) for a receptacle and the levers broke off in time by unplugging a lamp cord. I went to Lowe’s to get something else and they didn’t have anything. Am I right that in order to drive a screw or nail in a stud, I’d have to cut out drywall and then patch it back? Or is there another way? Thanks
I was most curious how you would have ran the wire into an existing box - that you couldn't remove. Assuming you can actually get an old box out, especially with older houses / older wiring, trying to reinsert that into a box after removing it, I could see creating more work for yourself.
🎉Thanks very much very useful. Only comment in the UK we would run in line with the boxes not above. So the zones where there may be cables are in the area bounded by the top and bottom of the box between the two boxes. If I have made that clear. Easier to explain with a diagram.
I would just cut a big long strip and run the wire. Instead of patching bunch of little holes, I would just patch the big long one. draw 2parallel level lines and use sawzal to just cut through the drywall and go from there.
I have two serious objections to your video. 1. It doesn’t look very professional for to to say, “gosh, I can’t find a bit for my 5 inch circular sauce I’m going to use some other size.” You should get all your tools lined up before you make a video. 2. You also are somewhat misleading in your title. You state that you’ll be showing us how to use a fish tape and instead you simply put your hand through the hole. I suggest you either update your title or redo the video showing the fish tape being used.
I wanted to change an old not functioning Wall HDMI cable (inside the wall) by a new one. I thought it would suffice taping the extremity of the old to the new one and pull it through the hole in wall but it gets always stuck in the middle. No matter what I do. Maybe the endoscope could help?
Way too much work pal. Gently take the skirting board off and make small cuts under that. Put the skirting board back on and it'll hide all the damage. Worst case, you need a new piece of skirting board.
This so funny Because no sparky gives A shot and just butchers drywall and then expects someone else to fix that. Plus the need to leave clippings all over the floor because they can’t operate brooms or clean up.
Just come from above with out cutting the wall or just cut one square and drill a side hole on the first stud and reach to the second stud with the long paddle bit and just fish it out to the second box, simple as 1,2,3,...…!
There’s a hammer in steel plate that should be put behind the drywall to prevent drilling into the romex if you need to drill or nail into the stud. Inexpensive and safer. Easy to do if you’ve already got the drywall off the front of it.
Please explain how this would work with insulation. I recently found out that wire should run through insulation and it's impossible to fish wire through insulation.
From the repair perspective this is not worth multiple small holes. Just cut a 3" wide rectangle across the whole wall, do two long tape lines and feather it out on top n bottom. Patching multiple holes side by side is a waste of time and money n harder to make the wall look good again. Jumped the gun on responding to see method two. However you say more repair. I would see it as a bigger hole but an easier, faster, better looking repair, so I'd say less of repair. I see no scenario to suggest method one or three if you need to open a wall in multiple places
I was thinking if you use the circular bit on center of stud you would already have a backing for the patch after and see what’s on side of stud already no???
The old work box with flaps if using a receptacle I pre drill the side to add screws to also fasten it to the stud. Then you have 2 flaps and 2 screws holding it.
Perhaps you should have put a back on that demo wall as without a back on that wall there is plenty of space to put your hands. Next time put hardboard on the back to show how difficult it is having just the depth of a stud to work in.
You are using an impact drill? You are also not explaining the slip factor or the fact if you miss the center of the stud you will be going into the room behind it if it slips. The fact you are using a paddle bit instead of a flex bit where you can bend the bit to go straight also shows negligence. When you use a paddle bit it has no give or bend radius so you will be forced to drill at an angle.
I am trying to add an exterior flood light and I need to run the romex from the electrical outlet inside, up and through three fire blocks, to get to where I want to mount the light up high. Do I need to really cut out 3 holes in the drywall?
I can't wait for your next video that you will show how to drill to go up to an attic. This weekend I need to run wires for new led light and I don't fit in my attic. Stay safe and keep making videos!
Thanks for the videos, they are well explained and simple to understand. I like to do small things around the house for my pleasure and for my wife and these tips really help me go step by step through some of these projects.
I would really like you to show how to make the transition between the wall and the ceiling in order to pull that wire.. It really is not obvious to try and understand and it would be of great help.😷👍
