Pre/Post Drywall

[IncrdblHulk9]

Couple questions:

1) I was just curious how everyone handles placing/tacking/hanging the wires pre-drywall?

2) How do you go about fishing for the wire after the drywall is up? I dont see it being that hard when mounting something as big as the ELK KP2 - but what about when you mount a motion sensor in a corner? How in the world to you make a tiny hole in the corner and manage to fish the wire through it?

Thanks

 

[Ranger Digital]

incrd, typically the wire/cable is stapled, taped, whatever whereby the end of the cat5 or whatever cable is sticking out past the studs. Its held in place where you want it to stick out of the drywall. The drywallers are responsible for putting the hole in the drywall, pulling wire thru hole and leaving it sticking out the drywall in the same place you had it sticking out past the studs.

MOST drywall companies are very familiar with this process. However, if its not in the bid, they may upcharge you for it as its extra labor. They love to find ways to say "thats not included in the price, but here is a new cost".

if you are doing the drywall yourself, simply poke the hole in the drywall where you want to mount the item and pull the wire thru the drywall, than nail/screw the drywall in place.

Either way, EXPECT the drywall mud and paint to cover the wire, LOL.

there are other products on the market that are mounted in the studs, drywalled over then have some type of magnet mount templete to tell you where to put the hole.

hope that helps.

 

[AutomatedOutlet]

Also, if possible, take a lot of pictures of the wiring before the walls go up. Can't hurt and digital pictures are cheap!

 

[Ranger Digital]

martin, GREAT point!!!! a must especially as an installer.

 

[AO-Brandon]

I used to hang a piece of string with a metal fishing lure off of the wire. After the drywall was up (and they didnt bother cutting holes) I could locate it with a magnet. As for the motion sensor, I never put one in a corner. I prefer the ceiling mount. Sorry!

 

[Sandpiper]

Couple questions:

1) I was just curious how everyone handles placing/tacking/hanging the wires pre-drywall?

2) How do you go about fishing for the wire after the drywall is up? I dont see it being that hard when mounting something as big as the ELK KP2 - but what about when you mount a motion sensor in a corner? How in the world to you make a tiny hole in the corner and manage to fish the wire through it?

Thanks

For keypads, speakers and glassbreaks, I like to use work boxes. It is hard for the drywallers to miss those. Just make sure you let it stick out beyond the studs 1/2" so it will be flush with the finished drywall. Also, it's less likely for the drywallers to cover it up. Most keypads, etc are designed to mount onto a work box and cover it nicely.

For motions in the corner, a work box cannot be used. Here, I use two techniques, one is a back up in case the drywallers just cover the wires over. First, lightly staple the wire in a zig zag fashion between the studs in the cavity you have chosen. Then, at the exact location of where you plan to mount the motion, lightly drive a long nail into the corner. Then wrap the wire around the nail as tightly as you can. Most of the time the drywallers will remove the nail and leave the wire hanging out. Sometimes they discard the nail and push the wire behind the drywall. If this happens, drill a 3/4" hole in the drywall and go fishing. The fishing should be easy though, with the wires in the zig zag.

 

[rrockoff]

No much to add to this topic as most has been covered. No one has yet mentioned a "fox and hound" to hunt for wires behind walls. I have also heard people call them "toners" or "probe and toner". The way it works is to connect one end of the wire to a sender box, and then you use an amplifier wand to find the signal in the wall. Once you find the loudest signal, you start digging in the wall for your wire.

Here is a link to a website that carries them. I have never ordered from this site, I'm just using it as a reference for this topic.

http://www.datacomtools.com/catalog/tone-probe.html

Best of luck,

Rod

 

[Ranger Digital]

I have a sneaking Suspicion timbrux works for a wirless company, lol.