Techniques on running Cables to Door, windows, attic, garage, walls.........

[Mp333]

Looking for some reference as to techniques on how to run/fish cable thru wall, garage, doors, windows and so forth. You get the idea. I have been looking for DIY how to for the above for some time. I know there is special drills & tools to this.
For repairs on my bmw there is tons of videos, forums and so forth. I have not come across for running cable. Not sure why?
I am sure others would like to have this info as well.

 

[drvnbysound]

Personally, I'd probably never attempt to hard wire for doors/windows at any other time than new construction. Wireless sensors are cheaper than the amount of labor it would take for me to do it.

 

[signal15]

drvnbysound, on 11 Feb 2014 - 21:53, said:
Personally, I'd probably never attempt to hard wire for doors/windows at any other time than new construction. Wireless sensors are cheaper than the amount of labor it would take for me to do it.

If your basement is unfinished, it's probably not that bad for most places. I wired everything I could in my last house. That said, $25 for a MicraG sensor is worth the time/labor savings in a lot of cases. If I did it again, I would only wire things that NEEDED to be wired, or things that were easy. For things that could be wireless and required any kind of hassle, I'd probably just get wireless sensors.

I believe there's a wiring guide somewhere on this forum. When I've done all of my wiring, for equipment, I use:
- One of those long flexible drill bits. They are 4 or 5 feet long and about $25. Home depot has them.
- Fish tape
- 3 piece glow in the dark fiberglass rod
- sheetrock saw

If I've got a location that's difficult, sometimes I will cut strategically placed holes to gain access. But I cut them the same size as a remodel outlet box and put a blank plate over them when I'm done. For example, if I'm going from a wall into a ceiling, I'll cut a hole near the top of the wall to drill the top plate, and another in the ceiling for access from the top to fish the wire. At the bottom of walls, you can take off your trim and cut a hole that would be hidden by the trim when you put it back on.

Another thing I do is I get those plastic access panels that have a frame you glue in and then snap the cover on. If there's an area in a closet or somewhere that's absolutely not normally visible, I cut a 15x15" square hole in the wall for access, and then put the panel in when I'm done. These work great for closets that border duct chases from basements to upper levels.

There's another thing called a Magnapull which is pretty cool. It's a magnetic wheel and a metal "bullet" that you attach your cable to. You put the bullet in the wall and use the magnetic roller to pull the bullet up the inside of the wall. I don't have one, but I want one. I think they are like $200 though.

I used these methods to put about 15k feet of network and alarm cabling in my last house. And nearly 10k feet in the house before that, and that house was completely finished.

My current house was wired like crazy... in 1995. So a lot of the wiring is outdated, mostly for AV. I'm running network cable now, wires for audio distribution keypads, and some water sensor wires. What I can do wirelessly, I do wirelessly. But unfortunately, some things need wire.

To be honest, I'm sick of running wire. I still have to wire for cameras, and I'm really not looking forward to that at all. I did just buy about 100ft of 1.25" Interduct on craigslist, so I'm going to pull that through areas that are "difficult" so I have an easy path in the future if needed.

 

[drvnbysound]

I'm too close to the coast to have a basement... it's all attic work here.
 
I've done my share of wiring after drywall is up. I wired both of my 28" SMCs after drywall and I'm doing more retrofit wiring now; moving all of my AV wiring from the great room, to an adjacent closet to centralize all of it and get it out of reach of my < 1 yr old son. I did a blog post about the latter here: http://cocoontech.com/forums/blog/46/entry-424-centrailize-haht-components/
 
I got the majority of the wiring pulled into the closet last weekend, the exception being the whole home stuff. Which I may try and do this weekend.
 
Having said that, what I was really referring to above was alarm sensors for doors and windows... headers, jack studs, and king studs all add an additional level of complexity.

 

[Neurorad]

I've retrofitted many cables in my current house, slowly over the last 4 years, taking my time to figure out the best path for each cable.  Sometimes it's not obvious.
 
Decent guide:  http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/home-theater-design-construction/6038-how-wall-wiring-your-home-theater.html#post47983
 
I rarely use my fish tape; fiberglass rods much more useful.
 
The long drill bit is often referred to as a Flexbit.  The one with the screw/auger tip is far superior to the conventional, IMO.
 
Screw tip

 
Conventional tip

http://cocoontech.com/forums/topic/18429-not-all-long-flex-bits-are-the-same/
 
There is a handheld guide for the Flexbit, that will help keep the spinning shaft off the edge of the drywall hole.  It helped me, but it's not required.
 
Buy a keyhole saw (aka drywall saw, jab saw) that folds, for your tool box/bag.
 
When cutting holes in drywall that you know will be repaired, cut the hole with a beveled edge, and leave the paper on one side intact, with the piece still attached.
 
I've been through a crapton of electrical tape, attaching cable to the fiberglass rod, when pulling.  Buy a 10-pack of the cheapest for this.
 
Buy a label maker.  Nylon labels, wrapped as flags, are sturdy (but expensive, and look ugly - use in hidden locations).
 
I've had a good experience with Monoprice for category cables.

 

[tmbrown97]

This house was all retrofit... big house with no basement - even the attic is a little non-standard - like the attic floor is floating on top of the walls with a foot of insulation.
 
I did like above for many of the spaces - I cut strategic access holes that were mostly 1 or 2 gang - under the bathroom vanity, behind the door in my office - in the pantry, above the kitchen cabinets... in one of the closets I had to add a small soffit because the roof line was too tight and there was a gas line running right in my way.  The worst was getting two of my keypads in - one on the first floor under a bedroom - so I ended up yanking the HVAC vent in a nearby room - using the chase created for the duct to get from attic to first floor, then using the hole to get into the ceiling nearby to fish the wire through.  Great end result, but a lot of work... and the final was a keypad by the front door - 20' ceilings on an exterior wall - not easy... so I pulled off the baseboard and cut the drywall behind the baseboard all along that wall and the next one over until I got to a point fairly central where I could get from the attic to the 1st floor - then a right-angle drill made holes in all the studs all the way around the room - then I just put in new sheetrock and caulked, then put up new baseboard (no matching texture or anything since it was hidden).
 
However - I wouldn't dream of trying to run the door/window sensors like this - for my style windows, the micras were a perfect fit and about one minute per window to install; the labor and mess savings was worth it.

 

[Neurorad]

You can use a phone camera to look inside the stud bay, after you cut a hole.  Don't drop it.
 
Don't drill blindly.  You will hit a pipe or Romex.  Much safer to cut the drywall on the other side to look.
 
Lineman's pliers are really useful, for everything.
 
Treat category cable more delicately than other cables.  Don't step on it.  No tight bends.  Definitely don't kink it.
 
Top and bottom plate cable penetrations should get a squirt of fire-rated caulk.  For retrofits, I don't think most pros do this, but if you want to be 'to code', then that's what it is.
 
Use gravity when you can.  Pull cables down, rather than up.  A second set of hands can be extremely helpful, pulling cables; one pushes the cable, the other pulls.  I didn't often have this luxury.
 
Cables bind to each other.  Pull multiple cables at the same time, when you can.
 
I also used baseboard to hide horizontal runs.  Pull the baseboard, cut the drywall, drill the studs.  Use nail plates if your cables are near the front of the studs, but better to run the cables deep.
 
18" bit may be useful, 1/4" or 5/16", drilling studs from a nearby drywall keypad hole.
 
I've used a lot of Velcro One-Wrap reusable ties for holding bundles, available at Home Depot as a 2-pack.

 

[gizzmo]

I never use the screw auger drill bit. The first time you hit anything not wood it's toast. The conventional bit I can sharpen with a flat file to like new in minutes. I have 30+ years drilling and can feel what the bit is doing. That said, along the way I have drilled through roofs, wires, water pipes and exited the Sheetrock prematurely many times. It is far less expensive to go wireless these days.

 

[drvnbysound]

I was in Home Depot about a month ago and they had an end cap full of Irwin bits for sale. The bits ranged from the standard 1/8" - 3/8" packages, to the 2ft long 3/8" (sold out) and 1/2", to indivudal auger bits and some auger kits. I ended up buying a number of bits including an auger kit (5/8", 3/4", and 1") as well as a single 1-1/4" auger bit. Both of the auger packages showed that the bits are able to easily cut through nails. I certainly don't recommend trying to find them on purpose, but I've found that they do cut through them... and are still good after. I was quite surprised.
 
Having said that, I will say that the 1" and 1-1/4" bits are monsters to use. They literally try to bore so fast that the drills I have can't keep up; this includes a DeWalt hammer drill that I've used on many occasions to dril through thick concrete. It seems that the bit needs to spin more allowing the bit to cut through the wood (as a drill bit should do), but the screw-type tip or the spiral design itself don't seem to allow it and literally try to pull the bit through the wood too fast w/o allowing the cutting to occur.

 

[Desert_AIP]

When I bought my current house I insisted on a crawlspace, that helped immensely in fishing cables. 
 
You get creative with the flexibits sometimes.
But I wired a 3200 sqft 2 story house, all retrofit, without opening the walls except when I put in an electrical or LAN box.
 
The DIY Security board had a few threads on DIY installs like this.

 

[TurboSam]

Two thoughts from a non-professional in a 100-year old house with limited access from above and below:
 
I have two sets of these fiberglass rods from Harbor Freight (http://www.harborfreight.com/3-16-inch-x-33-ft-fiberglass-wire-running-kit-65326.html) that I swear by (and that are much cheaper than the better sets at the two big box stores).  They have saved the day many times, and at $10 bucks a set (I paid $15 a few years ago), can't be beat.  They are flexible enough to "shake" in cavities to get up or around objects (like light cans), but I suggest you tape the screw couplings if doing that since they can unscrew themselves.
 
I now always leave a pull wire or string whenever I drop cable so I have a ready means to do so in the future if I have to go back for more.  I always try to overestimate what I need for an application, but a year or so later I start thinking about adding a new sensor or new camera or new speaker close to where I've been before, and the pull wire makes it easier.

 

[Mp333]

Great responses all. :rockon:. 

Neuroradhttp://cocoontech.com/forums/user/5094-neurorad/ - Thanks for sharing the link http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/home-theater-design-construction/6038-how-wall-wiring-your-home-theater.html#post47983
 
Reason for my inquiry was running wires now for Home Theater. Another project that will requires lots researching for components and setup. I had a second thought about using Honeywell 5811 wireless window contacts and was thinking about going hard wire....

 

[Neurorad]

I hate changing batteries, so I hardwire everything I can. I think most people, though, would rather change batteries then retrofit cables. I've enjoyed running cables, for the most part.

 

[Del91574]

@ Neuro,
 
Fire caulking the substrate on a fished conductor is not a requirement. If the plate or penetrations are accessible, yes, but otherwise no.

 

[sda]

Its generally a good idea to fill the holes, simply to prevent air exchange (and small critters) in the stud cavity.