Running wiring through a wall

[Jschmuck2]

In an existing home - let's say you wanted to run home theater wiring from one end of the room to the other but inside of the walls.

Obviously you have to cut holes in the walls but...then what? Obviously you have to snake it through somehow but I'm not totally clear on that point.

 

[CorCentral]

Originally posted by: Jschmuck2
In an existing home - let's say you wanted to run home theater wiring from one end of the room to the other but inside of the walls.

Obviously you have to cut holes in the walls but...then what? Obviously you have to snake it through somehow but I'm not totally clear on that point.

Usually it's done up through the wall and then taken through the attic. You could also run it under the house, but you'll have to hide a few wires.

 

[FP]

(I am assuming you are on slab and are on the first floor of a two story house)

Run it parallel to the floor joists and it literally just sits on the drywall.

If you need to run it perpendicular to the joists then you need to drill holes all the way across the room with a friggin' long drill bit. Pain in the ass. There are guides as to how large of a hole you can drill (I think anything larger than 1/3 in the center of the joist is bad news).

If you are simply running 2-4 surrounds and a digital coax for a sub you shouldn't have a problem.

If you are installing a completely integrated AV cabinet with pre/post amps, wall controllers, projector, etc you might want to pay a professional.

 

[BigJ]

Fish tape + holes where the ceiling and walls meet is your easiest way of running wire when the drywall is already up.

Like binister said, you'll be running it parallel to the beams, otherwise you're in trouble.

 

[CycloWizard]

Fish tape FTW. Sold at hardware stores.

 

[Jschmuck2]

I'm not actually going to do it (which is better for everyone) but I was thinking about it after setting up a tv for someone today.

I had to look up what a joist was

 

[FP]

Originally posted by: Jschmuck2
I'm not actually going to do it (which is better for everyone) but I was thinking about it after setting up a tv for someone today.

I had to look up what a joist was

lol i was the same way a couple of years ago. i took an interest in how walls/joists/rafters were actually implemented.

i had to drill through the joists in my case and it was no fun. i had to make 3"x3" square cuts all over the room to drill the holes in the joists.

i have a new found respect and admiration of crawl spaces and attics. good luck.

 

[soydios]

easiest way to do it after the room is finished (i.e. drywall is up) is to run it straight up inside the wall to the attic, then cross above the room, and drop it down where you need it.

my dad is currently renovating his house right now, and jeezus there's a zillion cables running everywhere. and he's adding more! (cat5e/6 bundles to every room from the home run, and a lot of television/audio runs)

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: soydios
easiest way to do it after the room is finished (i.e. drywall is up) is to run it straight up inside the wall to the attic, then cross above the room, and drop it down where you need it.

my dad is currently renovating his house right now, and jeezus there's a zillion cables running everywhere. and he's adding more! (cat5e/6 bundles to every room from the home run, and a lot of television/audio runs)

Hopefully he's running conduit!

 

[0roo0roo]

yea its not simple or clean. depending on if there are obstructions you might have to cut a few holes in the wall and patch them back up...crawl around in the icky atick or under the house. but its easier than wiring electrical which requires permits and staples/nail guards etc. i dunno the regs on a/v cable in the attic but with electrical you can't just leave it on top of rafters, you gotta drill through the wood supports and string it along through a bunch

 

[Locut0s]

Originally posted by: Jschmuck2
In an existing home - let's say you wanted to run home theater wiring from one end of the room to the other but inside of the walls.

Obviously you have to cut holes in the walls but...then what? Obviously you have to snake it through somehow but I'm not totally clear on that point.

If you can't do the attic thing that others are saying and the direction the wire must go is perpendicular to the joists then it's usually not worth putting in the wall. Like binister said you would need to drill through each joist with a long drill bit. This means cutting a long ass hole in the drywall the length of the entire room! Unless you are planning to renovate already do it the attic way. Or if you can't do that just run it along the ground, you might be able to hide it under the carpet at the edge of the room where it meets the drywall.

 

[0roo0roo]

yea theres sometimes a bit of space behind the base board trim for a/v cables.

 

[Wapp]

Originally posted by: binister

If you need to run it perpendicular to the joists then you need to drill holes all the way across the room with a friggin' long drill bit. Pain in the ass. There are guides as to how large of a hole you can drill (I think anything larger than 1/3 in the center of the joist is bad news).

Uh oh.

 

[tw1164]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
yea theres sometimes a bit of space behind the base board trim for a/v cables.

that's what I would suggest

 

[Billb2]

Wireless!

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: Billb2
Wireless!

Three cheers for awful quality!

yea theres sometimes a bit of space behind the base board trim for a/v cables.

If it's just speaker wire this is what I'd do.