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Fishing Wires In 100 Year Old House

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Subject Author Date
Fishing Wires In 100 Year Old House HerHusband 05-27-2006
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Posted by wayne on May 28, 2006, 11:24 pm
As has been said there should be vent pipes or water pipes or hot water
pipe of heating ducts you may be able to get next to. I would also look
for closets you could use.

wayne

klaatu wrote:

> wrote:
>
> > I am in the process of replacing the wiring in my in-laws 100 year
> > old house. So far the work has been in the basement, with short
> > runs up to the appliances. But now I'll need to run wires up to the
> > attic for ceiling lights, fans, and smoke detectors.
> >
> > The current knob and tube wiring actually runs along the OUTSIDE of
> > the house between the basement and attic, and is seriously corroded
> > with crumbling insulation. Obviously, this is not an acceptable way
> > of routing the wires!
> >
> > Normally I'd just drill a hole at the top, one at the bottom, and
> > dangle a string down to connect the two. But as is common in these
> > old houses, there is blocking partway up inside the wall. They have
> > 12 foot ceilings, so I don't know yet whether there is a single
> > block, or additional blocks.
> >
> > I DO NOT want to cut into the old plaster and lath walls, so what
> > is the best way to get a wire through the wall in this case? I
> > remember seeing really long drill bits at Lowes, but I don't
> > remember how long they were, and am concerned they wouldn't reach
> > far enough into the 12 foot high walls.
> >
> > If all else fails, I figured I could mount a length of conduit in
> > the corner of one of the closets, as a chase to run wires from the
> > basement to the attic. But I'd prefer to fish the wires in the wall
> > if possible.
> >
> > Any tips?
> >
> > Anthony
> 100 years ago they more than likely used what is called ballon
> framing. Today platform framing is used. With ballon framing the
> corner braces and floor brackets were let in to the long 2X4's. Since
> there was no platform like we have today, you should be able to snake
> a wire up from the basement to the attic with no interferance. This
> type of construction is illegal now as there is a perfect path for
> fire to travel in the wall cavity.

Posted by HerHusband on May 29, 2006, 1:49 am
> As has been said there should be vent pipes or water pipes or hot water
> pipe of heating ducts you may be able to get next to. I would also look
> for closets you could use.

My in-laws house is a single story. From what I can tell, it was originally
built without electricity, and only minimal plumbing. The only heat was an
oil stove, and the stove and chimney were removed many years ago. There's
no ductwork of any type, all plumbing is in the basement except for a
single 2" vent that runs on the outside of the house.

I plan on drilling a couple of small holes top and bottom to see if an
interior wall is free from blocking. If not, I'll go with conduit in one of
the closets.

Anthony

Posted by nospamgoingjag on May 29, 2006, 10:18 am
Ah, the single story does add a twist since nothing needs to penetrate
too far. Oh well.

A note regarding "fishing" through the probe holes. As I mentioned
earlier I used a heavy guage ground wire that I measured and marked
with tape at certain legths so I knew how far I was getting before
hitting an obstruction. I had tried to use a string with various
weighted objects attached including a plumb bob, but they are very
clumsy to move around. There may be a path for what you want to do,
it just might not be in an exact straight path, so using a wire or
real fish tape helps.

Good luck!


Posted by hallerb@aol.com on May 29, 2006, 11:17 am
you can also by small cameras or rent them to look into cavities,
useful for lots of stuff like wonder whats leaking.

sometimes a picture is wort a 1000 words or plumb bob drops


Posted by HerHusband on May 29, 2006, 12:56 pm
> I had tried to use a string with various weighted objects attached
> including a plumb bob, but they are very clumsy to move around.

What I have done a couple of times already is tie a small nut (3/8") to the
end of a string line. It fits through small holes, and offers just enough
weight to pull the string down. I slowly let the string drop, jiggling it
up and down a few times, or swinging it side to side, if it gets stuck on a
blob of plaster or something, until it reaches the bottom. It doesn't have
to line up with the hole below, just get fairly close. I then take a piece
of wire with a little hook bent into the end, to reach up through the
bottom hole and fish around in the wall to catch the string. Once I have
the string out, I can tape it to the actual electrical cable and pull it up
through the wall.

It works fine as long as there's no blocking in the wall.

Anthony

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