romex perpendicular to joists cleanly??
Attached is a pic of what I ended up doing Sunday night after eating too much at my inlaws at Easter. Story goes like this – kitchen light had been flickering in & out for a few months, bulbs seem to fail sooner than normal. Had house (1890 vintage) professionally rewired three years ago when we bought it, all rooms except kitchen which was to be remodelled extensively (wife still waiting). Kitchen still has old wiring (cloth insulation, separate conductors, solid copper core), so I figure this must be problem and start looking at replacing the wiring. Easy enough to run new #14/2 wire from basement to wall switch, wall switch to ceiling little more difficult but got there (won’t show picture as it is a butcher job on the wall to get through some blocking). Once at the ceiling need to get over to ceiling box, but joists run perpendicular to the cable path. I ended up ripping out 1 lathe-width peice of ceiling and plan on drilling through the joists to pull cable over. Ceiling will be covered over with beadboard when real remodel begins to cover up holes, but wondering if there is a cleaner way to go to a ceiling box when the joists aren’t cutting you any breaks? Thought of running cable from switch to basement, then up the adjacent side of wall to get through to ceiling inline with where fixture needed to be, but it was late…..
Also curious to know if the way the hot was spliced in the old cable was normal way back when. I think the pic shows this.
Replies
D'versibit by Greenlee and others is a long drill bit you can run through several joists and then pull the wire back through the holes using the bit as a fish tape.
You use your x-ray vision to make sure you do not drill through any old wire or pipe!
They can also be used to go through fire blocking in the wall.
Frank DuVal
You can never make something foolproof because fools are so ingenious.
Frank.. Love your tag line, it is so true.
Brian
I've seen those types of bits, never used one though. What sort of bend radius do you get - i.e. how big of a hole is needed?
Use the tool sold with the bits to put a bend into the shaft of the bit and you use them through the hole for a standard single gang old work box, ~2 1/2" x 3 1/2".They also sell extensions for extra length. I would keep those set screws tight as I wouldn't want to loose the bit!I also use the "chinese handcuff" (Kellam's Grip) style cable grip to attach the romex to the bit's little hole.Frank DuVal You can never make something foolproof because fools are so ingenious.
Also, a small inspection mirror and flashlight is good to see if you have the bit centered on the first joist, stud, or block you drill through, as after the first one it is all up to where the bit wants to go! Listen for anything being drilled that shouldn't.Frank DuVal You can never make something foolproof because fools are so ingenious.
I ended up using the digital camera to check out the wall cavity for obstructions, etc.. It is a small Canon ELPH, and fit in the hole were the switch box was. The flash lit up the cavity better than any flashlight. I used this trick once to check out my chimney after a family of swallows decided to call it home. Used the wrist strap though. If you'd cry about losing a drill bit in the wall, think of the tears losing a camera eh?
Pulled the cable to the new box and cut out the old cable. Only had to snip one side, as wiggling the old cable caused it to break off in my hand. I think I found out why the light flickered......
I knew a fellow who did a lot of this in his old house and claimed that he could just use a bellhanger bit to drill through the ceiling and the joist (at a very oblique angle), leaving a relatively small hole to patch. Of course, then fishing is a challenge.
Have never tried this myself, though.
If you have old plaster, you might be able to fish cable through strapping running perpendicular to the joists. If you live in New England, I believe most new construction also has 1x3 strapped ceilings. Electricians here love it!!
TF
You must be very carefull with the long fish bits.They can run on you and you can end up drilling a hole through your 2nd fl/roof.
Don't know if the splice in your pic is, (was), the standard at the time, but I've run across it a couple of times working in older homes. Always just assumed there was a shack-bandit crawling around the attic or basement that weekend-but perhaps it was a standard method-and I've tried to rip them free, and I can't do it. Kind of freaky when you find it buried beneath 10" of blown-in insulation though.
Conversely, I've also opened up junction boxes and found dead rats at the bottom of the mix of wires-so they aren't exactly foolproof either...that's really freaky!