How to: Hide wires in your walls (wall fishing with JD)

[Dillinger]

WARNING/LEGAL NOTICE:  Guys, please realize this isn’t a 100% transferable solution.  Your situation MAY vary and if you undertake this type of work, know that you do risk damaging your walls and components if you rush things or get in over your head.  You are all smart, capable people, but please know that Netduma, including myself, are NOT responsible if you decide to jump in with both feet and mess something up.  Slow and steady will win this race. 

 

If you don’t know, don’t be afraid to ask.

 

Greetings #DumaArmy – I have had some questions come up about this subject from time to time, so I thought as I am starting a remodel, I would take the opportunity to do a brief “How to” on the subject. 

 

Okay, if you are the standard home owner with the ability to turn a screw driver and make some basic measurements, this isn’t hard.  It will tax your patience at times, but the overall project is pretty straight forward.

 

Here is an example:  We purchased a new TV and hung it on the wall to get it up off the floor and out of the reach of the dogs.  Disregard the line of screw holes, we tried some brown shelves in a series, but they didn’t match the décor HouseHold 6 had in mind, so that will be addressed at some point in the future.

 

 

I found this kit that is available online and at local hardware stores made by CE Tech.  This kit was extremely easy to use, comes complete with all you need, and gets the highest rating from me personally as this is a one and done type application.   

 

 

This is essentially what I used to do the work, but the kit comes with a hand drill and a “T” handle.

 

 

Now there are some BASIC things that you should consider before embarking on this DIY project.  For the purposes of this write up “Interior wall” will refer to any wall in your home/apt where both sides of the wall are in “your unit”, and neither side of the wall is an exterior wall (I.E. subject to elements, thus needing insulation/protection/paint/siding/etc).  Cool?

 

These pictures were taken from my home (I live in the US) and here about 95% of the interior walls (like this one) DO NOT have insulation or other “irritants” that will hamper your progress.  I know that overseas some countries build interior walls that are solid (concrete, brick/mortar, etc) in which case this process does get CONSIDERABLY harder. 

 

In the US, for the most part, the vertical pieces of wood (called “Studs”) in the wall are set on 18 inch* centers.  Find any 2 x 4 in the wall, find the dead center of it, measure 18 inches to the right or left, and you will find the next 2 x 4 stud.  If you have any electrical outlet in the room where you want to do the work, CAREFULLY pull the plate.  The wall box itself will be nailed to a stud, that will give you a basis of where to measure.  If you have doubts, go to any unfinished room, or the garage.  The round circles with the white putty in the drywall are where they nailed it up, your studs are where the nail locations are. 

 

*There are some places I have been where guys framed them on 12 inch centers, and I have seen a house framed with “double wide – 36 inch” studs to allow for hanging double insulation (called “Bats”) but those were exterior walls.  I would suspect most of you will find right around 18 inches between studs for doing this work.

 

In the picture below, you can see that I have measured off the back of the TV for the height I want the lines to disappear into the wall, and then I have measured from a known stud to make sure I am not drilling into the center of one.  

 

(NOTE:  This picture is 90 degrees off - the lines and the tape should be running horizontally on the wall for this shot)

 

Here is the hole I made with the include hole saw from the kit.  As you can see, I purposely over-lapped just a bare bit of the 2 x 4 stud and have a nice, wide pocket to work with (no insulation beyond the drywall) with which to work.  From the stud on the left side, I have a full 16 or so inches to work with to fish the lines through.

 

 

EDIT - Continued next post

[Dillinger]

This kit that I got comes with these very clever “hole plugs” that allow for the wires to be safely brought through, and to keep any creepy crawlies out (a big plus with Mrs. JD).  You can do the same thing with a can of spray foam and a wall plate.  This just makes it a nice, clean installation when you are done, which is why I find this kit really beneficial.

 

 

This is what it will look like when it is installed in the wall.

 

 

So I have a hole up by the TV, I then just took some measurements down by the current height where HH6 wants the new shelves to hang, and drilled the second hole.

 

 

Effectively we have an IN/Out for the wires, we just need to get them from Point A, through the wall, and connected at Point B. 

 

You can do this REALLY cheap and easy with a shoelace and a nut/bolt something of weight, or a coat hanger.  This kit comes with plastic fish rod type pieces that snap together with a hook on the end that you can use to pull wires.  I used them for this method to show how it works, but I have ALWAYS done this with an opened up clothes hanger.  They are already prone to bending back, so they are easy to slide down the drywall and will “pop out” the other hole on their own.

 

Fishing Guide:  

 

 

Once you get to this step, it’s pretty easy. 

·         Lie out your cables that you want to fish through the wall

·         If you think there MAY be a chance you need one in the future, pull an extra one of two now (you will see I did exactly that down below)

·         Stagger the ends, so you don’t have a huge ball of end wire, and tape them together first.  You want them to be in a first, second, third type of configuration, you don’t want 6 wires, with all the ends even and try to pull that through! 

 

PRO TIP:  Use painter’s tape, or something else that comes off really easy.  Don’t use Duct tape or anything like that.  Trust me.  

 

 

AND THEN....

 

 

This is a cap that comes with the kit to make the final product look a little more professional.  Again, a normal wall plate and some spray foam will do the same thing.

 

 

Here is the finished product with the temp shelf back in place and the wires pulled through.  All you can see is the top of the cover, which is what I wanted.  The sound bar that sits on this shelf will easily cover that half-moon and no one will be the wiser when watching the TV.

 

 

That is really all there is to it guys.  The interior pocket between (2) studs is almost never stuffed with insulation, and unless there are some other wires (or perhaps plumbing) in the way, you have a nice, confined little space to house the wires and get them out of site.

 

Let me know if you have any questions and thanks for reading.

 

@Netduma guys - We REALLY need a better way to host images for threads like these.  I had to upload each individual shot to an external source, get the single picture HTML code, and place it in line.  Talk about a pain in the nuts!

 

Good luck and stay frosty!

 

JD

[Zennon]

Great write up JD, everyone should use Ethernet and this is a great way to tidy it up.

[iAmMoDBoX]

It is possible to run into a fire stop in your walls...

 

[secretface]

It is possible to run into a fire stop in your walls...

 

ahh yes the cat in the wall, Greenlee makes a versa bit for these but like all things you have to be careful, if you slip of the stud it'll bounce right through the wall.

[major masingil]

Nice disclaimer JD! Very PC. Cool contribution, as usual.

[fuzzy clam]

Very nicely done JD,clean look, nice and tidy.Cable management is always a big thing with most of us cuz we all got to much bullshit and that means to many wires and cables...LOL

 

Looks great brother.

[major masingil]

Were you pissed when you hit the edge of that stud with the hole saw?  did you have to modify the kit to get it flush with the dry wall?  

 

Looks like you had a good helper when you were laying out your cables on the driveway, that is unless you were wearing your dog ears hat

[Dillinger]

Were you pissed when you hit the edge of that stud with the hole saw?  did you have to modify the kit to get it flush with the dry wall?  

 

Looks like you had a good helper when you were laying out your cables on the driveway, that is unless you were wearing your dog ears hat

 

LMAO!

 

Was I pissed when the edge of the stud was exposed?  No, I was surprised that I had that much of the stud exposed, but I wasn't worried because I knew the math would work. I did want to have the stud in the picture, I was just hoping it would have been about .25" over to the right.  

 

Did I have to modify the kit to make it fit?  I thought I was going to have to do exactly that, tbh, but because of the depth of the inset, all I had to do was trim back one of the aligning fins (plastic) and all was golden.

 

Yeah, I didn't notice the dog ears until I hosted the image.  That is my ALWAYS CURIOUS female shepherd, there to make sure Dad had everything under control.  Can't do a project without her "help".

 

Fire Stops:

 

Thanks for mentioning that Mod Box, as I had honestly meant to bring that up.  Truth be told, interior and "false walls" where cable outlets are usually pre-run by the builders VERY RARELY if EVER have a fire stop.  I believe this is because they are not weight bearing, thus slowing the burn rate to the sanctity of stability isn't needed.

 

Now if you choose a wall that is weight bearing, you may indeed run into a fire stop.  Now I have a couple of tricks for this if you don't have a long fish bit (like this one), but I would rather not post them as it can lead to a real mess and I would rather NOT illustrate.  

 

But if you run into issues guys, post 'em up and I will see what I can do for you.  

[major masingil]

 

 

Yeah, I didn't notice the dog ears until I hosted the image.  That is my ALWAYS CURIOUS female shepherd, there to make sure Dad had everything under control.  Can't do a project without her "help".

 

 

 

 

My german shepherd is exactly the same.  They're so freaking smart they need the stimulation.  Sometimes she looks at me with her head cocked to one side and I'd swear she was thinking...WTF are you doing you idiot?!

[Dillinger]

My german shepherd is exactly the same.  They're so freaking smart they need the stimulation.  Sometimes she looks at me with her head cocked to one side and I'd swear she was thinking...WTF are you doing you idiot?!

 

Sweet!  Do you have pictures?  Send me a couple in a PM, I would love to see her.  #Realtalk

 

I love my dogs.  I could start a new thread on how they came to be and bore you all to tears, but suffice to say my dogs are treated like card carrying members of the JD Clan and are afforded all Rights and Privileges as my wife and I share.  They are spoiled rotten, and I am okay with that decision.  

[major masingil]

Do I have pictures...LOL Yes  coming your way my brother.