cable routing

[jemsvcs]

Doing a rewire of the second story of a dwelling unit (panel in the basement, lathe and plaster interior) and there is no accessible straight shot to pull cable from the basement to the attic (and believe me...i've looked!!! Gee, I love blown in insulation ).

Existing wiring is knob-and-tube.

My question is: Someone suggested bringing the cable up the outside of the structure in conduit and then into to attic. Anything in Code on this? Or any other suggestions how to handle this situation (without ripping a bunch of old plaster work out)?

Thanks,
Jemsvcs

[ November 04, 2004, 07:05 AM: Message edited by: jemsvcs ]

 

[petersonra]

Re: cable routing

I seem to recall a guy I knew had a similar problem. He ended up making a small chase inside an existing closet, or maybe it was alongside an existing chimney - I forget which.

I can't see any reason you could not go outside and then come back in other then how ugly it would look outside having conduit hang off your house like that.

 

[gndrod]

Re: cable routing

Hi jemscvs,

Doing new residential and old remod is one of my specialties. You mentioned lathe and then blown which tells me that exterior wall rework will be difficult. There are tricks of disguise I use that help fish-in lines from basement to attic. In lathe, its practical using a Sawzall for cutouts. Going from the basement panelboard through the joisting up to the next floor try interior walls that are not insulated and fire-blocked.

Pick out a bay that lines up with the second floor wall bay for a vertical channel. The sacrifice of fishing requires cutting in receptacle outlets aligned vertically in those bays so it looks like original work. In 10 ft. ceilings even on interior walls you will get blocking in balloon framing. Use a wire scan to avoid K & T.

Don't get discouraged, for there is the diversabit drill that is 5' long that reaches from the cutouts upward into the fire blocking. If there is a closet on the other side of the wall then open it up to do the cable routing. The patch up won't be a cosmetic issue.

Use a 5/8" Diversabit that has a very sharp self-feed tip for drilling old heartwood that is rock-solid. Get above the blocking, then cut-in a smoke detector hole in the same bay on the wall within 12" to ceiling. Again this is another disguised access to drilling into the upper floor wall to another receptacle cut-in outlet above.If that is the attic then you have made it to an easy distribution at that point.

Another method that is less desirable is use short width wall spaces that can be ripped into with a Sawzall vertically. After cable routing upward in the bay, cover the open old wall with sheet rock and call in a texture sub to match the surrounding finish work. Rework requires scoping out the framing accurately for a perfect job. In most cases remod takes guts with a knowledge of experience to match the era of house being reworked and a good sheet rock finisher.

rbj, Seattle

 

[ken987]

Re: cable routing

This trade is missing craftsman, grnrod, would be an exception. There's always a way to fish wire in an existing building, too many electricians are fast to destroy a customers home and leave them to patch it. I have never destroyed someone's home. We always clean up, patch around boxes, and notches, and leave that job as clean as it was before we got there and sometimes cleaner. It's amazing how many jobs that I've done, where other contractors wanted to wire mold around a room, or run conduit outside of the building. There's plenty of electricians, not many craftsman.

 

[al hildenbrand]

Re: cable routing

I've collected an assortment of drill bits, including several D'Versibits, but the one that I'll most readily attempt to put to work is one made out of segments of plain old galvanized water pipe.

I have 8 - 3' sections, then a couple each 24", 18" & 12". Each section includes a wrench tight coupling. I cut a 24" - ?" hex extension shaft in two, one section longer than the other. I brazed them into two ?" nipples.

The picture shows only one of the brazed nipples installed. The drive end for the drill is the short length of hex sticking out of the nipple. The long length of hex on the left side of the nipple is waste hex. I never bothered to cut it off 'cause it slips inside the ?" pipe extensions. The second nipple will go on the shaft of the set screw chuck.

The only real concern is that the auger has to be wider than the O.D. of the pipe couplings.

The stiffness of the assembled water pipe shaft allows a "feel" that I've not gotten from the flexible shaft bits.

I've been using this adjustable length bit for over 20 years, to get out of tight or impossible situations.

 

[hurk27]

Re: cable routing

I just got through rewiring a NEW house yes I did say new. the buyers added heated floors, electric everything, and even a second furnace and air. It was fun. But I like the idea of the pipe Al. I too use the versa bit and I have about 5 extensions for them that allow me to go from the basement to the attic. But I have ran into where there was no connecting wall and had to cut into the floor to allow access to transverse to a wall that would get me down to the basement. Also another method is to use the space behind the baseboard to drill out the studs but be careful as you still need to keep 1 1/4" back from the face of the studs. Most baseboards are about 4" high this leaves you with enough room to drill in the 2 1/2" of stud showing above the bottom plate.

 

[hurk27]

Re: cable routing

By Gndrod: In lathe, its practical using a Sawzall for cutouts.

Yes if you want the loose plaster to fall, But I have found nothing that beats a Roto-Zip with a tile bit. It cut's a good clean hole without the vibration that can do more damage. then Use the spiral bit to cut the laths. Roto-Zip was one of my best investment's.