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Fishing Network Cable Help

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Deal Fanatic
Aug 4, 2008
5752 posts
2585 upvotes
Toronto

Fishing Network Cable Help

I'm trying to fish ethernet cables directly behind my TV for the various devices.

It's an external wall, so insulation. I used a stud finder, cut a hole using the old work box.
IMG_20171016_152255.jpg

Now I'm stuck with drilling the hole to fish the wire from underneath the basement.

I have a flex auger, glow rods and fishing tape.

How do I locate which stud I am at from underneath? And how do I do it so i don"t have to cut through that drywall section in the basement?
IMG_20171016_152337.jpg

Thanks
21 replies
Deal Guru
Feb 9, 2006
13378 posts
8308 upvotes
Brampton
You're in for a fun time. No hope to run it in an interior wall? Your fish tape and rod WILL 100% get caught in the insulation and it will disturb the insulation.

The easiest way I can think of is to use some kind of landmark Like a window or vent and measure it from there.
Deal Fanatic
Aug 4, 2008
5752 posts
2585 upvotes
Toronto
I can get the rod in through the hole I made on the main floor, since its low enough the floor, I'm able to push the insulation back and drill.

I'm just confused on how I can drill from under the basement?

I was able to locate where I am using the main floor vent in the family room from the basement. The hole I cut is 5 feet from there. Which I can locate from the basement.

Is the dry wall portion I am seeing from the basement attached to the foundation wall? Or are there studs behind it that go up to a horizontal joist? On which the main floor studs are sitting on?
Deal Guru
Feb 9, 2006
13378 posts
8308 upvotes
Brampton
rebel_rfd wrote: I can get the rod in through the hole I made on the main floor, since its low enough the floor, I'm able to push the insulation back and drill.

I'm just confused on how I can drill from under the basement?

I was able to locate where I am using the main floor vent in the family room from the basement. The hole I cut is 5 feet from there. Which I can locate from the basement.

Is the dry wall portion I am seeing from the basement attached to the foundation wall? Or are there studs behind it that go up to a horizontal joist? On which the main floor studs are sitting on?
Behind that "drywall" in the header is your actual header. You're in for a mess just a heads up.

You may need to remove sealed drywall piece to get deep enough under the floor where the wall starts to get in to the cavity where the insulation is. You'll fish from the basement up after you've drilled the hole You'll be drilling almost right next to where the "real" header starts. No more than a CM out from there to be within the wall cavity.

Sorry I'm doing my best to describe it with words.
Deal Addict
Mar 14, 2004
3379 posts
710 upvotes
North Etobicoke
Measure from the wall Right or left of pic to centre of cutout. Do the same in basement. Lube fishing tape well . Once you get fish tape thru, get a half inch hose (hole you drill has to accomodate this and the ID has to fit cable. Buy enough from basement to cutout) Lube hose well (insert joke) slide over fish tape from basement to cutout, pull out tape and pass cable thru hose. That`s my Macgyver solution. Should prevent from getting caught in plastic or insulation. Goodluck.
Deal Fanatic
Aug 4, 2008
5752 posts
2585 upvotes
Toronto
Well, this sounds like a lot of work lol.

I had Bell come out here years ago that ran cables for me through the floor right beside the one corner wall.

So, I think it might be easier to run my two sets of ethernet cables, speakers cables from here, run them along the baseboard and then behind that wall into the outlet.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Oct 14, 2010
1879 posts
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Barrie ON
When you drill the hole from upstairs it will emerge directly above the "sill plate" in this photo.

What this photo doesn't show is another joist located 16" from the "rim joist" , or approximately where the word "joist" is on the photo. It looks like your drywall is installed between the "sill plate" and the first joist (not shown on photo).

So after drilling the hole from upstairs you may have to make a small ( maybe 2") hole in the drywall, in order to place a coat hanger to snare the cable and pull it down into the basement. Or alternatively, you could pass a stiff wire down the hole from upstairs and use a coat hanger to pull it over to the hole in the drywall ceiling, then tape on your wire and pull it back upstairs.

Image
Deal Fanatic
Aug 4, 2008
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Toronto
Can a Flex Auger drill through a sill plate?
Deal Addict
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Oct 14, 2010
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rebel_rfd wrote: Can a Flex Auger drill through a sill plate?
You are only drilling through the plywood subfloor and stopping before you hit the sill plate. You said earlier that you have already created this hole. Hopefully you didn't continue drilling all the way through the sill plate as well. Not that it will hurt anything (except your drill when it hit concrete) but it wasn't necessary,
Deal Fanatic
Aug 4, 2008
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So, I would drill from upstairs, past the plywood floor.

And using measurements from where the cut hole is from one side of the wall, try to catch it from underneath by using a coat hanger through a hole drilled through the drywall in the basement?
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Oct 14, 2010
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Barrie ON
Perhaps this modified image will help. I am only guessing that the basement drywall is in this position because your photo does not show much detail.

You need to create the hole in the plywood subfloor with your flexible auger. Once the hole is drilled , remove the drill, and insert a stiff wire through the hole. Grab the stiff wire with a coat hanger (with a hook bent on the end) which is passed through a hole in the basement drywall. Once the stiff wire is in your fingers, simply tape on the desired Ethernet cable and pull it back up into the main floor.

Image
Deal Fanatic
Aug 4, 2008
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Sorry, my basement drywall is parallel to the wall.

I updated the pictures.
network.jpg

What's behind this portion of drywall? A bit of insulation/wood and the brick outside? There was insulation in front of it, that I pulled off to get to the drywall, hence the plastic film hanging from it.
network 2.jpg
Temp. Banned
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Jul 11, 2011
4978 posts
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Ontario
I'll try and help here, this was a past occupation of mine.

First Q -- Is it hardwood or carpet on the main floor? If carpet, you can sink a nail thru the carpet, into the subfloor, just in front of the baseboard inline with that hole in the wall. Make it a recognizable nail that you can locate from below.

Second Q -- If you go downstairs and look at the plywood subfloor, can you see where the bottom of the wall runs.

What I mean by that. On the main floor, picture the framing behind the drywall. You have your obvious studs running up/down. But there is also a stud laying horizontal below them -- does that make sense?? That stud (the bottom plate), will be nailed into the plywood sub floor. If you go downstairs, you should see that line of nails running horizontal along the bottom of that plate (where they've punched thru the plywood floor).

They will be longer spikes, not little flooring nails. If you can see that, and it's not behind that drywalled section, then it's an easy job drilling up from below. You just have to use your nail marker, or measure carefully from a known object like a corner or a window.
Deal Fanatic
Aug 4, 2008
5752 posts
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Toronto
hebsie wrote: I'll try and help here, this was a past occupation of mine.

First Q -- Is it hardwood or carpet on the main floor? If carpet, you can sink a nail thru the carpet, into the subfloor, just in front of the baseboard inline with that hole in the wall. Make it a recognizable nail that you can locate from below.

Second Q -- If you go downstairs and look at the plywood subfloor, can you see where the bottom of the wall runs.

What I mean by that. On the main floor, picture the framing behind the drywall. You have your obvious studs running up/down. But there is also a stud laying horizontal below them -- does that make sense?? That stud (the bottom plate), will be nailed into the plywood sub floor. If you go downstairs, you should see that line of nails running horizontal along the bottom of that plate (where they've punched thru the plywood floor).

They will be longer spikes, not little flooring nails. If you can see that, and it's not behind that drywalled section, then it's an easy job drilling up from below. You just have to use your nail marker, or measure carefully from a known object like a corner or a window.
It's hardwood on the main floor.

I saw flooring nails, which I can tell is the second last row of hardwood before the final row which likely has been glued since you can't get a hardwood nailer that close to a wall.

I confirmed this by measuring the space between the vent and wall upstairs and checked that measurement downstairs from the exposed vent.

I'm not sure if that section of drywall in the basement is covering up studs that end with a horizontal joist, followed by another joist and then the vertical studs of the main floor.
Deal Fanatic
Dec 9, 2003
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Calgary
This picture is probably closer to what you have to visualizeImage
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Jul 11, 2011
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Cough wrote: This picture is probably closer to what you have to visualizeImage
If the OP looks at this diagram, see that black circle, at the end of the arrow where it says "Continuous bead of Adhesive", that's the spot you need to identify downstairs, in order to drill up from the basement inside of the wall.

The downside to this method. If you measure wrong (or aren't 110% sure), you could drill up into the hardwood flooring --> and that would be bad!!
Deal Fanatic
Aug 4, 2008
5752 posts
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Toronto
So, I have to track down the bead of adhesive from underneath?

Hmm, I wish there was a telltale sign of it somewhere.
Deal Fanatic
Dec 9, 2003
5132 posts
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Calgary
No there is no way you will see the adhesive (it's probably not there anyway). But use the diagram for estimating dimensions and drilling angles. As said above, the only killer thing to avoid is drilling thru hardwood floor.
I apologize for offending sensitivities of alt right, alt left, or anyone in the middle, for humor or perspectives, for my maturity and occasional errors. I apologize for misunderstandings on gender, religion, politics, race or deals.
Deal Addict
Mar 21, 2006
4478 posts
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Burlington, Ontario
Ugh.
Alright, having done this many many times here's what to expect:

The rimjoist is drywalled in the basement because they probably used spray foam to seal everything up. Spray foam needs to be covered with drywall to reduce the possibility of burning during a fire as it gives off wicked-toxic fumes.
So, if you cut out the basement drywall you will also be cutting out some spray foam.

There are 2 ways to do it:

Option 1)
Drill down from above using the flexible auger. You have your hole cut in the drywall upstairs, just stick the auger in and keep it as snug to the drywall as possible using the auger guide (you got one?)
Then drill. It will suck when (not if) you hit a nail. Do not expect to use this auger for much after that. Once you are through the walls sill plate the auger will move freely downward. STOP the drill immediately. This is one advantage to spray foam over batt-insuation.. the batt would be wrapped around the auger. Detach the drill but leave the auger in place.
Go downstairs and find the auger. Hopefully you have a heat vent along that wall that you can measure off of.
Cut out some drywall and stick a flashlight in and see what you can see. If you see the auger congradulate yourself! If you don't you are going to have to dig for it by cutting out spray foam.



2) Drilling up from the basement can be a bit more challenging and I do not recommend doing it unless you have a heat vent along the same wall that you can measure off of.
You want to measure where the hole needs to be horizontally, but you also want to measure from the vent to the wall and how much space that is.
Then in the basement find the vent, measure over from it to figure out where the hole needs to start and then measure from the vent to the basement drywall and see how much space you need. I would add another 2" to that to make sure you end up inside the wall upstairs instead of through your hardwood or baseboard.

3) Secret option 3.
Take a solid metal coat hanger (one one of the limpwussy ones but a real one). Cut off a straight piece. Cut the end of it on an angle. Put this in your drill.
Drill down from the main floor between the baseboard and the quarter-round. Just keep drilling. When through, just push it through so you have at least 20cm down.
Then go downstairs and see if you can find it. Then drill from the basement up.
If you cannot find it downstairs then no problem, pull the coat hanger back up and fill the tiny hole with some caulking.
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Deal Fanatic
Aug 4, 2008
5752 posts
2585 upvotes
Toronto
BuildingHomes wrote: Ugh.
Alright, having done this many many times here's what to expect:

The rimjoist is drywalled in the basement because they probably used spray foam to seal everything up. Spray foam needs to be covered with drywall to reduce the possibility of burning during a fire as it gives off wicked-toxic fumes.
So, if you cut out the basement drywall you will also be cutting out some spray foam.

There are 2 ways to do it:

Option 1)
Drill down from above using the flexible auger. You have your hole cut in the drywall upstairs, just stick the auger in and keep it as snug to the drywall as possible using the auger guide (you got one?)
Then drill. It will suck when (not if) you hit a nail. Do not expect to use this auger for much after that. Once you are through the walls sill plate the auger will move freely downward. STOP the drill immediately. This is one advantage to spray foam over batt-insuation.. the batt would be wrapped around the auger. Detach the drill but leave the auger in place.
Go downstairs and find the auger. Hopefully you have a heat vent along that wall that you can measure off of.
Cut out some drywall and stick a flashlight in and see what you can see. If you see the auger congradulate yourself! If you don't you are going to have to dig for it by cutting out spray foam.



2) Drilling up from the basement can be a bit more challenging and I do not recommend doing it unless you have a heat vent along the same wall that you can measure off of.
You want to measure where the hole needs to be horizontally, but you also want to measure from the vent to the wall and how much space that is.
Then in the basement find the vent, measure over from it to figure out where the hole needs to start and then measure from the vent to the basement drywall and see how much space you need. I would add another 2" to that to make sure you end up inside the wall upstairs instead of through your hardwood or baseboard.

3) Secret option 3.
Take a solid metal coat hanger (one one of the limpwussy ones but a real one). Cut off a straight piece. Cut the end of it on an angle. Put this in your drill.
Drill down from the main floor between the baseboard and the quarter-round. Just keep drilling. When through, just push it through so you have at least 20cm down.
Then go downstairs and see if you can find it. Then drill from the basement up.
If you cannot find it downstairs then no problem, pull the coat hanger back up and fill the tiny hole with some caulking.
Thanks for the info.

I did measure off of the vent earlier today.

It seems like the drywall portion in the basement is just where the wall above stars, or just before it.

I have a pretty long drill bit I can use instead of the coat hanger to try and drill through from above.

I'll like to be able to just drill through from the top or bottom and not tear up a ton of insulation.

I have a electrical outlet two studs away, yet can't find its trail from below in the basement.

It's mind boggling how much work it is to get two ethernet cables and speakers wire fished through an exterior wall with an unfinished basement.

My next house I am running conduits everywhere during construction!

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