Get Your Drill Out

The smaller the drill, the tougher the job when drilling holes for running cable through your house’s framing. I’ve already discussed drills. When access is limited, a rightangle drill can be very advantageous. Your holes must be drilled at least 11/2 inches from the edge of the stud or joist! This is to avoid damage to the cable from drywall nails or screws or any other fastener used to attach anything to a wall or ceiling. If the studs are exposed, you should install a metal nailing plate in front of the hole for added protection.

The Woodwork Comes Off

Cutting very visible holes in your walls and ceilings (and repairing them later) might not be at the top of your list of fun projects. If you have wide baseboards, you might have a way out. You have to decide if it’s less of a mess to carefully remove a length of baseboard, pull the nails, reinstall, and possibly repaint it. With the baseboard out, you can drill behind it and not bother with patching up the plaster or drywall. This only works with wide baseboards (six inches wide and wider). With narrow baseboards, you would have to drill too close to the bottom of a stud, which could weaken it.

No Access, Now What?

Finished basements and attic spaces (or service panels located in finished garages) call for a more deft approach to your wiring. You have to decide if you should …

• Run part of the circuit in conduit across the basement or garage ceiling.
• Run conduit on the outside of your house and then into the walls.
• Tear into the walls and ceiling at regular intervals, exposing the studs and joist to run the cable.

Most studs and joist are spaced at 16 inches on center (which means the center of the nailing side of one will be 16 inches from the center of another). The spacing offers predictable nailing surfaces for drywall and interior trim, especially baseboards. If you have no other way of getting into the wall or ceiling, you’ll have to open up the wall on each side of the studs and joist until you’ve reached the locations for your new boxes.