Hole Drilling in top plate from attic

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Yes, it is sitting on a double top plate. Of course, the double top plate is precut (or I guess "notched" is the better word) as well in order for the exiting wire to continue its route.
 
Ok, so would I be able to do the same thing done at the top of the joistswith the existing wires to get the new wires through? It seems my other option would be to drill holes in the bottom plate off center so they clear the top of the joist but that would violate code.
 
You are not violating code when you are over the wall, there is very little room between that joist and the 1" thick boxer facing the stair case.
When you install that system they tell you exactly where to put each joist and sometimes you need an extra to give spacing for toilets or such we just borrowed the one over the wall and used scrapes to fill that space.
Engineers and inspectors saw it and never failed it. Plumbers and Hvac people just cut thru the whole mess to get to the next floor. Hopefully your framers were nice enough to line up the studs from one floor to the next. When they are not lined up you might worry a little but you have not cut the web, so I would not worry.
 
thapranksta said:
I tried the long bit and hope approach. That didn't work. :( I went ahead and broke out the circular saw and opened up the subfloor.
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Now that your done with that cut, here's my method; Locate the center of the I joist and scribe a 12" line, set the depth of cut at about 1" and cut 1-1/2" away from the base between the center lines, reset the depth of cut to 3/4" and at 12" away from the first cut, make another, cut the scribed lines, use a chisel to finish the cuts at the corners. Retain the piece.

To repair, cut 2 tight fitting pieces of 2x3 or 2x4 and insert them on the flat leaving an inch or so exposed and set 3 or 4, 1-5/8" deck screws thru the floor sheating into the block, attach the block to the I joist with 3" deck screws (a pilot hole will prevent splitting), you could also add some panel adhesive,.

Replace the floor sheating, fold back the carpet and rent a knee-kicker to strech it back in place.

thapranksta said:
My wife is seething right now.
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That's will only last as long as it takes for you to convince her how much faster her amazon experience will be.:trophy:

thapranksta said:
At any rate, I found out why the long bit approach didn't work. Apparently I am drilling directly down into an I-joist instead of a cavity. The coaxial cables actually come out the side of the top of the I-joist which looks very odd and then it exits at the bottom in a precut area. Pictures are attached. Now I'm wondering if I should try the same approach as far as exiting out of the corner of the top of the I-joist.
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I'm not a big fan of notching any lumber, so instead I would drill a number of precise holes.
 
I ended up drilling an angled hole under the subfloor and into the base plate to avoid drilling through the I-joist. I think I was fortunate to get the right angle using a spade bit. I'm not sure if I'll have the same level of success if I create another hole but my original plan was to run 13 cat5e cables and I doubt all would fit well together in a single 1'' hole.

I did drop 3 cables into my bonus room which had an insulated wall. I ran some but not all parts of the cable behind the insulation as it is difficult without opening most of the wall and removing the insulation to get it all behind. I plan to run 2 each to 4 bedrooms and 1 or 2 more to the ceiling in the bonus room just because I don't want to have to rip all this stuff back open and there may be a need to connect some overhead gear to our network in the future.
 
Small update...so far so good. Dropped cables to two additional rooms on 2nd floor using techniques discussed here. Will have to drill new holes for additional cables for one more room. Also will have to figure out how to run cables to one room downstairs.
 
So I have run into the dreaded but necessary obstacle that people seem to face when running wires - a fireblock. Question is would I need to caulk the hole up if I drilled through it? I have a pretty good angle just looking from the floor up into the wall cavity where I can fit a spade bit with drill extension but if I must seal the fireblock hole, that is a no-go.
 
I wouldn't worry about it but if you really worry about it drill a hole in a chunk of plywood and slip the wire thru it and when you pull the wire in you can foam the hole glue the plywood and pull the wire up snug until the glue drys.
 
thapranksta said:
So I have run into the dreaded but necessary obstacle that people seem to face when running wires - a fireblock. Question is would I need to caulk the hole up if I drilled through it? I have a pretty good angle just looking from the floor up into the wall cavity where I can fit a spade bit with drill extension but if I must seal the fireblock hole, that is a no-go.
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Actually, it makes little difference if you could caulk, because your cable is likely non rated.

Drill a hole just larger than the cable/s you are pulling, so that when you pull, you are not causing and deformation of the cabling, yet are able to replace if necessary.
 
Thanks for the tips guys. Today was largely unsuccessful but I will try to tackle the fireblock tomorrow. The other issue I had is that the second wall I tried to wire had a bathtub on the other side which means the wall had a huge pvc pipe and other unexpected stuff in the same cavity the coaxial is located.

Edit: And to top it all off, I lost my 1/2'' spade bit in that bathtub wall.
 
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My question is the interaction of fire foam with wiring insulation. We recently pulled some poly hose thru a wall and added fire foam for insurance. Wouldn't you know it, the foam ate holes in the poly hose.

Has anyone used fire foam directly on cat 5 cabling and did it eat the insulation?
 
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