Using A Flexible Auger Bit To Fish Wires Through Walls

i've seen these flexible auger bits at home improvement stores for years but i never really bit the bullet and use those on any of my projects now the ability to get a hole through a top plate into the attic or across multiple floor joists for recessed lighting could save you a ton of drywall work so you don't have to open up a bunch of access holes so i'm gonna put it to the test today and share with you what i learned i have three attempts behind me and although i'm staying on this side of the drywall just like you would for your application i'm going to give you a little behind the scenes look because i installed plexiglass on the back of these three example wall cavities we'll start easy with a wall cavity that's wide open in a standard 16 inches on center for the studs then we'll step it up with some blocking in the middle of the wall and finally we'll end with some insulation and blocking seeing if we can be successful punching through a double top plate for each one of those so first attempt all i'm going to use is the access point here which is the same size as a single gain electrical box and i'm using a klein tools 9 16 of an inch in diameter auger bit with the screw point which will help pull this bit through the wood this first extension i'm using is 54 inches long and then i have another 54 inch extension on it which should give me plenty of overall length to get up and through this wall cavity and i did make a mark on this extension which indicates 74 inches which is where i would expect that i start to hit the blocking and yep shortly after that i hit something so that's good that's a strong indication that i'm hitting that double top plate but i'm trying to position it a little bit away from the corner and then i'll start actually drilling the hole so first attempt it doesn't seem like we're punching all the way through so i'm backing the bit out and i'm going to try to get a second hole [Music] i'm going to give it another try and see if i can get a little bit more in the middle of that double top plate for attempts number one i found that left-hand corner which was good i was confident i knew where that auger bit was but i applied too much pressure and that angled the bit in the corner and then that made a bad angle of attack where it actually hit that screw which stopped it from going through the double top plate attempt number two did break through but man it was right on the edge and it's very questionable whether that would have just been drywall damage on this side of the wall or if that would have actually been something i could use up in the attic to pull my romex through now number three and number four were a little bit of lesson learned i did not think they went through but there is actually a hole here and a hole here both of those did go through but only that threaded point went through so the threaded point pulled the bit up through but once it went past the wood it stopped pulling and from the first attempt hitting that screw that actually did dull the two cutting blades here on the auger bit so i did not apply enough pressure to then punch through for attempt three and attempt four so just know once you actually do break through with that threaded point it's going to stop pulling and you are going to have to push it the rest of the way through but be careful there have been people because a common application would be right on the corner here of your roof line there have been people that push it up too far and it actually goes through the roof so if this was a three round fight i'm already calling this in the first round when it comes to di wires and these flexible auger bits i say they're a no go for your project now once you go past a 54 inch length there's just too many variables within that wall cavity to result in you getting a hole successfully up on your first try into the attic so you can bring romex down into that wall cavity now i welcome feedback so if you are a professional you've been doing this for years what are those things one or many things that i was doing wrong that does make it more successful where you can actually get through there on the first try but as an intermediate diyer i had four attempts and really i don't think any of those were successful unless you're going to build a temporary wall setup like this and get some reps or practice in before actually going to your project i would say let's stick away from it and there is a better alternative and i'll show you what a small piece of flooring has to do with that so i'll go up towards the top of this wall and use a magnetic stud finder to find the studs here's the first stud which i'll mark and then i'll also confirm finding the adjacent stud for the cavity that i want to access i'll check that just making sure we have 16 inch on center space studs which we do now i can use my piece of flooring as a template i already have a pre-marked line on there that indicates two inches which i'll use to offset it from the ceiling height i don't want to cut this out right at the ceiling because that would equal a little bit more drywall work than i want once i get it into the location i want on the left hand side stud i'll just manually screw down one drywall screw this is just holding this template to the drywall so don't over tighten it or easily strip out then with the torpedo level i'll just make sure it's level so those sides are perfectly up and down and plumb and secure one of the other screws i have additional screws already pre-installed just in case i need to shift it over later on then with an oscillating tool this does have a diablo drywall blade or a wood a beat up wood blade works you'll just glide it along your template to get a nice straight line and so we can get the actual piece of drywall out to get access to this wall cavity we'll finish up on the sides and you should be feeling studs on left the right and the top which should be your doubled up top plate then you can start to lightly pull on that piece with your template see if there's any additional drywall or paper still attached and just make those small trims so it easily removes from the wall without damage and now i'm just going to use a erwin speed bore three-quarter inch bit and a 12-inch diablo extension you can find a link below this video and go over to our amazon store in the electrical section you'll find these erwin speedboard bits which are awesome for this application and that will make quick work of that double top plate just backing it up clearing it out and then punching through it's really that easy then you run your romex through and you have a lot more open access to pull that wire in once the wire's through then you take that same patch and just a few drywall screws taking your time as you will be screwing these on close to the edge and that will collapse the drywall if you're not careful but you just want to sink those slightly below the surface as that will make your mudding and your skim coat easier after you tape let me know what you guys think down in the comments which method are you going to try on your next project where you need to run wire through your attic down in a wall cavity or possibly even across floor joists for recessed lights now if you need a little bit more help on the mudding sanding and getting this wall back so you can paint it part of this project check out this video right here now this video is a monster video for a full diy bathroom remodel where i had a budget of fifteen hundred dollars but at the 38 minute mark it really goes through this exact application to help you out so thanks for joining me on this video and we'll catch you on that next one take care

Channel: Everyday Home Repairs

Views: 127,856

Keywords: flexible auger, fishing wire, fishing wire through wall, fishing wire through insulated wall, fishing wire from attic to basement

Id: -su1Jg2K6Jg

Length: 8min 18sec (498 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 17 2022