Attic wall fishes & stud spacers?

[gary s]

We are going to be moving to a new home.

I was thinking it might be best to have the cables fished through the walls. Definitely don't want holes in the hardwood flooring.

It's a one story house with both an attic and a crawlspace for all but one room which I think is just on a slab.

Got me thinking, if they fish the cables from the attic down, what do they do about the usual 2x4 spacers between the studs in the wall?

Also, is it possible, maybe even preferable to fish the cables from the crawlspace up into the walls?

And, while I'm asking questions, if there are any installers or anyone else who might know how much should it cost for wall fishing?

I did do a search for "wall fish" but didn't find answers to my specific questions, other than some talk of pricing.

 

[KAB]

Go up from the crawl space. Always choose the shortest distance.

 

[boba]

Let the installer determine how to do it after he has seen his options. The crawl space may not have room to gain access and the pitch of the roof may limit attic access it is very hard to rell someone the anser to your type of question when you can't see the circumstances. Same thing with pricing.

 

[nmfiredawg]

If you do it to an interior wall (Non bearing) there usually isn't any 2X4 spacers and they can fish it pretty easily.

 

[gary s]

Thanks for the replies!

I guess we'll have to see what the installer says.

 

[dishcomm]

We are going to be moving to a new home.

I was thinking it might be best to have the cables fished through the walls. Definitely don't want holes in the hardwood flooring.

It's a one story house with both an attic and a crawlspace for all but one room which I think is just on a slab.

Got me thinking, if they fish the cables from the attic down, what do they do about the usual 2x4 spacers between the studs in the wall?

Also, is it possible, maybe even preferable to fish the cables from the crawlspace up into the walls?

And, while I'm asking questions, if there are any installers or anyone else who might know how much should it cost for wall fishing?

I did do a search for "wall fish" but didn't find answers to my specific questions, other than some talk of pricing.

First..Good luck with your new home. Now..IUs the home under construction? If not these questions apply.
If the home is of standard construction, more often than not interior walls do not have what you call "spacers" ..In the constrcution bus. they are called "perliners". Essentailly they are braces to add integrity to the structure.
These are not necessary unless the wall is holding up the roof or load bearing.
Let the tch take a look....You may find he will use the crawlspace if that's the way to go.

 

[vegassatellite]

As an installer, I charge $80/hr for all custom labor, including fishes. Crawlspace will take less time and would be preferable from a time standpoint. It's also fairly easy to replace cables that way later on.

If you really want to avoid labor charges, then cut the wall outlets yourself and put in mud rings. Then drill a hole down through the sole plate of the wall and run you some twine from that outlet to the side of the home where the power panel is. Ideally within 20 feet of the power meter. If you really want to make things easy, drill a 3/4" hole through the sole plate and put a small section of pvc in there so the cable pulls nice and easy. You want the pvc to be tight in the wood so you might want to undersize your hole just a bit so it sticks in the hole. The tech can use the twine to pull his cable later. Just don't put any sharp turns or whatnot in the way.

 

[gary s]

As an installer, I charge $80/hr for all custom labor, including fishes. Crawlspace will take less time and would be preferable from a time standpoint. It's also fairly easy to replace cables that way later on.

If you really want to avoid labor charges, then cut the wall outlets yourself and put in mud rings. Then drill a hole down through the sole plate of the wall and run you some twine from that outlet to the side of the home where the power panel is. Ideally within 20 feet of the power meter. If you really want to make things easy, drill a 3/4" hole through the sole plate and put a small section of pvc in there so the cable pulls nice and easy. You want the pvc to be tight in the wood so you might want to undersize your hole just a bit so it sticks in the hole. The tech can use the twine to pull his cable later. Just don't put any sharp turns or whatnot in the way.

What the....?

Mostly, I have no idea what your second paragraph is talking about.

It does seem going through the crawlspace would be preferable. Will probably leave it to the installer and see what he says.

If there is some sort of average time it might take to do a wall fish from a crawlspace, what might that be?

dishcomm--it is an existing home that I think had cable tv but I don't even know where the cable was run.

 

[vegassatellite]

What the....?

Mostly, I have no idea what your second paragraph is talking about.

It does seem going through the crawlspace would be preferable. Will probably leave it to the installer and see what he says.

If there is some sort of average time it might take to do a wall fish from a crawlspace, what might that be?

dishcomm--it is an existing home that I think had cable tv but I don't even know where the cable was run.

Well, if you don't understand paragraph 2, then you are best to leave the work to a professional instead of doing it yourself to save the money. You are, after all, paying for knowledge as well as labor.

Average time depends on the home itself. That's why it's called custom labor, because you don't know until you get on site and estimate it. I've had homes where I have done three wallfishes in an hour and then I've had homes where it has taken three hours to do a wallfish.

How much space is under the home? Can he stand up under there? Can he crawl on all fours? Or will he be squeezing between joists? Some homes can be gotten in and out of pretty quickly. Are there other delays such as ten years worth of your personal possessions in the way under there, etc? Is there plumbing near the outlets that will require measuring and re-measuring to make sure they aren't hit with a drill bit, etc? These are all factors to consider.

 

[Claude Greiner]

Depends if the installer likes damp crawl spaces or hot attics!

this is all considered custom labor!

 

[vegassatellite]

Depends if the installer likes damp crawl spaces or hot attics!

this is all considered custom labor!

I've never fallen out of a crawlspace.

Then again, I've never fell out of an attic either. Seems the damage claim potential in crawlspaces is much lower.