I need to run speaker & network cables inside the wall.?

Question

This is DIY project. Is it easy to run wires / cables through the walls? Or do I need to drill holes through studs to run cables through. I've never been in the attic to look down the wall.

This is 1-story house, there's no basement, no vault ceiling.

I have wooden floor with baseboards I just put up.

Answer 1

I would really need more information on your home construction, where exactly that you are running wires etc. to be able to give you a really good answer.

You typically cannot run wires horizontally across finished walls.

So, to bring wires to a point in your room, you would either need to come up from a basement or crawlspace, or come down from the attic.

You cannot "look down the wall", there is a top plate on the wall.

Your wall studs are typically on 16" centers. Interrior walls will be easier to fish because they probably wont have insulation in them. Existing switches and outlets are probably attached to a wall stud on one side or the other of the box. By taking the cover plate off and poking a screwdriver in outside of the box but next to it, you can determine where the stud is. Other studs should be on 16" centers from there, allowing you to determine where the open space is in the area that you want a outlet.

From the attic, you can locate the top plate of your wall by moving some insulation around. You may find places where other wires are going down through the top plate to switches or outlets along that wall. That will give you a reference point for where to drill the top plate so that you come down between known stud locations.

Drill a 3/4" or 1" hole in the top plate with a auger bit or spade bit.

Use a box for "existing construction", these boxes have little tabs that deploy and clamp the box into the wall in the hole that you are going to cut. You can usually use the box as a guide for cutting the hole. Place it against the wall and mark around it. Then, use a hole saw to cut out the hole. Place the hole in between the two stud locations. Cut it a little tight initially and then open it up to get a good fit. The box should fit in the hole without being forced.

Do not install the box into the wall until you have your wire fished. If coming down from the attic in a uninsulated wall, you can probably tape all your wires together and feed them through a hole in the top wall plate. Your box hole will be big enough to let you grab the wires and pull them on through. Put them into your box, then put the box in the wall and tighten the screws which deploys the tabs to clamp it against the wall.

If you are coming up from a crawlspace or a basement, it may be harder to locate just where the wall is etc. If you are on carpet in front of your desired location, and you have access under the floor in a basement, one trick is to drive a small finishing nail through the floor in front of the desired box location. Go downstairs and find the nail. You can use a vibrating razor or toothbrush on the floor or wall to help you get close. Once you find the nail, measure over towards the wall whatever distance the nail is from the wall face. Add about 2 inches to that and if you drill there, you should come up inside the wall.

For trickier locations, or insulated walls, you are going to need a fish tape to get the job done. Push the fish tape through, get it through your opening, then attach your wires and pull them back through.

I dont know if this explanation makes sense to you or not. A picture would be worth a thousand words here.

You can run in to snags from time to time, firestops in a wall that prevent you from getting your wire through vertically, non standard stud spacing or locations.....

All in all, think it through, measure twice and cut/drill once. :)

Answer 2

It's fairly easy when running wires vertically but you have to drill holes in the top plate of the wall which is usually one or two 2 X 4's thick to run the wires down. Make sure of where you are drilling first so you don't punch a hole in the ceiling by mistake. Going side to side through the wall is much harder or impossible to drill holes in the studs. If the wiring needs to go sideways, sometimes you can pull off the baseboard molding and run wires behind it if they are thin enough and there is room....you can sometimes run the wires under the baseboard where it meets carpeting. Drilling a small hole in the floor or through carpet is an option too.

Answer 3

I really don't think there's much difference in terms of sound quality among brands. What matters is the gauge. 14 gauge cable is always sufficient. 16 is fine also. You only really need 14 when using a high current amp, wiring speakers in parallel. This is a consideration in multi-room audio, not home theater. Do no go smaller than 18. You'd be hard pressed to find speaker wire smaller anyways. The main difference I think with brands and price is the pliability and feel of the cable, which has a reasonable effect on the prewire. If you're buying high end equipment you might spend a few dollars more so you can feel good about your cable too, if for no other reason.

Answer 4

Have no basement so I had to come up with some sneaky ways to replace phone line.
Have a crawl space attic & you may have to drill through some top plates.
Was able to get into some closet spaces on floor below.
With patience an electrician's fish tape & (ferrets) , weights on string , got where I needed to go & put in pull cords.
Ran some exposed inside closets ( in corners) & went right through walls.
Used up some wall grommets the cable guy left behind.
Got a basement & some closets , not too bad a job.
A pain in the butt, but do able.
Best regards

Answer 5

I found that it was easier to either go through the attic of basement. If you can't do this, remove the quarter-round moulnding off the bottom of the wall and tuck the wire in there and reattach it. Be careful not to damage the wires.

Answer 6

You are better off trying to conceal your signal wiring
in the baseboards.
Any wiring in the walls will involve some blind drilling
of 2 x 4 s and electrical wiring is already in there, probably fastened to those 2 x 4s.
Your connection points will be close to outlets right?
Save yourself some grief.