Article: How To Install And Pull Wire In Your Home

How To Install And Pull Wire In Your Home

This info could save you money if you decided to use electricians

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How To Install And Pull Wire In Your Home

Whether its installing new lights in the kitchen, a new surround sound system in the living room, or moving a cable TV or network outlet, pulling and running wire is a part of almost every DIY project. Having remodeled my own home and run plenty of electrical and cable TV wiring, Ive had experience pulling cables in most situations. The worst one, and the one that motivated my trial and error, was running electrical wires for some new can lights in the ceiling. Picture a tight attic space, probably 120 degrees, insulation everywhere, and me lowering wire down the wall while my wife looked for it with a flashlight through the outlet hole. I would not wish that on anyone! Nearly everyone Ive spoken to has a similar story, so Ive identified the two most popular types of tools to get those DIY wiring jobs done: fish tape and push-pull rods.

Fish Tape, or steel tape as its sometimes called, is obviously not really

tape of any kind. Its a reel of flat steel that works a little like the retractable power cords in irons and vacuum cleaners; you know the ones that you pull the cord out of the inside of the iron, kind of feeding it out of an internal reel until you get it to the desired length and plug it in? This flat steel tape on a reel comes in a variety of lengths, from 25 feet to 250 feet, is usually about a 12-inch hoop, and operates on the same principal; you hold the stable section and then pull, hard, to let out the tape to the length that you need.

Scenario: You want to add four new recessed lights in the living room, have access to the attic, and for some masochistic reason you refuse to hire a professional. I say add so we can assume you’re going over installing a light switch, you have one already done, and now want to put your new lights on the same circuit as an existing one. After all, were talking about pulling wires, not whether youre following code or will not be lighting yourself up like a Christmas tree. AND you have no handy-dandy tools to help you run the wires. Imagine you have cut two holes in the ceiling, eight feet apart. You can see those holes you cut in the ceiling, which will be approximately eight feet apart for our example. You want to run your electrical wire (substitute speaker wire if youre installing those in your imagination instead) from one hole to the other.

Lets either assume youve decided to avoid the trip into the attic, or theres no space up there at all, so youll need to work from on top of a ladder. Fun!

Normally those holes are going to be about four inches in diameter, so you could tie a rock to the end of your wire, stick your arm through the hole, and try a toss or two, but lets assume that doesnt work because it doesnt.

Fish Tape: Its a little heavy and awkward to get the reel up the ladder, and because it takes two hands to deploy it by feeding out the tape, Im just going to call it the wrong choice right off the bat.

Push- Pull Rod: There are a lot more varieties of these to choose from than the fish tape. Well take a look at two types as representative of the group. Type 1 is really common. Its a 15-foot set that consists of three 5-foot fiberglass rods. The rods are about 3/16 thick. One rod has an eye at the end, like the backend of a really large needle. The set comes in a storage tube thats about 6-foot long. This solution works really well! You can just take two of the rods up the ladder, theyre light and not too long, screw them together, and push them in one hole and out the other. Then move the ladder, thread your wire through the eye if its small enough (electrical wire is too big, so youll need to duct tape it on), switch your ladder back and pull. Done!

A few things to watch out for: 1) If the rods are used, watch out for getting fiberglass on your hands. Wear gloves. 2) The ends are metal, PLEASE make sure your power in that room is off just in case you hit a live wire. 3) Watch how much you bend these, they can shatter. 4) Expense these sets can be as much as $80.

Type 2 of the push-pull rods is a pretty new product. Ill mention it by name because its the only one: Mille-Rod Polymer Series. These rods come in a 14-foot set, but instead of 5-foot lengths, its made up of 14-inch sticks that screw together. They come in the same kind of carry tube as the fiberglass set, only this one is only 18 inches long. The set will clip or tie to your belt or go in a tool box, so no worries getting up that ladder. We know we need at least 8 feet to get from hole to hole, so we can just screw seven of the pieces together, then repeat everything we did in the first push-pull rod example. The Mille-Rods comes with 5 attachments: 1 hook, 1 claw, 2 eyes, and a bullet for poking through insulation. Also, the pieces arent all the same flexibility. There are 4 black ones that are really stiff and are helpful in reaching over the rafters, etc., 4 red ones that are pretty flexible, like the fiberglass rods, and 4 flat ones that will bend 360 degrees. I like the flat ones for the end because you can bend them down through the hole without damaging them if you need to. Here are the other big differences and why I like this choice: 1) I like the claw! Its big enough that you can just wrap it around the claw attachment and pull. No tape necessary. 2) No metal. Everything is made of plastic, so you dont have to worry about sparks. 3) They can NEVER shatter and come with a lifetime warranty. 4) Cheaper the 14 set is $29.95.

After trying the above methods, along with a host of other improvised (dangerous) methods, the Mille-Rod Polymer Series will be my choice every time.