Fishing speaker wire through crown molding

[k***@gmail.com]

When I first moved in to my current home, I installed crown molding in
the living room without thinking about the future.

Now, I have a stereo with 4 wall mountable small speakers that I would
like to run wire for. Rather than running all the way through the
roof, I would like to run in the hollow space behind the crown molding.
Do they make a fishtape small enough to run through a 1/4" hole?

[Brian V]

Post by k***@gmail.com
When I first moved in to my current home, I installed crown molding in
the living room without thinking about the future.
Now, I have a stereo with 4 wall mountable small speakers that I would
like to run wire for. Rather than running all the way through the
roof, I would like to run in the hollow space behind the crown molding.
Do they make a fishtape small enough to run through a 1/4" hole?

use compressed air to blow a string thru or a vacumn to pull it thru

[RicodJour]

Post by Brian V
use compressed air to blow a string thru or a vacumn to pull it thru

I wonder if anyone has ever blown crown molding off the wall with
compressed air? That would be interesting to see...in someone else's
house.

Your idea is a good one. Drill a hole, larger than 1/4" please (even
if it's stained wood, you can plug it and match the grain and pull a
spot repair so no one would ever notice it), tie a thin line to a small
grocery plastic bag, push the bag all the way into the hole, then put
the vacuum nozzle over the hole at the other end and have at it. It
will take about a couple of seconds for it to show up at your end.
Pull the bag through the hole and you're home free.

I'm envious of you. I have a similar situation where I need to run
some AV wire behind the crown molding, but the crown has solid divider
blocks every eight feet. I have to pull the molding, drill through the
blocks, run the wire, reinstall the crown and touch up paint the walls,
crown and ceiling. Sigh. Care to switch projects with me? ;)

R

[Charles Schuler]

Post by Brian V

Post by k***@gmail.com
When I first moved in to my current home, I installed crown molding in
the living room without thinking about the future.
Now, I have a stereo with 4 wall mountable small speakers that I would
like to run wire for. Rather than running all the way through the
roof, I would like to run in the hollow space behind the crown molding.
Do they make a fishtape small enough to run through a 1/4" hole?

use compressed air to blow a string thru or a vacumn to pull it thru

Have you ever done this?

[buffalobill]

there is a version of this which uses a beaded chain like your light
switch pull chain.
but when you see hdsupply and search for fish tape it reveals some
small sized tapes.
at:
http://hdsupply.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CatalogSearchResultView?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10051&pageSize=300&beginIndex=0&sType=SimpleSearch&resultType=1&searchTermScope=3&searchType=ALL&searchTermCaseSensitive=no&searchTermOperator=LIKE&orderBy1=CatEntDescName&errorViewName=AdvancedSearchView&searchTerm=fish+tape

Post by k***@gmail.com
When I first moved in to my current home, I installed crown molding in
the living room without thinking about the future.
Now, I have a stereo with 4 wall mountable small speakers that I would
like to run wire for. Rather than running all the way through the
roof, I would like to run in the hollow space behind the crown molding.
Do they make a fishtape small enough to run through a 1/4" hole?

[Oren]

Post by k***@gmail.com
When I first moved in to my current home, I installed crown molding in
the living room without thinking about the future.
Now, I have a stereo with 4 wall mountable small speakers that I would
like to run wire for. Rather than running all the way through the
roof, I would like to run in the hollow space behind the crown molding.
Do they make a fishtape small enough to run through a 1/4" hole?

If you know for a fact that nothing will block the fish tape, try an
electrical fish tape. I would slant the 1/4" hole towards the
direction of travel so you do not have to make the initial sharp turn.

Getting the fish tape out the other will be fun.... through a 1/4"
hole.

I've put crown up with nailing blocks at the studs, so this would not
work.
--
Oren

"Well, it doesn't happen all the time, but when it happens, it happens constantly."

[Chris B.]

Post by Oren

Post by k***@gmail.com
When I first moved in to my current home, I installed crown molding in
the living room without thinking about the future.
Now, I have a stereo with 4 wall mountable small speakers that I would
like to run wire for. Rather than running all the way through the
roof, I would like to run in the hollow space behind the crown molding.
Do they make a fishtape small enough to run through a 1/4" hole?

I think a typical metal fish is 1/8" on its wider dimension.

Post by Oren
If you know for a fact that nothing will block the fish tape, try an
electrical fish tape. I would slant the 1/4" hole towards the
direction of travel so you do not have to make the initial sharp turn.

Good idea.

Post by Oren
Getting the fish tape out the other will be fun.... through a 1/4"
hole.

She could tie a piece of string with a few loops made up in it to the
head of the fish tape and then hook it with a thin metal wire and draw
the string out of the hole.

The second hole could also be drilled at an angle.

[Oren]

On Mon, 20 Nov 2006 17:57:01 -0500, Chris B.

Post by Chris B.
She could tie a piece of string with a few loops made up in it to the
head of the fish tape and then hook it with a thin metal wire and draw
the string out of the hole.

We ran out of humor one day; trying to get a wire across a four foot
space...using fiberglass rod. We could only go one way, but the rod
kept deflecting off something mechanical. I had an eye-ball up trying
to see the tape/wire (grin).

--
Oren

"Well, it doesn't happen all the time, but when it happens, it happens constantly."

[k***@gmail.com]

good ideas guys. Thanks!

[Karl S]

Post by k***@gmail.com
When I first moved in to my current home, I installed crown molding in
the living room without thinking about the future.
Now, I have a stereo with 4 wall mountable small speakers that I would
like to run wire for. Rather than running all the way through the
roof, I would like to run in the hollow space behind the crown molding.
Do they make a fishtape small enough to run through a 1/4" hole?

A lot of installation stuff here:
http://tinyurl.com/ynhl64