1920's Farm house re-wire, need some input

Verticaltrx · Apr 23, 2012

So I'm working on this project room by room starting in the kitchen. I've run into a couple setbacks already and am looking for a little more advice.

First problem, the exterior walls (and ceilings) are full to the brim of wood shavings, 1920's insulating at it's best. :confused2: I'm having trouble figuring out the best way to install new outlets along the exterior walls. I don't want to remove all that from each cavity so I can drill through the sole plate into the basement. I tried a 54" long flexible drill bit working from the box opening, but quickly twisted it off drilling through the 6x6 oak under the sole plate.

This brings me to my next problem, unlike modern stick construction, under the sole plates on the exterior wall is a big old 6" thick beam sitting atop the concrete basement walls. Ultimately I need to drill at an angle through it, but wasn't able to with my current bit inventory. Other option would be use a right angle drill with a very short bit and cut a big hole behind the baseboards to work in. IDK, looking for thoughts and suggestions?

Robert_in_NY · Apr 23, 2012

Drill down from the top into the 6x6 like your doing then go into the basement and drill from there till you meet up with the hole you drilled from the top. Its a little more hassle but if you spot the hole correctly is actually pretty simple and you don't need to add any other bits or tools. I have found this to be the simplest and easiest way for dealing with old houses. In my house the stone foundation is 2' thick so the beams are set back from the inside edge of the stone foundation so I have to reach up and over the wall to drill into the beam. There isn't any room to drill at an angle so just drill with a 1" bit into the beam with what little angle you can until it hits the hole you drilled from the top. Then fish the wire through.

Verticaltrx · Apr 26, 2012

Robert_in_NY said:
Drill down from the top into the 6x6 like your doing then go into the basement and drill from there till you meet up with the hole you drilled from the top. Its a little more hassle but if you spot the hole correctly is actually pretty simple and you don't need to add any other bits or tools. I have found this to be the simplest and easiest way for dealing with old houses. In my house the stone foundation is 2' thick so the beams are set back from the inside edge of the stone foundation so I have to reach up and over the wall to drill into the beam. There isn't any room to drill at an angle so just drill with a 1" bit into the beam with what little angle you can until it hits the hole you drilled from the top. Then fish the wire through.

I gave this a try with fairly good success. :thumbsup:

Another quick question for those with more electrical/remodel experience, is it ok to allow all those wood shavings to be around my boxes or is that a fire hazard? I'm using metal boxes (old work type).