How to determine location to drill a hole in floor support so it is between wallboard & brick veneer

[nonsibicunctis]

I have a multi speaker stereo system that is old - pre-wireless - but sitll in excellent condition.

I want to be able get all the wires from the amplifier to speakers out of site.

My idea is to run then under the house and back up as necessary.

I would rather not drill through the floor that is visible so I need to have holes behind the wall board & down through the floor there, ie. between the wallboard and the brick veneer.

I have connections sockets in plates similar to those used with electrical sockets & switches that would cover the holes in the wallboard.  (My wiring is not 'electrical' work in the sense normally used - the wires only carry minimal loads from amp to speakers.)

The plates would fit in the gyprock walls so making things neat for the connections to the appliances.

My problem is:

* I need to be able to drill up from under the house (there is crawl space) but how can I ensure that I drill in the correct spots for the hole to come up between wallboard and brick veneer or wallboard and wallboard if it is an internal wall between two rooms?

I hope that is clear.

I would appreciate any advice - I tried something similar several years ago by using measurements I thought were accurate - they weren't and I ended up with a hole half one one side of the skirting and half on the other.

Thanks,

[MitchellMc]

Hi @nonsibicunctis,

It can sometimes be easier going through the ceiling where the top plate of the frame is easily found. Once you have gone through that you can use an extension bar or two with a spade bit to drill through the noggin. Alternatively, you can cut out an oversized hole in your plaster and use a right-angled drill head to drill through the bottom plate. You might even be able to drill through at an angle with a standard drill bit. You'll then need to repair the plaster after accessing the area. 

Let me mention the knowledgeable @TedBear to see if he has any other suggestions.

Mitchell

[TedBear · Accepted solution]

I'm backing-up all Mitchell's suggestions here!  It is a tricky problem. I would have tried your measure and hope method too.

Are there skirting boards involved?  I recently ran speaker cables from one side of a room to the other under the floor. My method was to lever away a section of skirting, drilled through the floor in that area, cut a groove in the back of the skirting to take the cable, and I mounted my terminal plates on the skirting boards.

Maybe you could get through the floor that way and turn your cable into the wall through the wall board to get it higher up if required?  (...although there may be a timber plate behind the wall board down that low. What are you like at repairing small cut-outs in wall board??)

[If I was in business doing this work, I think I would buy a small radio operated "tank"  to take the cable from one place to another under the house. I was tempted to go get one when I did my cabling! ]

[nonsibicunctis]

MitchellMc,

Thanks for that suggestion.  I would do exactly that but have always wondered how electricians get the wires down past all the noggins for surely there are more than one?

I did manage to do it once with an electrical cable for a power point.  I used some line with a fishing weight and managed to juggle it down somehow.  It was a while ago so I've forgotten exactly how it was but I know it was a hassle and I was amazed to actually achieve it.

I have not trade skills and forget anything I learn almost as soon as I've finished the job.  I guess that it's fair to say that I'm fairly dumb.  Anyhow, that's why I wanted to use the floor for this job rather than the ceiling and also, because I'm a low and fixed income pensioner, because it wouldn't use as much speaker cable.

None-the-less, I thank  you for your suggestion and for passing it on and appreciate your help.

[nonsibicunctis]

Heh, thanks for that idea.  I could remove the skirting because I actually had to replace them when I moved here and when I did, I screwed them rather than nailing, as I like to be able to undo what I do, when I need to do so.

Your suggestion may be exactly the way to go.  The terminal plates could be mounted on the skirting boards, I think and, yes, I've had to repair much timber that has been broken or rotted.  I've always lived in old and run-down places so it goes with the situation.

I don't know what a 'radio operated tank' is.  That's a new one on me.  I don't mind going under the house except for the fact that I have a sloping block and on one side of the house there's barely crawling space and on the other you have space to crouch almost to shoulder height.  So, it depends where you're working how difficult it is.  Sadly, but not really relevant here, all of the plumbing is on the lowest side and almost impossible to service.

Thanks again for that suggestion.  I was just going to drill through the floor and to hell with it but this idea might allow me to safe the floor boards, (which are all stripped and oiled) and put the plates vertically where they really ought to be.

Much appreciate your help.

[TedBear]

Glad to hear that this may be a good solution for your project. The tank I was referring to is a radio operated toy. I thought that having a track instead of wheels might give it enough traction to run over the rough conditions under a house... but It was just a whimsical idea had  when I was crawling around.