Running cables behind dot and dab plasterboard?

[John Brown]

Trouble with Bluetooth is that it uses the same frequency bands as WiFi, and ZigBee, which our Drayton Wiser heating uses. Probably the in home display for the smart meter as well... Anyway, we fin used Bluetooth audio to be a right royal pain in the aris, after it's been working for a while we keep getting short droputs. Disconnect and reconnect - everything's good again. My neighbour recently experienced the same problem. My guess is that the short dropouts are related in some way to frequency hopping, so I blame Heddy Lamar, but I've never really got to the bottom of the problem.

 

[Bingy man]

Are we talking about a house ? ? If yes can you not achieve what you want via the upstairs bedrooms etc -easier to hide the cables using mini trunking or even under carpets etc -just a thought

 

[joncooper27]

The super rods may work they also do what is called a sock to go on the end to grip the cable. I would drill at least an 80mm hole at each end to start with being a round hole you can cut a piece of plasterboard to fill the hole or use the piece out of the hole saw. There are also magnetic cable pulling devices for similar jobs to this not sure how well would work. Admittedly not an easy job but you may be lucky!

 

[LarryS.]

I’d at least try the magnet solution, who knows you may be lucky , and worst case you’ve got one hole to patch

 

[joncooper27]

Magnetic Wire Puller 6m Cable Pulling System Running Wire Guide Tool Kit Magnetic Cable Puller Tool for Wiring Installation Magnetic Wire Puller 6m Cable Pulling System Running Wire Guide Tool Kit Magnetic Cable Puller Tool for Wiring Installation : Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

 

[Scruples]

WiFi?

 

[MikeJhn]

Super rod with a drill bit on the end to go through the adhesive dab, will not be easy, you will need holes at the start/finish section and at the corners, so some making good required, it you really can't plaster or make good, then get a plasterer in to do it for you, and in that case cut the plasterboard full length and sink in a small plastic tube to take the cable, corners will need some thought if access is needed in the future.

 

[Woody Alan]

Gyproc EasiFill 60 you don't need to be a plasterer with this stuff. Fill the groove, let dry and sand back to get perfect smooth surface, if needed apply a bit more.

 

[XTiffy]

I agree with Woody Alan above, I had to repair multiple ceiling holes where electrician cut holes for concealed ceiling lights in the wrong places, that easy fill really does a good and easy repair. I have also had to resort to small plywood backing pieces screwed across the repair area as a fixing point for plasterboard patch and then easyfill. I use a good plasterer for the main work but these kind of repairs are really straightforward.

 

[eribaMotters]

The Gyproc EasiFill is excellent stuff for those of us who are not the best at plastering. It is a cross between plaster and filler, available in different setting times and sands a treat. Why not just run a a small disc cutter down the wall, dab your cable in place with some liquid nails, squirt some behind the boards where needed to re-fix it and then fill and sand.

Colin

 

[pe2dave]

I'm specifically assuming it'll be all over the place; hence the likely need to have an endoscope to try to see where the "blobs" are and route a cable through the maze. A lot easier said than done I suspect.

With a long run, this would be quite a task?
A family member had some posh hifi installed. They ran cable under poly mouldings(cornice?) between ceiling and wall. Quite sneaky and worked well. Only needed to drop down (7'?) at the end of travel.

 

[Lons]

Awful job if the plasterers have done their job properly and not skimped on adhesive, they do tend to automatically slap the dabs on symetrically but they could be anywhere especially along the joints. I've used thin rods from a kit with limited success (useful if routing cables through a car, motorhome etc. as well) but I also tried a magnetic system which worked, and as I was in a hurry I fashioned it using 10lb fishing nylon with a penny washer and I had some strong rare earth magnets I stuck to a piece of ply side by side using d/s tape. Dropped the washer a few times but managed to retrieve and get the line through. It's a pita. I should add that I had a fair idea where the dabs were as I'd put up the boards a few years earlier.

Good luck with it, much quicker and less hassle to chop out and patch the plasterboard

 

[Pedronicus]

With a long run, this would be quite a task?
A family member had some posh hifi installed. They ran cable under poly mouldings(cornice?) between ceiling and wall. Quite sneaky and worked well. Only needed to drop down (7'?) at the end of travel.

Exactly what I did when I installed our wall mounted speakers years ago.

 

[Antomakes]

I'd like to run some (audio - so low voltage) cables from one side of a room to another, but, barring tearing walls apart, the only decent solution appears to be trying to run cables behind plasterboard that's been fixed using dot and dab.

I assume it might be possible; maybe using a magnetic guide from the outside, and possibly an inspection endoscope, but as the run would be around 10m (just over 2m up, 5m across, 2m down) it doesn't feel like a trivial exercise. Is this a job for an electrician, or are they specialists that do this sort of thing?

Do you have laminate flooring or floor boards? Is it possible you can go underneath instead of in the walls etc? I can’t see a straightforward solution at all in your situation. Can you go up the walk in one run into the ceiling, go under floor in room/s above and drop back down again for vertical run to where your amps are? A possible issue with resistance increasing too much unless large enough conductors to cover distance losses.
Dot and dab can be, as someone rightly said, a bit random. It shouldn’t be but no one generally controls that aspect beyond the guys doing it…I’ve been a joiner and plasterer for over 20 years…

 

[leisurefix]

I'd like to run some (audio - so low voltage) cables from one side of a room to another, but, barring tearing walls apart, the only decent solution appears to be trying to run cables behind plasterboard that's been fixed using dot and dab.

I assume it might be possible; maybe using a magnetic guide from the outside, and possibly an inspection endoscope, but as the run would be around 10m (just over 2m up, 5m across, 2m down) it doesn't feel like a trivial exercise. Is this a job for an electrician, or are they specialists that do this sort of thing?

Yes, there are specialists who do this work. Look for your local Hifi & Audio Visual shop, and ask them for recommendation for installation. They may have people in-house, or association with an installer.
One of the options is to use a chasing (& dust extraction!) machine, then install trunking/cabling & make good. You can also get lay flat cables for putting under carpets.

 

[sploo]

Do you have laminate flooring or floor boards? Is it possible you can go underneath instead of in the walls etc? I can’t see a straightforward solution at all in your situation. Can you go up the walk in one run into the ceiling, go under floor in room/s above and drop back down again for vertical run to where your amps are? A possible issue with resistance increasing too much unless large enough conductors to cover distance losses.
Dot and dab can be, as someone rightly said, a bit random. It shouldn’t be but no one generally controls that aspect beyond the guys doing it…I’ve been a joiner and plasterer for over 20 years…

Engineered wood floorboards on a concrete substrate (from what I understand - I didn't install that floor). Not easy to get a cable under unfortunately (at least retrospectively).

Ceiling could be an option; but it's vaulted (with no rooms above) so no easy access (unless I remove the roof tiles!)

Yes, there are specialists who do this work. Look for your local Hifi & Audio Visual shop, and ask them for recommendation for installation. They may have people in-house, or association with an installer.
One of the options is to use a chasing (& dust extraction!) machine, then install trunking/cabling & make good. You can also get lay flat cables for putting under carpets.

I've used a wall chaser before. Great fun. Not such great fun doing the clean up . It's the replastering that would concern me.

I am having a look at wireless transmitters, but as noted by others they can be problematic.

Any solution needs wife approval so I'll have to run it by her regardless (we all have a boss )

 

[Terry - Somerset]

I would guess that a couple of low voltage cables would be (a) fairly flexible and (b) small cross section (below 4mm diameter?).

Chasing out the existing plaster to a width of (say) 5mm would be easy to fill and repaint almost invisibly (assumes painted not papered!!)

 

[Setch]

Plasterboard should have continuous bands of adhesive at the board joints, so you potentially have to "tunnel" through several inches of hard adhesive (basically plaster of Paris) behind a sheet of softer gypsum. I think it's a non-starter.

 

[HOJ]

I've done this quite a few times with speaker cables, using the electricians fibre glass type fishing rods, just by perseverance and a lot of luck, by rattling them around in the wall void until they found a way through, up to a point, I do have to cut some access points in the gyproc with a 3" hole saw, which I keep and re fit with some PU foam and fill and feather out with easi fill. It is time consuming and frustrating but If you don't have any other options in the routing, its worth a try.

One thing I do is just gently tap the wall on the line of a route to hear/feel for solid dabs, not every one does what they are supposed to when dabbing, I generally find they leave spaces/gaps between them, (you will probably not be able to go in a straight horizontal or vertical line)

 

[Fergie 307]

The Gyproc EasiFill is excellent stuff for those of us who are not the best at plastering. It is a cross between plaster and filler, available in different setting times and sands a treat. Why not just run a a small disc cutter down the wall, dab your cable in place with some liquid nails, squirt some behind the boards where needed to re-fix it and then fill and sand.

Colin

Dry lining adhesive also makes a good filler if you have left overs from a dot and dab job. You could also use a right angle cutting multi tool to cut off the bottom few mm of the boards, insert cables and fill over, doesn't help.with your thresholds though.