I want to run a wire to my window for an alarm switch. The window sits in a metal frame set in a block exterior wall. Do you know if the block wall has the dryall attached to furring strips on interior. How do i go about fishing a wire to the basement below ? Should i drill a hole in the frame & send the wire thru the hollow block to the basement & how do i locate it in the basement ?
ahh this can be FUN, like pulling yopur own teeth, taking out your own appendix and other DIY procedures.
so how fancy must this be?
can use wireless switches, run wires in wiremold, go up, in cieling and out near a wall.
if you try going thru block there are likely obstructions. I have run romex thru block walls, found it easiest to punch some holes in the block where the obstructions are.
please tell us more about your situation.wierdly i enjoy this kinda challenge
The interior drywall could be on furring strips, 2" x 4" wood or metal studs, or it could be right up against the block. If there is an electrical outlet on the same wall remove the wall plate on it. Use a long thin screwdriver and push it in along the outside of the electrical box and see how far it goes back. That will give you an idea as to the depth of the wall.
If you have some depth you could try locating a spot in the basement that is under the wall and try drilling up into the wall cavity. Another way is to cut a rectangular hole in the wall near the floor (Approximately 6" wide x
12" high). Cut the drywall at 45 degree angles so you can use the removed piece to patch the wall again. Drill down into the basement through the hole in the wall. Then you can drill into the window frame and pull a wire all the way up or down.Fishing wire through a block wall is not always easy. Sometimes the walls are filled with rebar and concrete making it impossible. At the very least there will be pieces of concrete in the cavities and the holes in the block do not line up perfectly. You would need to make big holes in the block at each end to get a fish tape through.
If the drywall is up against the block your only option is to make a channel in the wall and embed the wire in it and patch over it.
...top posting repaired...
Pine, maybe? :) ("Fir" is a tree, "furring" strips are what you mean here.)
Multitude of ways -- most likely combination (particularly if this was a homeowner diy job) of construction adhesive and maybe a few fasteners here and there.
Sounds as though it's either surface, inlaid into the drywall itself (not code unless protected somehow other than a layer of mud) or make the holes and see what you find -- hopefully the block wall is hollow.
If not, then you could always saw a channel in the block.
All depends on how badly you want this run. I'd probably have to want it pretty badly to do anything more than the surface run from the sounds of it.
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Lol "firring strips" and I thought people used fishing "string" instead of wire on their reel. :)
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I don't fish but I thought it was "line"... :)
Us hillbillies call it string :)
That like "tote" for "sack"... :)
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