How To Run Wire Through Walls Without Cutting Drywall

Calculate the proper amount of wire and the most expedient routes for the circuits.

How to run wire through walls without cutting drywall.

Cutting into drywall is little more than collateral damage that needs to be minimized. A drywall saw is a long slender knife with sharp cutting teeth. A decent stud finder is a must have for every wire fishing job but don t throw it back in your pouch after you ve located the studs. Use your stud finder to check the whole wall cavity for obstacles like blocking and abandoned headers.

If you don t want to remove drywall then you ll be running most of the wires through the attic or the crawl space. When adding or replacing wiring in finished walls most electricians will attempt to make the horizontal portion of the cable run in the unfinished attic or basement crawlspace areas looping the cable down or up through the wall cavity across the floor or ceiling joists then vertically through another stud cavity to the next wall box opening. If the wall above runs parallel to the attic or basement joist this cable will be attached across the side of a joist. Cut the cable leaving plenty of slack and feed the cut end into the wall cavity and out through the wall hole as you did with the first box.

The true focus of the task should be the electrical wiring not rough carpentry and demolition work. You don t want to find out the hard way that you should have fished your wire one stud cavity to the left or right. Running electrical wire through closed walls is a project that few do it yourselfers enjoy.