How To Run Wire Through Studs

Some rules help ensure the structural integrity of a wall.

How to run wire through studs. There are rules you have to follow for drilling and notching studs. Thread the long ground wire through the hole in the top of the special green wire connector and splice all the ground wires by holding them together and twisting the connector clockwise until it s tight. Use a drill and spade bit to make holes in the studs and other framing members for running the cables. You can use most home cordless drills for drilling these but make sure it s a high enough quality since this takes quite a bit of torque to get through some of the harder woods.

In the unfinished space you can run the wiring horizontally then back down or up into the wall stud cavity where you will install the new outlet switch or another device. But you can t just drill and saw away. 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. When romex owner southwire conducted tests in nashville tennessee area homes they found a substantial reduction in installation times.

Leave one bare copper ground wire an extra 6 inches long. Pulling wire through studs is made slightly easier with nm wire such as romex that has a patented coating called simpull that reduces friction. When you have to run pipes ducts or wires horizontally through the studs you often have to notch or drill holes sometimes big ones to get them to their destination. Make a hole in the center of each stud large enough to allow the cables to pass through easily but never exceed 40 percent of the stud width which means a maximum diameter of 1 3 8 inches for 2 x 4 framing.

Cut all the wires to leave at least 6 inches protruding past the face of the box. Another option is to run wiring up or down through the wall plates and into an unfinished attic or basement or crawlspace. Any hole that is used for passing wires through has to be 1 1 4 from the face of the stud to the edge of the hole or it has to nail plated. These typically have a larger diameter and work great for getting a bigger hole made if you re running a lot of wires through the hole.

If the wire will run from one room to the next it is sometimes easier to run the wire through the wall left to right straight up along the last stud in a corner over through the ceiling and.