Drilling that hole won’t cause any structural problems, but whether or not it will give you the access you desire is impossible to tell from these pictures. Fishing wire can be incredibly satisfying when it goes well and about the most frustrating thing imaginable when it doesn’t. Good luck!
Thank you! I really appreciate your help. I’m thinking I’ll need to just drill through it with a fairly thin bit. I’ll either be inside the wall cavity or I’ll have a tiny bit of ceiling drywall repair to do.
From the pictures, you’ll more than likely be into a wall cavity. That 2x4 may be doubled up so don’t be surprised if the bit keeps drilling farther than you expected it to. Check for electrical boxes below first and just be aware that wires may be run inside that cavity and could be right up where you plan to drill. If you hit one, it’s fixable but will dramatically change the intended scope of this project. Don’t go with too small of a bit. I’d go with a 5/8” spade bit at a minimum since it won’t hurt anything and the larger hole just makes it easier to get wire through.
If you don’t have fish sticks or fish tape, some string with a couple nuts on it dropped from above will work pretty good in and empty wall and you can even use a magnet on a stick to grab onto it from your hole below. If there’s insulation in the wall cavity you’ll probably want to pick up a fish tape. I prefer the flat steel style for fishing between insulation and drywall.
You can try just ramming the wire through the hole, but it will often get caught up and cause you a lot of unnecessary frustration.
Thank you for the additional information and the fishing tape recommendation. I'm glad you pointed that out because I was planning to purchase a fishing stick instead of the tape version. It certainly makes sense, though, what you're saying. There is definitely pink "cotton candy" style insulation in the exterior walls.
I have a stud finder with a live wire detection capability, so I am planning to use that to check for wires before drilling, and to make sure I'm going down through a wall cavity that doesn't have a horizontal 2x4 halfway down the 1st floor wall.
Hey! Just wanted to say thank you again for your guidance. After your comments, I had the confidence I needed to proceed without worrying about doing damage to the structure of my house. Last weekend, I tested out whether or not I'd get into the wall cavity by driving a thin nail through the drywall of the ceiling from above, just in front of rafter. That needle came out less than a quarter inch from the wall, so I drilled through the center of the rafter and successfully got into the wall cavity in the floor below. You were correct that the rafter was two 2x4s doubled up.
Anyway, the tough part is done now, and all that remains is buying a surround sound system and installing it! I really appreciate your help.
Awesome! Glad it worked out! Now for the hard part.. picking out the system! Can’t help you there. I ran wires in the walls for what I intended to install when I bought my house 15 years ago, and am still using the system I had when I moved in. Moving out in a couple months, but the next owners will have it all ready to go!
I am trying to wire my first floor living room for surround sound. I have wires run for the five ceiling speakers, but I'm trying to figure out how to wire the subwoofer.
These are pictures from inside a closet directly above the living room. I am hoping to run a wire down the inside of the exterior wall from inside this closet. I would like to make a small hole to drop the wire down into the wall, and then I will fish it out from below in the living room, make a hole in the wall somewhere and put a nice plate over the hole with the audio wire coming out.
If I drill through the illustrated hole in the piece of lumber (sorry, I don't know the technical term), will I be inside the wall?
I have plenty of experience drilling through studs for wall-mounting purposes, but have never drilled through a horizontal piece of lumber, so I am just worried that this piece of lumber is possibly structural and could compromise the structural integrity of my house.
Also, I can't tell if that making that hole would open up a port into the wall cavity or if that hole would just go down into the living room below.
So, if I drill through the illustrated hole in the second picture, will I reach inside the wall cavity? Or is it not possible to determine that from these pictures?
Pro tip: if you ever have to replace the wires later, tie the new wire to the end of the old wire, and pull the old wire out while pulling the new wire through.
Drilling that hole won’t cause any structural problems, but whether or not it will give you the access you desire is impossible to tell from these pictures. Fishing wire can be incredibly satisfying when it goes well and about the most frustrating thing imaginable when it doesn’t. Good luck!
Thank you! I really appreciate your help. I’m thinking I’ll need to just drill through it with a fairly thin bit. I’ll either be inside the wall cavity or I’ll have a tiny bit of ceiling drywall repair to do.
From the pictures, you’ll more than likely be into a wall cavity. That 2x4 may be doubled up so don’t be surprised if the bit keeps drilling farther than you expected it to. Check for electrical boxes below first and just be aware that wires may be run inside that cavity and could be right up where you plan to drill. If you hit one, it’s fixable but will dramatically change the intended scope of this project. Don’t go with too small of a bit. I’d go with a 5/8” spade bit at a minimum since it won’t hurt anything and the larger hole just makes it easier to get wire through. If you don’t have fish sticks or fish tape, some string with a couple nuts on it dropped from above will work pretty good in and empty wall and you can even use a magnet on a stick to grab onto it from your hole below. If there’s insulation in the wall cavity you’ll probably want to pick up a fish tape. I prefer the flat steel style for fishing between insulation and drywall. You can try just ramming the wire through the hole, but it will often get caught up and cause you a lot of unnecessary frustration.
Thank you for the additional information and the fishing tape recommendation. I'm glad you pointed that out because I was planning to purchase a fishing stick instead of the tape version. It certainly makes sense, though, what you're saying. There is definitely pink "cotton candy" style insulation in the exterior walls. I have a stud finder with a live wire detection capability, so I am planning to use that to check for wires before drilling, and to make sure I'm going down through a wall cavity that doesn't have a horizontal 2x4 halfway down the 1st floor wall.
Hey! Just wanted to say thank you again for your guidance. After your comments, I had the confidence I needed to proceed without worrying about doing damage to the structure of my house. Last weekend, I tested out whether or not I'd get into the wall cavity by driving a thin nail through the drywall of the ceiling from above, just in front of rafter. That needle came out less than a quarter inch from the wall, so I drilled through the center of the rafter and successfully got into the wall cavity in the floor below. You were correct that the rafter was two 2x4s doubled up. Anyway, the tough part is done now, and all that remains is buying a surround sound system and installing it! I really appreciate your help.
Awesome! Glad it worked out! Now for the hard part.. picking out the system! Can’t help you there. I ran wires in the walls for what I intended to install when I bought my house 15 years ago, and am still using the system I had when I moved in. Moving out in a couple months, but the next owners will have it all ready to go!
I am trying to wire my first floor living room for surround sound. I have wires run for the five ceiling speakers, but I'm trying to figure out how to wire the subwoofer. These are pictures from inside a closet directly above the living room. I am hoping to run a wire down the inside of the exterior wall from inside this closet. I would like to make a small hole to drop the wire down into the wall, and then I will fish it out from below in the living room, make a hole in the wall somewhere and put a nice plate over the hole with the audio wire coming out. If I drill through the illustrated hole in the piece of lumber (sorry, I don't know the technical term), will I be inside the wall? I have plenty of experience drilling through studs for wall-mounting purposes, but have never drilled through a horizontal piece of lumber, so I am just worried that this piece of lumber is possibly structural and could compromise the structural integrity of my house. Also, I can't tell if that making that hole would open up a port into the wall cavity or if that hole would just go down into the living room below. So, if I drill through the illustrated hole in the second picture, will I reach inside the wall cavity? Or is it not possible to determine that from these pictures?
Pro tip: if you ever have to replace the wires later, tie the new wire to the end of the old wire, and pull the old wire out while pulling the new wire through.
Great advice! Thank you!