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Running wire from attic to basement

09:29AM | 10/29/02

Member Since: 09/02/02
14 lifetime posts

Running wire from attic to basement

My home was built in 1941. I recently installed a motion sensored security light in the back of my house. I replaced an old flood light using the existing (I assume original) wire. When I flipped the switch I heard a buzz and the light stopped working. After removing the fixture I saw that the wire melted completely in half. I am concerned with the integrity of the wire and want to run a new wire from my attic (which is closest to the fixture) to my breaker box in the basement. I have a 2 story colonial home so I have no idea how I'm going to run it in the walls.

How is this dilema normally approached? I have a chiminey that runs to my basement.

Tom O

11:12AM | 10/29/02

Member Since: 09/17/02
477 lifetime posts

Lets find out if you're lucky.

You should have a plumbing vent stack that goes from the basement all the way up & through the roof.Take a look in the basement & see if the hole in the first floor is real tight. If there is some excess room, crawl into the attic & look down, if the hole in the 2nd floor is sloppy also, you might be able to drop a small chain down the wall all the way to the basement.

Next up, can you say drill bit extensions?

Tom

JonathanGennick

04:34AM | 11/03/02

Member Since: 11/02/02
69 lifetime posts

Do you have a chimney that runs from the basement to the attic? If there's enough clearence on the sides of the chimney, you might be able to fish a cable up that way. I recently tried that in my house, but was stymied somewhere at the second-floor level.

I've also thought about going outside from the basement, and running conduit up the outside of my house to the attic. I haven't done that yet, and I haven't checked to see whether there are any code issues involved. My wife wants me to finish my current project (er, mess) first.

JonathanGennick

06:10AM | 11/03/02

Member Since: 11/02/02
69 lifetime posts

By the way, in my earlier post I never intended to suggest running the wire inside the chimney, rather outside the chimney in the small space between the chimney and the house framing.

HBB

01:26PM | 11/03/02

Member Since: 08/19/02
29 lifetime posts

I'd be concerned about what zapped the wire on the new light.

Was the old flood light working before you replaced it? If it was, maybe you wired the new light incorrectly and it shorted out the minute you flipped the switch.

As for routing the wire, maybe it's just my naturally cautious nature, but I'd have to think long and hard before I started opening up the roof seal on a vent stack just to run a wire from it. Those things are hard enough under normal circumstances to keep from leaking and if I had one that didn't leak I wouldn't even consider tampering with it.

PVC conduit is the way I'd go. Prepaint it the color of the house, run it up to a watertight box and never have to worry about it again.

harold endean

02:50PM | 11/04/02

Member Since: 08/30/02
23 lifetime posts

Do you have a closet on the second floor that is right over top of a closet on the first floor? You might be able to snake from the basement to the top floor through the closets. This way the holes you cut or notch will be more hidden.

topowrldt

02:52AM | 11/05/02

Member Since: 09/02/02
14 lifetime posts

Thanks for all of the suggestions. Vent stack, chimney and closets are all possible solutions. As a matter of fact there is a laundry shoot that runs from an upstairs closet to the basement which offers some promise.

I appreciate the suggestions.

Mark

laurco

02:39PM | 12/11/02

Member Since: 12/10/02
2 lifetime posts

Well, now that the hard facts have hit that I can't wire anything inside my relatively new 2 story home (from basement to second floor), I was glad to see someone suggesting running pvc up the side of the house to blend in. I think that is a good idea.

Are there any code or other issues though to worry about? I was thinking of even running a fake gutter up the side so it looks normal. I assume I can run just about anything up there - speaker wire, cat5, cable, etc.

Thanks for any advice...

doug seibert

05:42AM | 12/13/02

Member Since: 08/10/02
842 lifetime posts

Laurco......You can't mix power and cable/phone/speaker in the same conduit........

laurco

07:18PM | 12/14/02

Member Since: 12/10/02
2 lifetime posts

Doug, thanks...is cat5 considered "power"?

Also, I found a route from basement to attic next to the gas pipe...is it ok to run wire next to it (cable and cat 5)...

Sorry for the novice questions...