On Aug 21, 2:35 pm, Mash wrote:
We have a large family/living room area and I want to put two ceiling
fans in this area. So the fans will be on the same floor about 25 feet
apart or so.

I'm going to add a new circuit for these fans/lights. I'm comfortable
with the electrical wiring part of the job but I'm not actually sure
how to run the wire.

The room in question is on the 1st floor. Above that is the 2nd floor
with our bedrooms, Above the 2nd is an attic.
How do I run the wire through the 1st floor ceiling? Obviously I have
to cut a hole in the ceiling where the lights will be mounted. Do I
also have to cut holes in the ceiling so I could drill a hole in the
joists and run the wire through them?

To complicate things we have a ceiling with a popcorn finish so I
don't know how hard it will be to patch any holes I make. I'd like to
minimize the destruction to my ceilings...my wife would appreciate
that too
Thanks

Patching the popcorn ceiling may be very, very difficult to do well.
Plus, popcorn ceilings are common examples of what's likely to contain
asbestos in your home. Whether they do or they don't, I don't know,
I'm just putting that out there.

There are electrician's tricks like long flexible-shaft bits ... but
dang, 25 feet. That's like 18 joists.

I'm presuming that the joists run crosswise relative to the line
between the fans. IE, you'd need to go through all those joists to get
from one fan to the other. Instead of that, how about running at right
angles to this in the joist cavity, to one of the side walls, from
each fixture. Then down in side the side walls to basement or crawl
space, then over and back up in the walls to the switch. (You were
going to switch these, right?)

To get from the ceiling into the wall won't be trivial but you may be
able to do it without breaking into the popcorn ceiling, and if your
wall is plan drywall or plaster it'll be easier to do a seamless fix.
(If it's wallpaper, well, not so much.) If there's wide old-style
crown moulding (maybe not likely with a popcorn ceiling) the damage
may be hidden behind it. Or maybe you can do the damage in the ceiling
and wall of the next room, which may or may not be easier to repair.
Actually, I was once able to do exactly such work through a hole in
the wall of the room above, which was easy to patch (drywall and tall
baseboard).

The point is, instead of going straight from one fixture to the other
through all the joists, you get to each of them individually inside
the joist cavities, and then join them together at the switch or in a
junction box.

If it was absolutely impossible to get to one of the fixtures like
this, then I would personally consider a nice straight stretch of
wiremold, painted ceiling color, to be less offensive than a bad
popcorn ceiling repair. But that would be your wife's call.

Chip C
Toronto