On Thursday, 25 February 2021 at 00:47:43 UTC, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Chris Green wrote:
S wrote:


The other possibilities are to drill straight through the wall - you
haven't said what's the other side. A cupboard would be good!

No, it's the landing.

If its the landing, then you have a loft above the landing ceiling?

Then do what I did, go into loft, drill an access hole in the top wall
plate, get a drill extnder bar, (I used 5 x 300 mm extender bars to give
me 1.5 m long bar and put the wood bit at the end of that.

Feed that through the hole you've just drilled and then drill the second
hoel in teh noggin/dwang.....

Simples :-)

Hmmm! It's a long way down from the ceiling, like 6ft or so. And
it's close under the eaves too.
Of course it is. ;-) Only option is to cut a hole in the wall, then.

--
*Why isn't 11 pronounced onety one? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Chris have you decided how you are going to proceed? There has been quite a lot of talk of dropping the cable from above how easy that will be depends on a number of factors and the equipment you have to hand, metres of flat bit extensions and an endoscope seem a bit OTT if you do not have them already and are not likely to use them again. Coming from above avoids the stud but potentially means getting through noggins. A bit of judicious tapping on the wall should find any. Chances are that if the switch is at the standard 1.5m height then there may be no noggin to pass through unless you have very high walls most likely there will only be one noggin at approx mid point which should be below switch level. In some new builds where 15mm+ thick PB is used you may find no noggins at all as in my daughters house.

Your next consideration should be how much access you have at the light fitting and the switch. If the intention is not to fit a back box behind the fitting just have a hole for the cable then I suggest you mount your fitting on the next available stud drilling a cable hole beside it. From the loft I would drill the top plate along side the stud and likewise any noggins you may encounter using flat bits and extensions (should not need many as any noggins should not be far down). Drop a plumb line down, proximity to the stud should stop it wandering about enabling you to fish it out your hole. Alternatively if you have fibre glass rods use them. At the switch end temporarily removing the back box is the easiest thing, I did a similar thing at my daughters mind you I had rods to help me out. You can get an attachment for rods like a key ring that is secured round an existing cable and as the rod is pushed in it follows the route of the existing cable but relies on the cable not being clipped anywhere, again a plumb line may be all that is needed.

I still feel taking out a piece of PB across the offending stud is the simpler option avoiding crawling round the loft and particular if your access is limited by the angle of the eaves. As you have said earlier making the hole on the landing side may mean easier paint matching.

Good luck
Richard