I want to install a thermostat and need to install it in my wall, and
drop the cable down through the gap (which may have insulation) and
down through a hole in the basement ceiling. Any tips here? I was
planning to cut out a section of the wall maybe 6" x x18" tall at the
bottom of the wall so I can get a drill in and can grab the cable from
inside.

Thanks,

Dean

"dean" wrote in message
oups.com...
I want to install a thermostat and need to install it in my wall,
and
drop the cable down through the gap (which may have insulation) and
down through a hole in the basement ceiling. Any tips here? I was
planning to cut out a section of the wall maybe 6" x x18" tall at
the
bottom of the wall so I can get a drill in and can grab the cable
from
inside.

Thanks,

Dean


Drill a hole from the basement into the wall cavity
Drill a hole where the thermostat is going to be mounted
Tie a small nut to a piece of string and drop it in the hole. Feed the
string in until the nut hits the bottom
Straighten a coathanger, attach a 6 inch piece of ball chain to the
end
Stick the end of the hanger into the ceiling hole and spin it until
the chain snags the string
Pull the string through the hole

Or if you feel lucky, use a tape made for fishing data cable and see
if you can snag the string from the ceiling up

Rick - thanks for the reply. The problem is that I tried everything to
make sure I measured the basement distances correctly to install a TV
cable, and ended up drillin up through the living room floor instead of
between the wall surfaces. Admittedly it was close.

You see, the path downstairs to the basement is way away from this area
and makes it difficult to measure and predict where the wall is.

if you have baseboard molding, you can remove a section of it on the
wall where you want to run the wire, drill a diagonal hole down and
inward through the base of the wall that will be covered by the
baseboard molding. Use that as your point of reference (you might want
to stick a piece of coathanger through your freshly drilled hole to
make it easier to spot from below). You'll then need to drill straight
upward from that vicinity and you should then hit the wall cavity. If
it's an exterior wall, chances are that it has insulation in it which
will make your job much harder. A wire fishing tape might be helpful
here if you can borrow one - push it up into the wall from below (a
helper above makes this much easier) and try to get the end of it to
come up through the hole in the wall where you want the thermostat to
go. Attach the wire to it and pull it back down. Sounds easy, but it
usually isn't. It'll come down to whether you want to fight with this
or patch drywall, and there's no right answer for it in my opinion.

"dean" wrote in message
ups.com...
Rick - thanks for the reply. The problem is that I tried everything
to
make sure I measured the basement distances correctly to install a
TV
cable, and ended up drillin up through the living room floor instead
of
between the wall surfaces. Admittedly it was close.

You see, the path downstairs to the basement is way away from this
area
and makes it difficult to measure and predict where the wall is.


Any plunbing or heat registers to use as a reference will help, in
addition to what Louie said...

Ok thanks all - those are some great tips, I'll take another look in
the basement tonight.

Cheers!

Dean

On 28 Nov 2005 12:30:48 -0800, "dean" wrote:

Rick - thanks for the reply. The problem is that I tried everything to
make sure I measured the basement distances correctly to install a TV
cable, and ended up drillin up through the living room floor instead of
between the wall surfaces. Admittedly it was close.

You see, the path downstairs to the basement is way away from this area
and makes it difficult to measure and predict where the wall is.

Well, now you have this vertical hole to measure from, right in the
general vicinity....

Yes indeed - its a great idea. I can probably drill with a 1/8" bit and
poke a coat hanger down there, even without a baseboard (which I don't
have).

You mention insulation as a possibility -- is it an exterior wall?
It's generally best to put a thermostat on an interior wall, where it
will reflect prevailing temperatures in the room.
-- H

louie wrote:

if you have baseboard molding, you can remove a section of it on the
wall where you want to run the wire, drill a diagonal hole down and
inward through the base of the wall that will be covered by the
baseboard molding. Use that as your point of reference (you might want
to stick a piece of coathanger through your freshly drilled hole to
make it easier to spot from below). You'll then need to drill straight
upward from that vicinity and you should then hit the wall cavity. If
it's an exterior wall, chances are that it has insulation in it which
will make your job much harder. A wire fishing tape might be helpful
here if you can borrow one - push it up into the wall from below (a
helper above makes this much easier) and try to get the end of it to
come up through the hole in the wall where you want the thermostat to
go. Attach the wire to it and pull it back down. Sounds easy, but it
usually isn't. It'll come down to whether you want to fight with this
or patch drywall, and there's no right answer for it in my opinion.


In my opinion and we all know about them. Give it a few tries and when your
totally frustrated, take out windows of drywall. Then again I'm an expert
at patching drywall so this would be easy for me.

Rich
--
"you can lead them to LINUX
but you can't make them THINK"

"dean" wrote in message
ups.com...
Rick - thanks for the reply. The problem is that I tried everything to
make sure I measured the basement distances correctly to install a TV
cable, and ended up drillin up through the living room floor instead of
between the wall surfaces. Admittedly it was close.

You see, the path downstairs to the basement is way away from this area
and makes it difficult to measure and predict where the wall is.


You can get long flexable drill bits where you can insert it at the hole in
the wall and drill down to the basement. You may be able to attach a small
string to the drill bit when you pull it back.

Dean - You can also use window sash chain instead of string to pull with.
or, take about a 12" piece of sash chain and attach it to a string. Once the
string is fished you use that to pull the wire. if you get enough sash chain
you can just use that to pull the wire. Others had good advice on drilling
the hole in the right spot and also take not about not wanting to put
thermostat on an outside wall. Good luck.
"dean" wrote in message
oups.com...
I want to install a thermostat and need to install it in my wall, and
drop the cable down through the gap (which may have insulation) and
down through a hole in the basement ceiling. Any tips here? I was
planning to cut out a section of the wall maybe 6" x x18" tall at the
bottom of the wall so I can get a drill in and can grab the cable from
inside.

Thanks,

Dean

Its on an inside wall, I'm just not sure whether its insulated for
sound or not. The basement ceiling is insulated anyway.

Dean

On Mon, 28 Nov 2005 23:49:13 GMT, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:


"dean" wrote in message
oups.com...
Rick - thanks for the reply. The problem is that I tried everything to
make sure I measured the basement distances correctly to install a TV
cable, and ended up drillin up through the living room floor instead of
between the wall surfaces. Admittedly it was close.

You see, the path downstairs to the basement is way away from this area
and makes it difficult to measure and predict where the wall is.


You can get long flexable drill bits where you can insert it at the hole in

Good idea. They have various lengths, and even if the oP doesn't
need 6fett, it may be worth buying 6 foot for the nextr time. IIRC
the extra length doesn't cost much.

All I have seen have holes in the bit end and the other end for
pulling things through afterwords.

the wall and drill down to the basement. You may be able to attach a small
string to the drill bit when you pull it back.



Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.

"mm" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 28 Nov 2005 23:49:13 GMT, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:


"dean" wrote in message
oups.com...
Rick - thanks for the reply. The problem is that I tried
everything to
make sure I measured the basement distances correctly to install
a TV
cable, and ended up drillin up through the living room floor
instead of
between the wall surfaces. Admittedly it was close.

You see, the path downstairs to the basement is way away from
this area
and makes it difficult to measure and predict where the wall is.


You can get long flexable drill bits where you can insert it at the
hole in

Good idea. They have various lengths, and even if the oP doesn't
need 6fett, it may be worth buying 6 foot for the nextr time. IIRC
the extra length doesn't cost much.


Except he's not going to be able to use one unless he makes a hole in
the wall big enough for an outlet box instead of just a thermostat
wire....



All I have seen have holes in the bit end and the other end for
pulling things through afterwords.

the wall and drill down to the basement. You may be able to
attach a small
string to the drill bit when you pull it back.



Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.

"Rick" wrote in message
ink.net...

"mm" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 28 Nov 2005 23:49:13 GMT, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:


"dean" wrote in message
oups.com...
Rick - thanks for the reply. The problem is that I tried
everything to
make sure I measured the basement distances correctly to
install
a TV
cable, and ended up drillin up through the living room floor
instead of
between the wall surfaces. Admittedly it was close.

You see, the path downstairs to the basement is way away from
this area
and makes it difficult to measure and predict where the wall
is.


You can get long flexable drill bits where you can insert it at
the
hole in

Good idea. They have various lengths, and even if the oP doesn't
need 6fett, it may be worth buying 6 foot for the nextr time.
IIRC
the extra length doesn't cost much.


Except he's not going to be able to use one unless he makes a hole
in
the wall big enough for an outlet box instead of just a thermostat
wire....


But if he can't get it any other way he could use a small one near the
bottom of the wall and drill through the wall and plate. That way he
only has a small hole to fill, not a section of drywall to patch
in....

On Tue, 29 Nov 2005 14:28:19 GMT, "Rick" wrote:

"mm" wrote in message
On Mon, 28 Nov 2005 23:49:13 GMT, "Ralph Mowery"
"dean" wrote in message
Rick - thanks for the reply. The problem is that I tried
everything to
make sure I measured the basement distances correctly to install
a TV
cable, and ended up drillin up through the living room floor
instead of
between the wall surfaces. Admittedly it was close.

You see, the path downstairs to the basement is way away from
this area
and makes it difficult to measure and predict where the wall is.


You can get long flexable drill bits where you can insert it at the
hole in

Good idea. They have various lengths, and even if the oP doesn't
need 6fett, it may be worth buying 6 foot for the nextr time. IIRC
the extra length doesn't cost much.


Except he's not going to be able to use one unless he makes a hole in
the wall big enough for an outlet box instead of just a thermostat
wire....

I don't think that's needed. The hole need only be big enough for the
drill bit. (1/2" or so) One can point the hole down (when headed
into the wall) and that helps a bit too

One can snake the bit into the hole first and attach the electric
drill after that.


Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.

"Rick" wrote in message
ink.net...

"mm" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 28 Nov 2005 23:49:13 GMT, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:


"dean" wrote in message
oups.com...
Rick - thanks for the reply. The problem is that I tried
everything to
make sure I measured the basement distances correctly to install
a TV
cable, and ended up drillin up through the living room floor
instead of
between the wall surfaces. Admittedly it was close.

You see, the path downstairs to the basement is way away from
this area
and makes it difficult to measure and predict where the wall is.


You can get long flexable drill bits where you can insert it at the
hole in

Good idea. They have various lengths, and even if the oP doesn't
need 6fett, it may be worth buying 6 foot for the nextr time. IIRC
the extra length doesn't cost much.


Except he's not going to be able to use one unless he makes a hole in
the wall big enough for an outlet box instead of just a thermostat
wire....


Ummm...well, we do it one of two ways...
Either a flex Greenlee bit, or a tape pull....the only disadvantage to the
Greenlee bit is that if he hasnt practiced with the flex handle tool, he can
come out at the floor at his feet, but they only require a small hole.
Use them for adding a thermostat in existing homes where the rock is already
on the wall..



All I have seen have holes in the bit end and the other end for
pulling things through afterwords.

the wall and drill down to the basement. You may be able to
attach a small
string to the drill bit when you pull it back.



Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.

"CBHVAC" wrote in message
...

"Rick" wrote in message
ink.net...

"mm" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 28 Nov 2005 23:49:13 GMT, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:


"dean" wrote in message
oups.com...
Rick - thanks for the reply. The problem is that I tried
everything to
make sure I measured the basement distances correctly to
install
a TV
cable, and ended up drillin up through the living room floor
instead of
between the wall surfaces. Admittedly it was close.

You see, the path downstairs to the basement is way away from
this area
and makes it difficult to measure and predict where the wall
is.


You can get long flexable drill bits where you can insert it at
the
hole in

Good idea. They have various lengths, and even if the oP
doesn't
need 6fett, it may be worth buying 6 foot for the nextr time.
IIRC
the extra length doesn't cost much.


Except he's not going to be able to use one unless he makes a hole
in
the wall big enough for an outlet box instead of just a thermostat
wire....


Ummm...well, we do it one of two ways...
Either a flex Greenlee bit, or a tape pull....the only disadvantage
to the
Greenlee bit is that if he hasnt practiced with the flex handle
tool, he can
come out at the floor at his feet, but they only require a small
hole.
Use them for adding a thermostat in existing homes where the rock is
already
on the wall..


Yeah, OK, I can see that. I just tried it with a 4 footer by drilling
a steeper hole in the drywall...

On 28 Nov 2005 12:30:48 -0800, "dean" wrote:

Rick - thanks for the reply. The problem is that I tried everything to
make sure I measured the basement distances correctly to install a TV
cable, and ended up drillin up through the living room floor instead of
between the wall surfaces. Admittedly it was close.

You see, the path downstairs to the basement is way away from this area
and makes it difficult to measure and predict where the wall is.

Dean

Carefully take off the baseboard on that wall. Cut a small hole in
the plaster behind the baseboard (which will be covered up when you
reinstall the baseboard). UNDER the baseboard (where it meets the
floor), drill a small hole with a 1/4" (or so) bit. Stick something
in that hole which you will see in the basement (coathanger, piece of
wire, whatever). Go in the basement and drill another hole about 2
inches toward the wall. Shove your wire up in that hole. Go upstairs
and pull the wire out your wall hole behind the baseboard. Drill your
hole in the upper wall where thermostat goes. Make it 3/4" or 1".
Take string, tie a heavy steel nut or other weight, and drop it down
the wall. Catch it on the bottom, tie it to the wire and pull it out
the top hole.

Install thermostat.

Spackle hole behind baseboard, or fill with "great stuff" foam.
Replace baseboard.

Job done (the easy way).

If you are installing this thermostat on an exterior wall, which I
assume if there is insulation, fill the wire hole behind the
thermostat with spray foam, or your thermostat will get cold air from
inside the wall and will not heat correctly. Personally, I dont think
thermostats should be placed on exterior walls, but it's up to you.
I'd select an interior wall, and find one with a short piece of
baseboard if you can.

Mark