Give me pro tips for running wires under my house

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
#1

While I’m planning out the kitchen I sure would like to get rid of the security camera wire I’ve clipped to the baseboards running through the house! So I was thinking maybe tomorrow when I have the afternoon off would be a great time to do that.

I’m assuming you just, you know, drill a hole in the floor in each room, go under the house, haul the wire from hole A to hole B, etc. (I can’t go through the walls - plaster.) There’s already a hole in the floor in the living room where the cable for the Internet comes in.

So do I, like, caulk around the wire or something? Should I attach it to the floor joists as I go? Is there something about this project I don’t yet grasp? Any reason I shouldn’t do it?

Also, I’ll be doing it myself, as I’d like to do it on a nice warm day when the sun’s out and my boyfriend will be on a shoot. Any advice on that?

#2

If this will be a permanent relocation of the wire, I’d use electrical wire staples to attach the wire to the bottom of the floor joists and pull it taut because you don’t want it hanging down from the joists where it could be damaged by future workman crawling around. Caulking the holes would be a good idea to keep out insects and air infiltration. I’d apply the caulk at the hole from the crawl space because you won’t have to worry about cosmetic appearance.

#3

Since this is a crawlspace, I’d encase the wire in conduit or PVC pipe just to make sure any critters that crawl under there can’t chew the wires. Other than that, secure the wire/conduit/pipe to the joists and caulk the holes from the underside, as Dereknocue67 said.

#4

Any tips on that “where the fuck is that hole I drilled from the top?” problem? I remember as a child many long days of my dad on the cordless phone wriggling around under the house. “BANG ON THE FLOOR HONEY!” (Luckily, my crawlspace is like the Hilton of crawlspaces - the lot slopes, so under the back of the house you can actually stand up. Of course, I’ve got to run the cord from the front.)

#5

Coat hanger with a ribbon/fabric strip. Maybe even stick a flashlight over the top of the hole as well.

#6

Why would plaster stop you from going through the walls? Granted, it’s a much bigger pain to fish wires through a wall, but it’ll look nicer.

What voltage are the cameras? Do the wires carry power or just signal?

If you can plug the cameras into wall sockets, I’d just look for Wifi enabled cameras. If the voltage is just 12V, I’d just use insulated staples to tack them to the joists and wouldn’t worry about encasing them in any conduit. If the voltage is higher, code may require that you bridge any gaps between joists that the wires may cross.

If you want to really complicate the job, you can remove the baseboards before you drill the holes so that the holes don’t end up being in the visible section of the floor (you’ll have to run the wires behind or through the baseboard). Depends on the kind of floor you have – if it’s hardwood, I might go this route.

#7

They carry power also. I already have the whole system, so I’m not going to run out and get something else. I’m okay with drilling a hole in the harwood floor, as it will be right next to the one they drilled in the floor for the cable (and in fact I’m going to see if it’s possible to enlarge that hole. In other words, the damage has been done (and it’s behind the TV anyway.)

ETA - it’s 12v.

#8

You might want to scout out each section before you drill to make sure that you don’t drill down into a joist. Then you’d have a hole going nowhere in your floor. Also scout for any exposed electrical wires or plumbing that you might accidentally drill into. It’s pretty unlikely that you’d hit anything in between a joist, but you never know what’s down there until you look.

#9

find where a holes might go in the house, take measurements from landmarks (walls, pipe, other wires) then go underneath and see if it is also good locations from below. when you find a spot then drill a small hole, stick a coat hanger through and go below and see if it truly is a good location.

try placing the other holes as close to the baseboard as you can so to not have it be an obstruction and have it subject to damage.

wire staples into the sides of the floor joists for runs along them and on the bottom of the floor joists for going across them.