u/southrncadillac

Sometimes I drill down from the attic, then drill up from the crawlspace to retrieve my pull string. Helps me avoid unnecessary drywall cuts. I had to do this because there was romex where I wanted to drill and I didn’t want to risk damaging the romex. So I went into the crawlspace and drilled up and used the inspection camera hook attachment to grab my string that was attached to my rod. I also didn’t want to cut an access hole on the 1st floor since I was using a wall that had a dining room on one side and a staircase on the opposite. 2 drops, 2nd floor to Router on 1st floor. $1600. 4hours

I’m tired of using 90 degree adapters and I don’t want the multi-head (magnetic 90degree is not it for drilling holes with auger bits in a wall cavity). I know I’m probably an edge use case but I need this tool updated dewalt!

I use it for drill shots where I need both of my hands and still need to see the view of my camera, before I would be to far from my phone, or my phone would get buried in insulation, or I wouldn’t be able to hold my drill correctly and would rely on a helper to hold my phone.

They need to make this asap. I bet their labs are already working on it. Take my money UNIFI

Fished from 2nd floor attic down to 1st floor ceiling cavity, used 4 drill bit extensions. The goal was to run 2 Ethernet drops from a loft and bedroom on the 2nd floor down to the pantry on the 1st floor where the low voltage cabinet and router reside. This was to hardwire 2 mesh nodes for hardwired backhaul. I’m cutting less drywall, hardest part was navigating the attic with a 12ft bit, but someone has to do it. I rather put it together in the ac, than try to build it in the attic heat. Job was successful- used my Apple vision to find the perfect drill shot that would connect me from the attic to the 1st floor. Wall I was fishing was a closet on one side and a hallway- completely empty except for some existing coax and Ethernet took the exact same route. $1400 8hours.

Electricians added an outlet for my clients rack in his closet. I hate his lack of cleanliness in a finished home. First off he separated the seem of this baseboard along the entire wall to do the “insulation holder drilled into the floor to mark bottom plate in the crawlspace trick”. Then he left it in the wall! And he left drywall dust everywhere, and the electrical outlet has dirty smudges on it and smudges on the wall above it. I add 4 drops and mounted a rack, after he left and I just can’t understand why he left the closet like this and thought it was ok. Some of these tradesmen hate clients, and it’s shows in their disrespect to the customers home. I know I get jokes for using my Apple vision, but before that I used a measuring tape. This may be a hack of an electrician or handy man, but I’ve seen soo many people say they use this same trick to identify walls in the crawlspace, but here’s a perfect example of how it can go wrong- exhibit A : you leave the makeshift bit in the wall, or your damage the entire baseboard creating a permanent gap that only caulk and paint can fix. The customer was also upset they cut and patch 15 holes in his ceiling for lights. If I took pictures you can see they cut a lot of holes and didn’t even need them, looks like a bunch of mistakes and cutting without first using a stud finder. Smh, retrofitting is an art, but some ppl turn it into a job they hate. I see the demand for a true retrofit guide…ebook coming soon, I’m on module 5 of 7.

Added Standalone Access Point for Client. Very happy moment when customer was very confused on how the wire was ran from the modem in the finished basement to the porch outside. There route is very complicated but it only took one access hole in the garage wall that connected me to the crawlspace under the porch. So here’s the route I explained to the client:

1. From basement modem to attic via an interior wall in the kitchen (12ft drill bit used)

2. From attic down garage wall (fished down to the bottom, then cut out an access hole and drilled at an angle back into the crawlspace under the porch outside.

3. Drilled down through the porch near a column and fished the cable up behind the drain spout and routed to final destination.

4. Mounted access point mount, tested cable, and mounted AP.

5. Done, cleaned and caulked all holes. Left a pull string for future drips back to the modem in the basement.

These pictures represent how I routed a 2nd floor Access Point to the 1st floor network closet.

1. I look for interior or exterior walls that stack up and won’t look bad with an access plate (this home has a lot of wallpaper and it’s open floor plan with an addition so my access was very limited. Typical 1910 home. So I defaulted to an exterior wall since.

2. Found stud bays and marked which direction ceiling joists are running. I got unlucky because the joists ran the same direction of the wall I selected but it was literally my only choice. I chose this stud bay because it hides my blank plates/access holes the best- one will be behind a night stand, the other behind a kitchen trash can.

3. Successfully routed a pull string from the attic to the crawlspace. Took drilling through a hanger, I hate drywall hangers because they block my view of the top plate but I’m very familiar with how to determine where a top plate is even when there’s layers of wood on top. If I had messed up I would have came through the ceiling or worse through the hardy board siding outside.

4. I return to run cable after I get my pull strings in place. Next drill shot is drilling up from the crawlspace for the rack location in an office on the first floor. I will have to drill up from the crawlspace to hit the bay directly in the middle and not use an access plate. Total run count is 4 CAT6a drops (family room tv, 1st floor ap, 2nd floor ap, and Poe doorbell). $3200. Customer will provide all equipment, I’m just running wire and mounting his rack, APs, and doorbell.

I’ll post the video of the crawlspace drill shots later, I had to drill up from the crawl for the 1st floor AP route. This video will be a movie once I’m done. 1910 homes have soo many curve balls. Have a gd weekend

Added 12 drops to a townhome - 1st floor tv, 1st floor AP, 2nd floor bedrooms, 2nd floor office, 2nd floor AP, fiber to relocate modem, and mounted rack for client- he will rack and stack his own equipment later. $5700 4 days- hardest drop was fireplace tv- had to use 12ft bit to drill from attic to tv, couldn’t cut sheetrock if I wanted because it was a bathroom above the tv with cabinets blocking the wall I needed. Previous company client hired used raceway, drilled through the ceiling, and placed the jack on the easiest wall. They said the rest of the job was impossible 😆