Wiring under carpeting (1 Viewer)

[Anthony Stephan]

What kind of special tool is needed (if any) to run flat wire under carpeting? Are there any special tricks I should know?

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Anthony,
It all depends on what you are trying to do. Getting across a doorway is pretty easy. Getting across a room is much more difficult.
In either case, you need a long, stiff wire. I have found the best wire for this application is the stuff they use to hang drop-ceilings in offices. The problem is, it can be difficult to come by. I don’t know if you can buy it at the Home Depot and Lowes stores; if they do sell it, I imagine it will be in bulk, not per-wire. Your best bet might be to snag a piece of scrap from a construction site.
When crossing a doorway, you will have to pull up the carpet a little and cut away the tack strip on both sides. You don’t want your speaker wire laying across a tack strip. Attach a pull-string to the ceiling wire, and then push the wire across the doorway. Pull it through, leaving the pull-string in place under the carpet. The pull string will work better pulling the speaker wire than the ceiling wire will. Use something heavy-duty for your pull-string, like electrician’s jet-line or weed-eater line.
If you’re trying to get across the width of a room, you will have to pull the speaker wire both directions from a central location. Thus your ceiling wire has to be about a foot longer that ½ the total distance. Again, you will have to cut out a section of the tack strip at both destinations before you pull the wire.
Cut a slit in the carpet at the half-way point between the distance. Use a box cutter or razor knife, and make the slit a little wider than your flat speaker wire. This time, attach the pull string to the front of the ceiling wire. This is because you will not be able to push the ceiling wire further than the wall at the end. And, it may take a few attempts to get the wire all the way to the wall, that is, in the middle of the section of tack-strip you removed. When you get the ceiling wire through all the way to the wall, remove the pull string, then pull the ceiling wire back out. Now that the pull string is in place, you can pull in your speaker wire. Repeat the sequence going the opposite direction.
By the way, it might help to have a second person to push the speaker wire in as the other pulls the pull string.
If you need more specific detail than this, let us know.
Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
[Edited last by Wayne A. Pflughaupt on July 28, 2001 at 01:38 PM]

 

[Anthony Stephan]

Thank you. Your explanation was very well written.
I'm sure I'll be able to handle that.