Romex routing inside corner

[sammm]

I started to finish the front wall of my garage today so I can get a garage door hung. I plan to add an outlet up near the header (16' that spans the whole front) for a Liftmaster 3800.

How the heck am I going to get romex run from the service panel on the adjacent wall, thru the inside corner (double studs)? I can't go up thru my (2) 2x12x16' header.

See my picture....hopefully it makes sense. Thanks in advance.

 

[mrb]

a little planning before you built would have been good. $2 worth of pvc would have saved alot of trouble.

drill two holes that meet with a spade bit. try to curve the holes toward eachother as much as you can. strip the romex a foot or so, cut off the wires leaving one only. tape the end of the romex creating a cone shape so it doesnt get stuck. Shove the single wire into your hole, fish it out the other side with some needlenose pliers. gently pull the romex through while feeding it. be careful to not tear the jacket up.

 

[nate379]

Why does your header go all the way across the front? Normally it would just go over the door with a double or triple stud on each side.

And for wiring through corner I did what MRB is saying.

 

[sammm]

Why does your header go all the way across the front?

That's how the city inspector wanted it done. I have my garage door offset. One wall (in the pic above) is around 6'. The other side is approx. 1' and considered a 'shear wall'.


Thanks mrb.

 

[ishiboo]

That's how the city inspector wanted it done. I have my garage door offset. One wall (in the pic above) is around 6'. The other side is only 1' and considered a 'shear wall'.


Thanks mrb.

Interesting. I assume there was a nailing schedule associated with the OSB over the header in that location?

 

[expatriated]

I just recently did this in my garage. I drilled holes like mrb said to do. So that the holes meet each other. Fished the romex (fully cased, not stripped) into one side and put a coat hanger bent in the shape of a hook into the other hole to bend the end of the romex so that it pointed at me. Then, long needle nose to grab the end and pull from the exit while pushing in the entrance.

And a lot of patience.

And a lot of bad thoughts toward the previous owner and builder who decided 2 outlets were enough in a 2 1/2 car garage!

 

[electrican]

i have drilled 100's of corners like that, with a hole howg and a 7/8 bit, just drill from both sides in about half way so the holes meet in the middle. be careful that you don't drill to far in or you will drill out side, maby mark the depth on your hole on the bit with some tape, it can be done it just takes practices

 

[electrican]

if you drill the holes right, you just put a bend in the tip of the end of the romex it will go right in, sometimes you need to work it with a screwdriver

 

[MrMark]

I do it EXACTLY like MRB says except use a 7/8 auger. Much easier to strip and grab one prebent wire. The taping into a cone is critical as well.

mrb, about the PVC, were you implying that he could have buried a pvc run and come up through the bottom plate in each cavity. How exactly would you go about terminating that PVC? Or, would you simply leave it just coming up as a stub and push romex through it? Wouldn't that be considered a wet location and require special romex?

More details on your comment would be appreciated.

 

[mrb]

I do it EXACTLY like MRB says except use a 7/8 auger. Much easier to strip and grab one prebent wire. The taping into a cone is critical as well.

mrb, about the PVC, were you implying that he could have buried a pvc run and come up through the bottom plate in each cavity. How exactly would you go about terminating that PVC? Or, would you simply leave it just coming up as a stub and push romex through it? Wouldn't that be considered a wet location and require special romex?

More details on your comment would be appreciated.

either use the pvc as a sleeve for some UF (cant put romex in conduit underground or under a slab on grade) or just pipe that run from the panel to the first receptacle (i would do the latter)

 

[mrb]

I do it EXACTLY like MRB says except use a 7/8 auger. Much easier to strip and grab one prebent wire. The taping into a cone is critical as well.

mrb, about the PVC, were you implying that he could have buried a pvc run and come up through the bottom plate in each cavity. How exactly would you go about terminating that PVC? Or, would you simply leave it just coming up as a stub and push romex through it? Wouldn't that be considered a wet location and require special romex?

More details on your comment would be appreciated.

either use the pvc as a sleeve for some UF (cant put romex in conduit underground or under a slab on grade) or just pipe that run from the panel to the first receptacle (i would do the latter)

i would want to check with engineer to see if its ok to drill 7/8 hole in the stud holding that beam -and/or use the smallest possible drill

 

[MrMark]

good idea on checking, but, I have a feeling that header beam is not supposed to be where it is and that corner is not needed for support and the hole won't matter. Switch to 3/4 bit for safety though. That is weird construction for sure.

I don't understand how you would Pipe it to the first receptacle? You are not saying going on top of the finished wall, are you, as that would be heresy for a good looking garage.

 

[mrb]

I don't understand how you would Pipe it to the first receptacle? You are not saying going on top of the finished wall, are you, as that would be heresy for a good looking garage.

pipe = comes out of the ground inside the wall and into the box for the receptacle.

 

[MrMark]

You wouldn't do that in metal though. At least I wouldn't.

If PVC "pipe" all the way to the box, I'm not sure how that would work. You'd have to get a PVC box that had the glue in female holes, or maybe metal box and glue on male adaptor on the conduit and go into the metal box that way. Is that what you are thinking? Trying to think if I've ever seen that.

 

[mrb]

You wouldn't do that in metal though. At least I wouldn't.

If PVC "pipe" all the way to the box, I'm not sure how that would work. You'd have to get a PVC box that had the glue in female holes, or maybe metal box and glue on male adaptor on the conduit and go into the metal box that way. Is that what you are thinking? Trying to think if I've ever seen that.

pvc to threaded adapter where it comes out of the bottom plate, then emt or flex from there to the box.

 

[oleguy]

next time drill corners before sheer..makes it a lot eaiser.if some one else frames it need to tell them you need to drill corners.

 

[mrb]

next time drill corners before sheer..makes it a lot eaiser.if some one else frames it need to tell them you need to drill corners.

very good suggestion

 

[sammm]

next time drill corners before sheer..makes it a lot eaiser.if some one else frames it need to tell them you need to drill corners.

Would have made it easier for sure. I didn't frame it, but this is the first time I've built something from the ground up. Live and learn.

 

[wssix99]

Drill holes and then use a long set of extra-long needle nose pliers or a hook bent in to a clothes hangar to pull through some nylon pulling line. Attach the romex and then pull it through and around the corner.

 

[Rosco]

I have the same issue. I have a gluelam beam that runs the entire width of the front of my garage. Yes, I could have just put it over the doors, but wanted the additional strength due to bonus room load.

Looks like you have a hip roof over that section of the garage wall, if so good choice on extending the header all the way across.

Drilling the corners as stated works fine, just put up some steel nailers after installing the wire in case you ever install sheetrock/plywood etc.

 

[sammm]

Thanks guys...I was able to drill intersecting holes and run the romex thru the inside corner.

@Rosco - you are correct that it's a hip roof. The entire roof is, no gables at all.

 

[electrican]

i bet it was not to hard!

 

[electrican]

I have the same issue. I have a gluelam beam that runs the entire width of the front of my garage. Yes, I could have just put it over the doors, but wanted the additional strength due to bonus room load.

Looks like you have a hip roof over that section of the garage wall, if so good choice on extending the header all the way across.

Drilling the corners as stated works fine, just put up some steel nailers after installing the wire in case you ever install sheetrock/plywood etc.

i have drilled lots of gluelams, you need to get a manufacture speck sheet on the type of gluelam it will tell you where and what size hole to drill

 

[bww_mnm]

I just had to do the same thing. I did tried bending, etc w/ the romex for 10 minutes. couldn't get it. Did the string w/ vacuum trick (learned here) and then moved to a small wire and finally romex.