I want to pass some conduit up into the attic space over the room for speaker and network cable.
Drill top plate attic.
I ve been reading the irc 2015 and the wording for drilling into top plates isn t clear.
I did this recently to run ethernet cable in an exterior wall.
And i think you can drill larger holes as long as the joists beams resting on the top plate are directly above the studs.
Cutting drywall and drilling from below may be the only option if you have to access the attic there.
If that is the case the top plate is not really supporting any load it is only acting as a horizontal tie and nailer.
Alternatively i think the only option you have is to cut out the sheetrock near the ceiling and do the hole.
And use semi rigid wiring fish tape to pull your wiring down to your outlet location.
If you will need to fish wiring through a wall drill a hole through the wood plate in the attic only.
R602 6 1 drilling and notching of top plate when piping or ductwork is placed in or partly in an exterior wall or interior or load bearing wall necessitating cutting drilling or notch ing of the top plate by more than 50 percent of its width a galvanized metal tie of not less than 0 054 inches thick.
Just don t drop the drill.
The framing has been done but i m going to be doing the wiring myself.
One hole hole on the wall above the sub panel to get access to the top plate see where the wires are and get your wire fished into the top or back of the panel depending how its mounted.
An alternative is to drop all the way through the wall cavity from another top plate in the attic and into the basement or crawlspace then run over to the wall you want to end up in.
I prefer to stick the drill into the vent and drill up into the attic instead of drilling down from the attic.
However this would require one to drill one hole through the top plate in order to get the wire from the desired receptacle location into the attic.
If you drill carefully at an angle you may be able to make it through the top plate and into the wall space without penetrating the outside wall.
I ve got a 2nd story home theater room under construction.
If one wants to add a new receptacle on the second floor in a finished room with no receptacles the easiest method appears to be doing the wiring in the attic.
Before drilling go into the attic and find the top plate 2x4 that is right above the vent and make sure there are no wires running directly above it that might get cut by the drill.
You can drill multiple holes in the same section just space them apart by about 1 or so.
