A simple trick for fishing wire through a tight attic space

I was working on a remodel in an old Portland house and the existing wire was stuck tight. Instead of fighting it, I taped a small magnet to a string and used a steel fish tape to pull it through from the other side. Has anyone else found a good way to handle those stubborn old runs?

2 comments

2 Comments

oscarwilliams1d ago

Actually, that magnet trick is clever but I've seen it fail if the existing wire is aluminum or if there's too much insulation in the way. For old cloth-wrapped stuff, I've had better luck just taping a new wire directly to the old one and pulling it through as a guide. The old wire is usually brittle, so you have to be really gentle with the tape job.

tyler8221d ago

My old house had that exact cloth wiring, and the tape method saved me a huge headache last year. I used a ton of electrical tape and made the connection super smooth so it wouldn't catch on anything inside the wall. You're right about being gentle, I snapped the old guide wire twice before I got the tape job just right. It's a slow process but way more reliable than fishing with magnets when you're dealing with that ancient stuff.