TIL my old boss in Cleveland had a trick for fishing wire through finished walls

I was working on a kitchen rewire last week, trying to get a new circuit from the basement panel up to an island outlet. The floor above was all finished, no easy path. I was about to cut a bunch of holes when I remembered this guy I worked for about three years ago. He took a piece of old metal fish tape, bent a tiny hook on the end, and taped a strong magnet to it. Then he'd use a second magnet on the other side of the wall to pull the tape through. He called it his 'wall whisperer'. I tried it with a neodymium magnet I had in my truck and it saved me at least two hours of patching and painting. Has anyone else used a trick like this, or got a better method for tricky finished spaces?

2 comments

2 Comments

matthew_owens915d ago

That magnet trick is a total lifesaver sometimes.

hugo_ellis15d ago

Remember that trick works best with steel studs, not wood. The magnet won't pull through wood or old plaster like it does with drywall over metal. For those jobs, a flexible glow rod is still your best friend.