Electrical Advice – Moving a Cable with a Steel Beam and Stairs in the Way

electricalstructuralwire

I live in a tri-level home. I am on the bottom floor and trying to run a cable from the wall up into the ceiling of the lower floor to put lights into this room. The way that it is currently done is not okay. Looking at my picture, the cable comes up and then it runs horizontally into the open space in the steel I-beam. It then hits a junction box (guessing the cable was too short) and then further down it runs up into the ceiling basically on the face of the stud. The drywall on the wall was notched to allow clearance for the cable. I know that is no okay, which is why I am trying to move it.

The beam runs the whole length of the wall, so I cannot just go further down to go up into the ceiling. And it is my understanding that I cannot drill a hole through the top flange of the beam.

So I think my only option (and not even sure if it is an option) is to go through the wood that is to the left and above the beam. Instead of the cable that is circled in red going through that stud, I need it to go up and come out above the wall where I have the purple circle. Not sure what is okay to drill through since there is so much going on here.

In short, how do I get a cable from red circle to purple circle without compromising the structure of the floor above or the stairs?

enter image description here

Edit to add picture where existing cable goes into ceiling on the surface of the studs.

enter image description here

Best Answer

I'd be looking at a larger re-run to address the illegal junction box. You might be able to avoid this hurdle altogether. Aside from that, I'd do this:

  1. Open up a little more drywall so you can get your drill and a drill bit in each of those openings.
  2. Drill from below at about a 10 degree angle to the right, and to a depth of about 3" into the triple beam above. Roughly center the hole in the wall depth and keep it centered on that plane.
  3. Drill from right to left through the triple beam, 2 inches up, intersecting the earlier hole. Angle slightly downward to ease the bend where the bores intersect.

I'd use a 3/4" or 7/8" bit. That should be forgiving enough yet not be absurdly large in terms of framing damage. It's important that you align the holes carefully. Then pull a light wire or string through as a fish line. Feed the cable gently though the bend to avoid sharp kinks.

Related Topic