Drill Top Plate Attic

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.

Drill top plate attic.

If you will need to fish wiring through a wall drill a hole through the wood plate in the attic only. I ve been reading the irc 2015 and the wording for drilling into top plates isn t clear. 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. 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. And use semi rigid wiring fish tape to pull your wiring down to your outlet location. And i think you can drill larger holes as long as the joists beams resting on the top plate are directly above the studs. Just don t drop the drill.

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. The framing has been done but i m going to be doing the wiring myself. Alternatively i think the only option you have is to cut out the sheetrock near the ceiling and do the hole. 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.

The other holes in the lid ceiling to aid in fishing the wire and also to see where the wires are in the attic above the top plate to make sure you don t hit one. If that is the case the top plate is not really supporting any load it is only acting as a horizontal tie and nailer. I did this recently to run ethernet cable in an exterior wall. 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.

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. It would help to have a right angle drill and i m surprised you can t rent one. Cutting drywall and drilling from below may be the only option if you have to access the attic there. Now that you know the duct will work drill a hole through the double top plate into the attic.