this post was submitted on 13 Jun 2023
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Hey all! Looking to run to CAT5e in my house and preparing for what I need to do. My biggest hurdle right now is trying to see if I have a fire block and the best way to go about drilling a hole in it. With the amount of runs i'm doing to this spot I doubt I can use preexisting holes.

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[–] tarjeezy 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Do you have a stud finder? You might be able to use it to scan vertically for fire blocks. I watched a video along time ago where they drilled through fire blocks using something similar to this:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-3-8-in-x-72-in-Flex-Auger-Bit-53717/203871767

[–] Number1 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

That is one hell of a bit lol
I do not - was tapping the wall trying to find it but I could not tell if there was one or not, might have to buy a stud finder

[–] corroded 2 points 2 years ago

I bought my house about 1.5 years ago, and one of the first orders of business was running CAT5e (with a bit of CAT6 for the 10G runs). I have a finished attic and a finished basement, which made it incredibly hard to fish cables through the walls. Ultimately, I just ended up buying outdoor-rated cable and routing it all externally along my siding. No issues so far. Prior to this, I lived in a rental and had the same setup. The outdoor cable lasted for 6 years with zero issues.

Running it in the walls is certainly cleaner; just figured I'd offer an alternative.