Found a weird trick for fishing wire through a packed ceiling that actually worked

I was working on a rewire in a 1920s house in Cincinnati last Tuesday, and the old plaster ceiling was full of blown-in insulation. My fish tape kept getting stuck no matter what I tried. Out of pure frustration, I grabbed a shop vac from my truck and taped a plastic grocery bag over the hose to make a big balloon. I poked a hole for my fish tape, turned the vac on blow, and the bag inflated up in the cavity, pushing the insulation out of the way just enough to slide the tape through clean. It took about 15 minutes to rig up but saved me hours of fighting. Have any of you ever tried something that silly that ended up working out?

2 comments

2 Comments

mia59216d ago

Remember using a string and a vacuum like gray117 mentioned. I had a tight spot where I taped a small magnet to my fish tape and used another magnet on the outside to guide it through. It felt ridiculous but got the job done when nothing else would.

gray11716d ago

Honestly, that sounds like a great way to get a plastic bag stuck in a wall cavity. I've had way better luck just using a vacuum to suck a pull string through. Tape a piece of string to a plastic bag, suck it through with the hose, and you're done. No risk of leaving trash in the wall.