Serious question, what's your go-to trick for fishing cable through a finished ceiling?

I was working on a job in a 1950s house in Bellingham last week, attic access was a nightmare with blown-in insulation everywhere. Instead of my usual fiberglass rod, I grabbed a cheap plastic glow rod from the truck, taped a small magnet to the end, and dropped a steel nut on a string from the hole below. The magnet grabbed it first try, saved me at least an hour of fighting that mess. Anyone have a better method for those tight spots with zero visibility?

2 comments

2 Comments

aaron_flores847d ago

Remember my buddy telling me about a job in an old Seattle craftsman. He tried the magnet trick and it just stuck to a rusty heating duct right away. He ended up cutting a tiny extra hole near his first one to see what was going on. He poked a coat hander through that new hole to push the magnet free, then just fed his rod across by hand. Said it was a whole thing.

elliotb577d ago

Honestly, that magnet trick sounds like it could get stuck on every piece of ductwork or pipe up there. What do you do when the ceiling is full of old metal lathe? I've had way better luck just using a vacuum with a plastic bag over the hose to suck a pull string through from the other side. It's a lot less fuss when you're blind in a messy attic.