Debate: that nasty 45 degree bend behind a fireplace insert

Ngl, I spent 2 hours trying to fish a coax through a tight crawlspace that should have taken 20 minutes. Ended up drilling a new hole and patching the drywall. Anyone else just cut their losses or do you keep fighting the old path?

4 comments

4 Comments

patricia_hill603d ago

Oh man, I feel this so much! I had a similar nightmare last year with a 45 degree bend behind my fireplace insert and I swear I spent an entire afternoon cussing at it. That bend was just impossible to snake anything through, the cable kept catching on the lip and I had to crawl back out covered in soot like a chimney sweep from the old days. I finally gave up and ran a new line through a soffit above the fireplace instead, patched the old hole with spackle and called it a win. Sometimes you just gotta admit the old path is a lost cause, you know?

kim_mason552d ago

Exactly, running a new line through a different path is almost always the better move. That 45 degree bend is a trap because it looks like it should work but the reality is the pipe is usually way too tight for any real cable or coax to make it without snagging. Once you spend an hour fighting it and end up with soot all over your forearms, you pretty much know it's time to walk away and patch the old hole. Spackle and a new route is way faster than trying to be a hero with that stupid bend, right?

kai8393d ago

Right, because nothing says cozy fireplace vibes like explaining to your spouse why you look like you wrestled a soot monster and STILL lost. Just another friendly reminder that the house was built by people who never had to fix anything.

laura_wilson3d ago

Oh man, you are not wrong at all. A buddy of mine bought a house from the 70s and discovered the previous owner had just... sealed a cracked flue tile with duct tape and called it good. He spent an entire Saturday on the roof trying to get a cleanout door open that was painted shut. Ended up covered in creosote and honestly looked like he'd been in a chimney fight and lost. He just texted me a photo of his black handprints all over the white bathroom sink and said "this is fine.