Should I drill multiple holes in a load bearing walls top plate, or go through the ceiling drywall when running cat6?

[Rusty Shackleford]

Is it a bad idea to drill holes in a load bearing walls top plate? Anything code related I should be worried about (TX)?

I already drilled one hole but I'm running 40+ cat6 so if I gi through the top plate there are going to have to be quite a few holes

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Not sure about tx. In MN I’ve drilled through the top plates many times, but only for a few inches worth of random cables. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to do a few in one cavity and a few in the next one over. I doubt you’d have any problems in any case.

 

[Alex2507]

I doubt you’d have any problems

But you're not a sparky and you're not in TX and I'd bet you're not familiar with building codes as they pertain to load bearing walls. It's a trick question. I think you better get a lawyer.

Note: I guessed all that about you. How'd I do?

 

[TLS Guy]

Not sure about tx. In MN I’ve drilled through the top plates many times, but only for a few inches worth of random cables. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to do a few in one cavity and a few in the next one over. I doubt you’d have any problems in any case.

Well you should not have. You have violated Minnesota building fire codes. All interior and exterior top plates must be fore blocked. You can not drill top plates and even holes drilled in the studs of load bearing interior and exterior walls are tightly regulated. You should not be drilling top plates of load bearing walls.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

But you're not a sparky and you're not in TX and I'd bet you're not familiar with building codes as they pertain to load bearing walls. It's a trick question. I think you better get a lawyer.

Note: I guessed all that about you. How'd I do?

Well, as my comedic doppelgänger, great!
Indeed, I am not a certified electrician, OR located in TX. However, I have flipped half a dozen homes, and built this one. My long time great friend IS a certified sparkomatic and I did learn much from him over the years. My SIL happens to be a lawyer too. I’d say you did great! In an ironic and coincidental sort of way. Lol

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Well you should not have. You have violated Minnesota building fire codes. All interior and exterior top plates must be fore blocked. You can not drill top plates and even holes drilled in the studs of load bearing interior and exterior walls are tightly regulated. You should not be drilling top plates of load bearing walls.

Well good points mark. Now that I’m thinking of it, the top plates I went through were definitely interior, but not load bearing.

 

[Alex2507]

My long time great friend IS a certified sparkomatic and I did learn much from him over the years.

What do you call 100 electricians in a room with 100 lesbians?

200 people that don't do d!ck.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

What do you call 100 electricians in a room with 100 lesbians?

200 people that don't do d!ck.

Lmao! Truth.

 

[Darenwh]

Why would you need to run 40+ cat 6 in a residential building? Seems like it would be easier to just run fiber or cat 6 up to a switch in the attic then run the Cat 6 cables to individual rooms or run a single cat 6 up to a switch then a single wire to each room and where needed a small switch in each room to provide multiple connections if needed for each room. This way you could avoid having to drill so many holes in any single top plate. Even then I would get a local professional to at least come in and give you a quick how to and possibly to do the work if it's not too expensive. For that extensive of a wiring job the amount of work involved combined with legal issues with local codes may make it worth the cost...

 

[highfigh]

Is it a bad idea to drill holes in a load bearing walls top plate? Anything code related I should be worried about (TX)?

I already drilled one hole but I'm running 40+ cat6 so if I gi through the top plate there are going to have to be quite a few holes

For fire blocking, it would be OK to install conduit and use a junction box at each end- if the wall hasn't been covered, this is easy enough and if it has, you can use flexible conduit, but only if it meets fire rating. Some states follow the NEC strictly, some don't. Apparently, Missouri has some areas that don't really care how people do this kind of work. Do a google search for 'fire stop' and you'll find lots of methods.

Inspectors are OK with using fire stopping caulk but if the fire is going to pass through such small and crowded holes, the place has bigger problems, IMO.

 

[Mikado463]

What do you call 100 electricians in a room with 100 lesbians?

200 people that don't do d!ck.

yeah, but all it takes is one gay electrician ...............

 

[BMXTRIX]

If the beam is not load bearing, then you can drill away typically. You really should ask on a local builders site rather than an AV forum, but in the installations that I've done about the only thing I avoid is load bearing beams. Since the load bearing beams often are under joists, or have a bit of a gap around them, this is not typically a serious issue. I know, in my basement, I will actually be building soffits in certain areas just so I can have cabling withing them and to get around beams and to provide retro access.

I have a good 100 or so cables run throughout my home. So, there are plenty of reasons why people may want them. Audio/Video distribution over point-to-point category cabling is one of those reasons. I bring network to my TV, control for my TV, and video to my TV - those are 3 separate cables to just one television. Oh, and my Wii sensor bar is using a control cable as well, which is (you guessed it) cat-5. Then the fireplace uses one, the small rack has half a dozen components in it along with network. I have TVs on other floors which have similar video and control run to them. All the shades are getting power over category cabling to them. All my keypads (a dozen or so) are connected via category cabling.... My doorbell. My door locks. Control for my projector lift. Control for the screen.

Then I have spare cabling run for future use.

40 seems like nothing IMO, and while I don't have a great answer, I do know that is the load bearing beam which is the real no-no. But, I would be asking on local building sites if at all possible and even reach out to a local electrician directly if you can. Or even a building inspector.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Well good points mark. Now that I’m thinking of it, the top plates I went through were definitely interior, but not load bearing.

The loads on a load bearing wall goes into the studs, not the top plate. Joists are supposed to be on top of a stud.

 

[mtrycrafts]

If the beam is not load bearing, then you can drill away typically. You really should ask on a local builders site rather than an AV forum, but in the installations that I've done about the only thing I avoid is load bearing beams. ...

Yes, beams are different. He didn't indicate drilling vertically down through a beam though. And drilling a beam through the center horizontally will affect the beam the least structurally.

 

[Alex2507]

yeah, but all it takes is one gay electrician ...............

This had me in tears ... well done.