Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Running wire for outdoor speakers?

I live in a bungalow that was built in 1970 and want to put some outdoor speakers outside on my deck and probably mount them just under the overhanging roof.

Anybody run cable on a house similar to this? Am I best to drill in the soffit and run cables up into the attic and then fish down an inside wall??

Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks.

That will probably work.

You need to take a hard look at what may be the easiest way to run the cable AND have the cable hidden.

I just finished installing some outdoor speakers and had to borrow a drill bit that was 24" long to get through the brick and cinder block. I was really worried about drilling those holes, but I used a hammer-drill and the bit went through like the brick and blocks were butter.

If you have attic crawl space, you are off to a good start. Down to basements is nice too, depending on what you have.

If you have to run them horizontally outside, take them vertical to the roof line or straight down to where the siding meets the foundation. There is often space underneath here to hide it for the whole horizontal run. Don't go right to ground level though and if you must go low to get into a basement, cover the wire with some light tubing to prevent whipper snippers from eating them.

Whatever you do, don't run them horizontally in the middle of a wall or run them on diagonal angles. That just looks awful. I'm sure I didn't need to mention it but you'd be surprised at how much work like that goes on.

Finally, be very careful with your measurements. Drilling into an electrical outlet can be less than pleasant. By industry standards, you should be wearing insulated gloves but these are not something normal people have. If you can find a beam, drilling through it is safer, makes for easier fishing and doesn't mess up your insulation, although this is a contested practice.

Although it seem easier to get the hole in the right place by drilling from the inside to the out, you should probably drill from the outside wall, inwards. Why? Because most types of sidings like to crack when the drill bit starts pushing out on them. Being gentle only seems to make bigger cracks. Drywall tends not to have this issue on the inside. Again, measure carefully. Use windows for reference or whatever makes sense.

Finally, when you go pick up that 24" drill bit, get one with that has a little hole in the tip. This is used to help fish the wire back through the wall. Speaker wire is (should be, better be) too heavy a gauge to fit through this hole but if it is stranded, you can pull some strands back and trim it to fit through the hole to anchor it to the drill bit. The hole is a bit of the ways up so poke lots through then wind the wire up and down within the grooves to keep it thin. Add a bit of black tape to smooth it out and it now seamlessly gets fished back through the hole you just made. Even if the drill bit get pulled out prematurely, (no jokes here please,) it is way easier to prod with a solid drill bit to find the second hole than it is with a fish. Just pushing the wire through can be near impossible when insulation settles back into place.

That's all I can think of for now. Most of it's pretty simple stuff but everybody has a first time for cutting holes through their trusty house so hopefully there was something useful.