Found an old trick for fishing line through finished walls that actually saved me 2 hours yesterday

I was on a job in an old house in Burnaby where the walls were all lathe and plaster, nothing was working. Idk why I remembered this but my old timer trainer used to tape a washer to the end of his glow rod to help guide it past insulation. I tried it with a 1/2 inch steel washer and a bit of electrical tape, and the line snaked right through that cavity on the first try. Has anyone else got a weird hack like that that actually works?

2 comments

2 Comments

lucas_johnson1d ago

...and here I was thinking glow rods were just for poking yourself in the eye accidentally. That washer trick is actually genius though, I bet half the guys out there are still just shoving fish tape around hoping for the best. I've definitely tried the old "tape a magnet to the end" method once and it just got stuck to the first nail it found, so I guess the washer is a lot smoother. Still, anything that beats fishing through old plaster is a win in my book, that stuff is basically concrete mixed with sadness.

anthony42619h ago

Nah the magnet trick works if you use a neodymium one.