Just figured out a neat trick for fishing wire through a finished wall

I was doing a kitchen remodel in a 1950s house here in Cincinnati last week, and the homeowner wanted a new outlet on a plaster wall. The stud bay was packed with old insulation and cross braces, and my fish tape kept getting stuck. After about an hour of fighting it, I remembered an old tip I heard once but never tried. I taped a small, strong magnet to the end of my fish tape and used another magnet on the outside of the wall to guide it. I moved the outside magnet along the path I wanted the tape to go, and it actually pulled the tip right through the mess. Got it on the second try. Has anyone else used magnets for tricky fishing jobs, or do you have a different go-to method for plaster walls?

2 comments

2 Comments

nathanburns6h ago

Oh that's clever! I read a forum post once where a guy used a magnetic parts retriever, the kind on a telescoping rod, to pull wire up through a finished wall from a basement. He said the magnet was strong enough to grab the steel fish tape through the drywall and just yank it right down.

mitchell.mark4h ago

That "grab the steel fish tape through the drywall" trick is a solid idea... but man, I've seen that go wrong. If the magnet isn't crazy strong or the tape isn't perfectly flat, it just pops off and you're back to square one. @nathanburns, it's one of those things that works great in a forum story but can be a real headache in a dusty basement. I'd still rather cut a small access hole if I can patch it. Just seems more reliable than hoping for a perfect magnetic pull.