# Routing 12/2 sideways through header?



## harborremodel (Oct 29, 2017)

I installed a sliding glass door and need to re-route a circuit. The problem is the header above the door is a thick solid header that runs the width of the wall. If i drilled through the header the wire would come out in an almost inaccessible area of the attic. I was thinking of using my router to route a path through the header sideways, then running a long "nail plate" along the whole path to keep the wire protected. Anyone know if this is a code issue? Have a better suggestion?


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## nealtw (Oct 29, 2017)

Go into the attic and if you can't get up there, cut two holes in the ceiling so you can help it along from below.


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## JoeD (Oct 29, 2017)

Can you go down instead of up?
Electrically your plan is fine. however I don't know if it would fly structurally. The header could be compromised.

I have never seen a header made of stacked 2x4s like that. Usually it is a double 2x8 or 2x10 on edge.


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## bud16415 (Oct 29, 2017)

I would do what you have planned. Only question I have is what is between the ceiling and the fourth plate of the stacked header behind the drywall. 

The filler plate above the door is taking no load and might have been a logical place to run the wire but now likely has screws and such plus you would have to drill thru the studs. 

I would drill up in the bays with the insulation and then drill in at the second plate up. Then cut your slot for the wire down the length of the second plate and cap it with a steel strip. 

I think that will be to code and will also be structurally ok.


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## Snoonyb (Oct 29, 2017)

The header is a glulam, so structurally it's either up or down, not across.


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## bud16415 (Oct 29, 2017)

Snoonyb said:


> The header is a glulam, so structurally it's either up or down, not across.



In that case unless the second story has some massive loading over that wall I wouldnt be overly concerned in a shallow slot for the wire. 

Im assuming the original door was wider and there are a bunch of studs on each side of the drywall cut and the 4 new studs are lessening the span.


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## Snoonyb (Oct 29, 2017)

The other concern would be the placement of any metal strap, because if they are not lapped any nail or screw can penetrate a butt joint.


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## bud16415 (Oct 29, 2017)

I would just go to the local sheet metal shop and have them shear a strip the full length. Most have scrap laying around. To shear something from. If a joint is required it could be lapped or butted with a small piece under the butt if I was worried about that. The slot for the wire could be milled and then a shallow wider slot for the wire protector strip. Drill and countersink some holes for screws and the whole thing will be flush for the drywall. 

Having a router and nailing a strip up temporarily as a guide will make the mill work a snap.


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## Snoonyb (Oct 29, 2017)

If you have a piece sheared, make sure it's 16ga, the same as dottie nail plates, and keep track of your time, to see how much you actually saved, with all the additional machining.


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## nealtw (Oct 29, 2017)

Build a chase, call it a box to run the width of the room 4" x 10 " run the wire in that and drywall it.


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## Snoonyb (Oct 29, 2017)

Call it a valance and hang draperies from it.


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## afjes_2016 (Oct 30, 2017)

The picture is kind of hard for me to see with "these old man eyes". But I think I see a romex on both sides of the door indicating there was a receptacle where the new door is now installed.

I think the most obvious method would be to go down (if a basement) to a jbox, then from that jbox over to the other side of the door; bring the other romex down to that jbox and you have completed your circuit.

But again all predicated on if there is access from below. We won't know until OP returns to verify this fact.


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## slownsteady (Oct 30, 2017)

If you are thinking of adding crown moldings, that would be a way to hide the wire as it crosses above the door.


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## bud16415 (Oct 30, 2017)

Snoonyb said:


> If you have a piece sheared, make sure it's 16ga, the same as dottie nail plates, and keep track of your time, to see how much you actually saved, with all the additional machining.



Thats the beauty of DIY the labor is free. If you dont view your time at home with DIY as free then what is the going rate? View it as therapy and then each hour you putter around with a project is 100 bucks in the bank I didnt spend on a shrink. Thats what I do.


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## harborremodel (Nov 1, 2017)

So as it turns out the header was 2x4 stack laminated 16" high. I ended up boring though it up into the attic and back down the other side of the header. I wired up a switched porch light and an additional outlet on the other side of the door. Now that i'm re-thinking it i should have just run 12/3 instead of a separate 12/2 from the switch to the light.


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## harborremodel (Jan 28, 2018)

I ended up just boring a hole through this thing and running the circuit up into the attic and over the door and back through the header on the other side. This thing was nearly 18" thick!


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