A tutorial on running wires through the wall

[phantompwr]

I looked through the memories, forgive me if someone has posted something like this before.
A quick disclaimer. I'm not responsible if you hurt yourself, get a shock, violate building codes, or burn your house down because you read this and decided you could cut holes in your walls with reckless abandon.
So... running wire through the walls:

I figured first I would go over the tools you should have when attempting to cut holes in the wall and run wires through them.
The very basic tools you should have are a tape measure, level, screwdriver, and drywall saw. I can't stress enough that you should get one like in the picture. I got one of those saw handles that can accept a sawzall blade and I was not very happy with it. The drywall saw should be about $15-20 and the key is the sharp point on the end, which allows you to stab it right through the sheet rock without too much force.
Besides these tools, you might want to get a stud finder, but since they aren't always reliable and I didn't want to scare everyone away with a laundry list of tools they would need, I don't consider it essential. A couple of shortcuts that you can use, and you might want to consider even if you do use a stud finder: If the hole you are cutting is near an outlet, you can measure from the outlet to get a good idea of where the next stud is going to be.
Standard stud spacing is 16" on center, which means there is about 15" of free space between the studs. Outlets are usually mounted to the side of a stud, so the stud should be on one or the other side of the outlet. If you want to know exactly which side the stud is on you can stick something hard but thin into the gap between the outlets electrical box and the edge of the drywall. If you hit the nails that hold it to the stud you know which side it is on. If this makes you nervous, you can (and probably should) shut off the breaker for that outlet. You can also knock on the wall to listen for changes in timbre that might indicate whether there is an open space behind or a stud.
All this information is also good for mounting a TV as well, of course when mounting a TV you want to know exactly where that studs are so you can mount the bracket to them, but in this case we want to know where the studs aren't.
Lets move on to cutting the holes and getting the wire in there. I'll start with vertical runs on the same floor, because they are the easiest. You might want to do this to run wire up to a surround speaker mounted on or in the wall, or from your components up to the TV. Either way, the studs go up and down, so between them is (mostly) free space.
Before you start cutting into the wall, you should do everything you can to guesstimate what might be in there. You don't want to cut into an electrical line or a pipe. This is one reason I would never recommend using a power saw to cut the holes. A good sheetrock saw will cut your wallboard very easily, but more importantly, you will be able to feel if you have hit something inside the wall.
If you have access below and/or above the wall you plan to cut into, see if any faucets, outlets or switches are in line with it. Try to avoid cutting into a wall that has the potential to be filled with electrical or plumbing. That said, don't freak out if there might be something in there, you should be able to feel if you have hit something. Electrical wires usually run up the side of the stud, and if they cross the space, they will be loose enough that cutting them with a hand saw by accident would be extremely difficult. If you do hit a pipe you will definitely know it, and as long as it isn't PVC you'd really have to be trying to cut into it.
Anyway, aesthetically it would be best if you are cutting a hole down low by your components to keep it at the same height as nearby outlets. Just use your tape measure to find the height of the center of the outlet, and go from there. Once you have your center point, you need to draw out a square the right size for an LV-1




This is also known as a Low-voltage single-gang old work box. Low voltage means it doesn't need a closed back like outlet boxes do, single gang means it is for one plate, you can get LV-2 and 3 and 4. Old work means it is for installing in a finished wall, rather than one that hasn't had the sheetrock put on yet. Notice the little blue wings, as you screw it in, they flip up and pinch against the back of the drywall to hold the box in place. Then you can screw in all sorts of different plates to it. In order for the box to stay put in the wall, you have to cut the hole just big enough for it to fit but not too big or it will fall in. You should buy the box and use it as a model when you cut the hole. If you look at the picture of the hole I made you will notice that I actually made a mistake and cut it for a different kind of box, because I didn't buy the boxes first. Fortunately it was close enough so it will stay in place.

Here is an example of a hole that I cut. Despite the way it looks from the distortion of my camera lens, it is lined up with that outlet. The hole is usually just big enough to find your hand into, which is useful when you need to grab the wire. If you are running wire to a wall mount speaker, the hole at the speaker will need to be small, so you will have to run it from the top down.
Speaking of which, unless you are running your wire a short distance from top to bottom and/or there isn't any insulation in the wall, you are going to need something to get your wire from hole A to hole B. Here is what I use:

They are called glow rods and basically this is exactly what they are made for. If you aren't running wires through walls all the time though, you might not want to shell out $100 or so for a set of these. There is also "fish tape" which is a length of stiff metal wire. You can come up with your own wire snakes though, anything that is stiff but somewhat flexible will do the job. Anyway, get that running from one hole to the next, then tape the wire onto one end and pull it through!
Once you have your wire in place, its time to install the plate.

Here's a picture of a typical wallplate and some common inserts that can be snapped into the holes. From left to right are RCA insert, for audio/video, F-type for coax cable, and black and red binding posts for speaker connection. I realized I forgot the most common ones though, for phone and ethernet! Using most of those requires some specialized tools so I won't go into them much. Your easiest route that will still give you a pretty clean look and allow you to run HDMI/proprietary/power cables, is a bulk plate.

Here I am, installing one into the LV-1 in the hole that I cut earlier. I want to note here that running the power cord for your TV through the wall is a violation of your building code. The power cord is not rated for in wall installation, and if it should catch on fire, your insurance might not cover it and such and such. At work we have the electrician put an outlet in the wall at TV height, and if you can do that it is the right way.
If you have looked at my HT gallery, you may see that I have not done this. That is because I was lazy and (at the time) did not have the tools or materials for running high voltage wire. I do this at my own risk and if anything goes wrong I will probably feel the way a one legged man might if he found himself entered in an ass-kicking contest. I'm not too worried though, just suffice it to say I can't officially recommend that you do this.
Anyway, I am going to stop here for now. If anyone has any questions or anything to add to this please feel free, and I can update it with new information. I was going to talk about running wires horizontally across a wall, and up into the ceiling or through the floor, but I am burned out, so I might add those separately later. Here is a picture of the hole, with bulk plate and decora cover: