[Tom Foolery]

In my garage there is a heating duct that is wrapped in a paintable surface. I have what appears to be a dry wallers made hanging box for wires over another part of the garage. In the box the cable and Cat5 wires among other things are most likely in there. When the place was built do the dry wallers see a bundle of wires and decide to build what looks like an overhead luggage bin 737. It's 2ft x 10 thick and probably 12ft long. Underneath is drywall but it's spaced 2.5ft apart where rivets or screws are in the drywall. None of it lines up with the studs in the garage ceiling.



I am trying to locate a Cat5 line running to my laundry room. I converted everything from RJ11 to RJ45 and every room has gigabit connections but the laundry room that is stuck at 100mbps because only 6 of the 8 wires are connected. Once I locate the termination point I can straighten out the connection and have all 8 wires connected through a coupler and patch cable.



I used a tone meter to track all the Cat5 and it all leads into this overhead box that appears more like a heating duct. There are no heat registers anywhere near this overhead box.



I have gone all out. I bought a 1080p borescope camera with a large display. I plan to drill a 3/8 pilot hole and use my borescope as a periscope. My fear is not knowing why they dry wall installers created this overhang. My thinking is that is probably where all the phone and cable wires terminated. This is before they had network closets.



I should point out that my place was wired for speakers in 6 rooms with 12 speakers and volume controls. Above this is a home run for my inwall speakers.



I work slowly and had mentors in the past who told me not be afraid to make mistakes. I plan ahead and have yet to make any catastrophic that would require calling in experts.



So my question. When a home is constructed. Do the dry wall installers create bulkheads to accommodate or go around wires etc or home runs for electronics? There is no access panel or labels indicating what it is or what is inside.

 

[Nealtw]

Some heat ducts or plumping can not go thru joists so the go under them and framers build boxes around them. Thar will get insulated and drywalled. The cable you are looking for likely took a much shorter route. Any holes you put on the garage ceiling must be patched

 

[Tom Foolery]

I just patched my last hole in the garage ceiling an hour ago. The garage is insulated with thick insulation in the ceiling. I have cut two holes in the ceiling looking for the connection point with the exterior phone Cat5 wires. Both exploration holes were toned out and measured. Both go directly into the bulkhead box.



I am going to take a 3/8 bit and send in the borescope to see what is inside.



My last exploratory cutout showed the Cat5 going through the support beam as well as the cable connection. Both On the other side the Cat5 that goes out to the phone box also came out from the other side of the bulkhead.



In my laundry room there is a big heating duct. It's drywalled on the outside but hallow so you can hear the metal flexing and echoing. Maybe the heat vents for the living room run through this bulkhead similar to your example picture. The problem. The beam is probably a 1ft thick laminate beam. I cannot understand why there would be a heat duct in there. The furnace and AC are in the laundry room as well.



There are a set of stairs in between the garage and the laundry room. The heating ducts are on the other side of the garage and visible going from the laundry room directly into the garage.

 

[Tom Foolery]

I confirmed my original suspicion which was that the bulkhead was the living room heat vents. I also confirmed my Cat5 that runs outside to the phone box runs through the bulkhead. I used a 1/2 bit to carefully drill through the drywall. I sent in the borescope camera and found both the Cat5 and the heating ducts.



I use fiber tape and joint compound to patch drywall or in this case. A 1/2 inch drill bit hole.



I error on the side of caution and safety. If something appears too difficult or requires a level of expertise beyond my abilities. I give up on the project.



My next project is using a 6ft flexible drill bit and fish sticks to run a new Cat6 line down to the basement through the studs and in the drywall. I have to take some time off to get over this failed project.



I have 100mbps in the laundry room but I was after the full gigabit connection. My other option is MOCA 2 which would require a flexible to drill through one stud.