Most of the contractors I know would give an astronomical quote and pray that someone else gets the job.

If you are in a condo with units above and below, there is a very good chance all your wiring is either in conduit or is MC cable. You also may not be allowed to do your own wiring. Better check with your association or local authorities first.

"Most of the contractors I know would give an astronomical quote and pray that someone else gets the job."

Yeah, but I'm going to do it...

"If you are in a condo with units above and below, there is a very good chance all your wiring is either in conduit or is MC cable. You also may not be allowed to do your own wiring. Better check with your association or local authorities first."

It's all romex and I will have a contractor pull the permit. I am on the board and have associational permission.

As for the topic of this thread... Any help?

Ceiling joist cavities and a lot of drywall work.
You also need to find out what rules the condo has for wiring in the common walls.
They may require all work in common walls to be done by licensed electricians.

Depending on the age of the condo they often have a mix of upgrades and original wiring.
Around Northern Virginia you see a lot of MC used in newer condo work since everyone got used to it with the building height restrictions on NM.

No one uses EMT unless forced to, or if the lines would be exposed in commercial work.

So the way I mentioned in the first post is basically it? Cutout holes in the drywall and notch the studs? Then notch the top plates to get it into the ceiling?

Thanks for the help.

Bump

You should drill through the middle of the stud, not notch it.
And if you have big baseboards you could create the wall damage behind the baseboard, run the wire along the bottom of the wall and then when you place the baseboards back, they would cover the drywall damage.

"You should drill through the middle of the stud, not notch it."

That would require a lot more work patching the holes.
Which way do most EC's normally do it?

you MUST drill teh studs, not notch them. building codes require tha tyou remove no more than 1/3 teh width of the frame member and that it be teh MIDDLE 1/3. if you cut a notch in the outer edge, you weaken the member a lot more than if you drill an equal sized hole in the middle.

what i would do is run IN the joist cavity to teh lights where possible. then you only have to patch where the wall and ceiling meet. for runs across joist direction, run it under the baseboard.

"you MUST drill teh studs, not notch them. building codes require tha tyou remove no more than 1/3 teh width of the frame member and that it be teh MIDDLE 1/3. if you cut a notch in the outer edge, you weaken the member a lot more than if you drill an equal sized hole in the middle."

I thought that was only true in new work? Do you know where these building codes are listed that won't let you notch a stud in old work?

Thanks!

You don't want to compromise the structural integrity. The force of gravity doesn't care if you are building a new building or renovating an old one. If you weaken the walls too much, gravity will pull it down no matter what the age is.

An 18 inch auger drill bit allows you to drill in the middle of a stud despite an angled entry from the rest of the drywall.

A 3 inch strip of drywall is enough to run receptacles around a room.
For vertical work you can cut about 6 inches below the wall ceiling joint, drill through the top plat, and then fish from the opening ion the ceiling.
Worst can you open the ceiling 5 inches from the wall and work from there.

Inside corners take more time to repair than flat work, so avoid damaging them.

Cut out for one of your lights first and use that hole to see what type of framing was used. I would give it better than a 50% chance it is open trusses which means you can get into the ceiling and run your wires to almost any location.