R-Tight Panel
PO Box 700
Jeffersonville, VT 05464-0700

phone
(802) 644-2500

fax
(802) 644-2773

email info@rtight.com

How to Wire Through Panels

B. Tricks of the trade: panel offsets.

i. A very good way to wire your timberframe uses plywood spacers to keep panels spaced off your frame. We’ve already mentioned this as a way to insert drywall between your frame and the stress-skins (see Figure 6). You can use the same spacers to create a wire chase between your frame and panels - simply keep your drywall up 1-2" from the subfloor to create the chase. Conceal this behind your baseboard, and you will be able to rewire your home in the future (see Figure 23).

Figure 23. You can use plywood spacers to create a wire chase

ii. Another, less common, alternative is to design your frame to hang over your deck about 1/2". This creates a gap around the base of the deck that you can use to wire through (see Figure 24).

Figure 24. Use a frame overhang for wiring

iii. If we put wiring chases in your panels, you can run wires from outlet box to outlet box through the chases (see Figure 22). An easy way to wire from your first floor outlets and switches down into the basement is to drill out at an angle, then from outside drill down and back into your basement as shown. You can snake wire out and down into your basement. Eventually you’ll fill the hole with expanding foam sealer (see Figure 25).

Figure 25. Here’s how to wire from your chase down to your basement

With either the spacer method shown in Figure 23, or the frame overhang method in Figure 24, it’s easy to drill a hole through the perimeter of the deck, and run a wire through this into your basement (see Figure 26).

Figure 26. It’s easy for you to wire into your basement with spacer or overhang methods

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