DIY Project, wiring in walls: What is this?

[Humpy]

Rather than carry scraps outside and pay to have them hauled away the low bidders just bury them in the walls.

 

[destrekor]

Think so? That's shitty of them lol

 

[destrekor]

It appears it is likely exactly that. From what I can gather the extra material is not in most walls, and as it was shifting while I was cutting, it's not nailed down. Which makes more sense, because the studs are normal size and the main drywall sheets are nailed directly into them. There's no room for all that extra material unless it's only sitting between studs where it can fit.

Any way, I'll be buying a scope tomorrow, but for now I used what I could as a mirror (new flatware! spoon was quite shiny lol), and there appears to be maybe 3 power wires about a foot above, roughly. I tried using fish sticks and fish tape, but couldn't get anything to show up in the hole I cut. I had my dad there helping me and with me moving it around in the attic, he never saw it moving near the hole. It seemed like it went down far enough, and I just remeasured and I feel positive I drilled just about right above where the hole is, maybe an inch or two to the one direction.

So I'll need a scope to see if there's a way around if I can get some fish tool around it. That's still crossing the power wires at 90º but that's better than running alongside them in parallel.
If I can't find an easy way around, I'm just going to say screw it and drill through the ceiling and make a raceway run out of it instead of in-wall. Do it in the same spot so I can mount a gangbox in front of where I'd need to patch my drywall hole. We'll see.

I definitely could have had someone do this for me for cheaper at this point, and that's before I spend anything on a scope/inspection camera. Oh well, I still want the satisfaction of doing this myself, and it's definitely gotten me more familiar with the construction of my new home. And I'll be using some of these new tools for other projects in due time so it shouldn't be a loss in the end.