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TIL fishing glow rods through a packed 2x4 firestop is way easier if you lube them with dish soap first
Had a rough one last Tuesday running a new drop in an old house over on Fremont, the kind where the previous owner stuffed every top plate with spray foam and insulation. I spent almost 40 minutes trying to push my glow rods down through a firestop block and kept getting hung up or losing the tip in the mess. My lead, Marcus, walked over, grabbed my bottle of Dawn from the truck, and squirted a thin line down the first 3 feet of the rod. Thing slid through in maybe 20 seconds flat, no joke. I was mad I never thought of it sooner, but he said he's been doing it for 12 years and swears by it on any tight cavity. The soap rinses off fine and doesn't seem to mess with the jacket or leave anything sticky behind. Now I keep a little travel bottle in my pouch next to the tape. Any of you got a go to trick for stubborn firestop or packed top plates besides soap, or is this pretty much the standard move?
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henry_knight5d ago
Been using soap for years on packed top plates, but I switched to a bar of plain ivory rubbed on the rod instead of liquid. The liquid runs and gets everywhere, the bar just coats the first couple feet and stays put. Worked on a 1920s bungalow last month where the plate was full of old blown-in and a mouse nest, slid right past all of it. Only thing I'd watch is the soap can make the rod slick enough to lose your grip if you're not paying attention. Keep a bar in the bag now, costs nothing and lasts forever.
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