Stuck thermostat wire

last year

Hello, I’m trying to move my thermostat down a few inches to install bead-board and the wire is completely stuck, not budging. In addition, the wires were threaded through a piece of wood with a hole drilled in the middle. I’m assuming to make it easier to screw in? The wood could be what it’s stuck on if the wire is just having trouble moving at that angle but it feels like it’s stapled to something or was cut to this exact length. I don’t know. You guys tell me.

My questions are:

Any issue with me taking the wire out of the wood?
What could it be stuck on? Is there something that’s standard practice?
What can I do?

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Comments (4)

rwiegand
last year
The piece of wood is probably blocking to give you something to screw the thermostat to. The wires probably don't move because they've been stapled down.

You'll step up from the rookie renovator ranks with less pain if you develop drywall patcing skills early-- make a big enough hole to see what's going on and how to remedy it. It's not hard. I can't believe how much time I wasted early on trying to avoid 20 minutes of drywall repair by fishing wires and piple through impossibly small openings. The trick is to cut back neatly and then give yourself a way to support the patch, A piece of scrap wood that bridges the hole is perfect if there is no stud.
dan1888
last year
When you cut the drywal square or circle for access do it on a 45-degree angle . You can use the piece removed as your main patch.
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wdccruise
last year
"the wires were threaded through a piece of wood with a hole drilled in the middle"

The thermostat wires are likely inside a cable like this. It may be that the cable and the wires are cut short (mine are) or that the cable is restrained in some way (e.g., attached to the piece of wood) so that it cannot be pulled out of the wall.

You are going to have to cut the drywall to access the cable to move it BUT remember that you may not be able to move it downward if, for example, it hangs from above and is cut short. Remember also, that thermostats have a recommended height of 52-60 inches from the floor. Do you really need to move the thermostat to install bead board?
mike_home
last year
Hopefully you have documented which wire was connected to each terminal on the thermostat. You cannot rely on the color of the wire.

For repairing small holes in dry wall, the California patch method is the easiest way to do it in my opinion. Below is a link showing the technique.

California patch method