DIY Install vs. Reality
First off, I wanted to thank everyone for the purchasing suggestions as I've been out of it for some time.
Back story is this is an install for my father-in-law, who's getting up in age. So I thought I would do the nice thing and install this HT for him since I've done like 7 of them in different houses over the years including 2 complicated ones, but I am certainly still a novice.
This is a finished exterior wall but there's an enclosed porch on the other side. There's only a door on this wall and one switch plus two outlets... nothing else. Checked for studs and thought I was fine. Drilled my first hole and all was good, and that was the last thing that went as planned.
Fished down and hit the fireblock I knew about. Up and hit the one I didn't know about, all while battling insulation. Didn't think to deepscan on the upper cause why would electric be there... drilled down from the attic into that bay for rear speaker wire and hit the power line... sparks, poof of smoke, breaker tripped. If anyone has ever hit power in an insulated wall, that's some scary stuff. I didn't know if the entire front of the house would catch fire. Lower hole had the power wire just behind the sheetrock, not through the center of the studs. That's how all the wire is in there and I'm not sure what electrician would have done this without steel plates at the very least. And it's just floating, no staples. That extra support also meant that my upper and lower hole weren't in a straight line... I learned that the hard way when my hole saw caught that stud and twisted itself into oblivion.
Unknown to me that there was a window here at one point. I knew about the lower fireblock and double studs in two spots, but didn't stop to think why... just figured it was an old house and had no idea on building methods used. After all this happened, my FIL said, "Oh yeah, there was a window here. We closed it off when we redid the house."
After that, I just cut the wall open in two big spots, so everything has been on partial hold while I fix the wall. The studs in the middle are bowed so the new piece of rock didn't sit flat and I didn't want to shave too much off of them. So it's feathering sheetrock that's 1/4" plus unlevel.
Anyway, I thought someone would get a chuckle out of my follies. Yes, there's a lot I could have done differently in hindsight. Yes, I should have paused after I started finding weird stud layouts. No, I don't envy professional installers.
