Plumbing through a Wall Advice

[truetricia]

Good morning R2R

I've got a 120g tank I'm building, and the sump will be in an adjoining room. I'm looking for any advice that you have on cutting through drywall for your pipes, tools you used, things you wish you knew before you did, etc.

Thank you!

 

[ca1ore]

The most important thing is to be mindful of what might be behind the Sheetrock. Whenever I’ve cut through a wall, there always seems to be a pipe or electric wire in exactly the place I’m trying to run my aquarium pipe. I also like to frame out the opening so that it’s easier to manipulate the pipes and you maintain any fire retardant properties of your wall.

 

[GooseCommander]

Are you wanting to use a single hole or individual holes for each pass through? If you want to use a single hole, you can "frame" it in and match any molding you have around it so it doesn't look out of place.

Use a multitool (like https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-1...ulti-Tool-Attachment-Tool-Only-P340/202868525this) to help cut a straight line and you can stop as soon as you are through the drywall to avoid hitting any wires behind it.

Using this, you could also pass wiring through the same hole if you have a electrical board in the same room as the sump.

 

[Beefyreefy]

Wrap the pipes in insulation to help keep them from touching any part of the wall. If the pipes are touching the wall any vibration from your return pump will amplify through the wall. While running my system through a wall, my first leak test had my wall buzzing so intensely, I could hear my pump in my master bathroom, 2 stories above the sump! I fiddled with my return pump to isolate and minimize vibration while a little insulation kept it from making contact with the walls. Super quiet now that it’s done right!

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

If you're like most hobbyist, this tank will not be a permanent structure, I would try to make the hole as little as possible with the proper size hole saw, that way when the tank comes down, the repairs are minimal. I designed my entire build with this in mind. when our house is too big for us and we are ready to downsize everything can go back to normal with very little effort.

As already pointed out, you don't want to hit a stud, pipe or electrical when drilling, there are plenty of stud finders that can detect all of the above so that when you're ready to make your cut, you can be confident you're going to avoid the hassle.