Enlarging stud holes for sillcock

[runderwo]

When you have an outdoor sillcock that goes through holes in studs behind teh sheetrock, what is the best way to enlarge those stud holes so that the sillcock has room to move in case of settling? Using a jigsaw just makes a mess because there's not enough room between studs to get a square cut. (I'm imagining a 90 degree hole saw, though no such thing seems to exist.)

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

a long wood paddle bit

go find a long paddle wood bit ​

bigger than the present hole and simply
grind through the 2x4 to enlarge the hole


its about the only easy way

Photo added by Terry​

 

[Sponsor]

 

[hj]

hole

right angle drills, not right angle holesaws.

 

[HughJazz]

Are you going through a stud or a rim/band joist or is this inside on it's way to the hole going out. A stud should be oriented so that you'd be drilling through the narrow side and since it's an outdoor sillcock I would assume it's a load bearing stud and you cannot put a water line through the narrow side of a load bearing stud. If for some reason the stud is turned sideways or it's inside on the way to the exterior exit and is still on a load bearing wall you would have to consider notching and boring limitations, if you go to big with the hole it might require a stud shoe. The "proper" tool for drilling in those situations is a 90 angle drill or a 90 angle attachment that you can attach to your drill and use the bit of your choosing.

 

[runderwo]

Geez, I didn't know a 90 degree extension existed. Yeah, they are load bearing studs, and the holes are cut through the face of the stud not the narrow part. I guess I'll have to check how big a hole I'm allowed to make.

 

[CHH]

Do you really want a bigger hole in the stud or in the outer sheathing and siding? It'd be a heck-of-a-lot easier and just use a cover plate to hide the extra hole size...

 

[GrumpyPlumber]

Bithing my thongue....bithing my thongue...the thopic thust beckons me for off-color humor...gonna be gud...bithing my thongue.

 

[runderwo]

Well, the way the house is settling, the outer stud has moved relative to the next outermost one. That caused the sillcock to be "pinched" between the two studs. Same thing happened in the front, which actually damaged the sillcock beyond repair. Knocking out more brick is necessary but insufficient because the pinching is between the two studs... if that makes sense.

Edit: No, it's not exactly what happened in the front, brain not working this morning. In the front it was pinched between the brick and the outermost stud. Here in the back, it's pinched between the two studs. I guess there was either more settling in the back, or the hole in the outermost stud was smaller than in the front.

 

[CHH]

That makes perfect sense runderwo. It sounds like the situation is the sillcock and pipe penetrates a built-up column (made of 2x4s) in an exterior wall where that wall "T's" or "L's" into another wall. An interior wall would make a "T" and an exterior wall would make an "L". Now one or more of the 2x4's has shifted and is causing a problem. Of course, the built-up column shouldn't have shifting members if it was laced together properly but knowing that doesn't really solve the problem.

Depending on the age of the house, it could be done shifting. One solution might be to just run a bit through the current holes to re-establish the original hole diameter, inline, through all studs. If the house isn't done shifting, I don't know what to think about the situation.

 

[runderwo]

If it's not done shifting then I have to get it piered I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that it is in fact done shifting though. That all depends on what I do about the soil drainage and how the weather treats me. I guess it would make sense to just re-establish the original hole all the way through and see how that works out in the end... thanks!