Stringing up cables for surrounds

If you get into a really tough spot with the beam in the wall, you have another option if you can't drill through said beam--

Assuming you are using a suitably sized and shaped cable for the run, just take a sharp knife and cut a groove out of the sheetrock, staple the cable into the groove and around the beam, then fill, sand, texture + paint it.

Obviously you need some sheetrock skills and some matching paint...

I must be missing something, because from your description it seems that you could just drill up into the wall from the basement and fish up to the speaker location. Is the beam in the wall between the speaker and the floor? If that's the case, can you cut a retro box into the sheetrock right above the beam and use that as access to drill down through the beam with a bellhanger bit (18" long drillbit with a hole for pulling wire back through) or similar? If you can do that, use the slappy string and weight or buy some ball chain (like the chain on pull cord switches and key rings)-- the ball chain is self-weighted, so if your hole in the beam is small you don't need to add a weight- and you can retrieve it through your hole on the basement side with a little magnet on a stick or coathanger. You could also pull the baseboard off the wall and make a hole behind it into the wall to get the string or whatever you drop, then drill down into the basement from there. That way, there's no blind drilling up, which would be a real mess if you missed the wall.

If you use ball chain, pull a piece of strong string back through with the ball chain, then pull your cable with the string- the ball chain's not strong enough to yank on, it will break.

If you have to blind drill from the basement, take a length of thin solid wire (like coathanger or smaller if you can find it) and cut the tip at an angle with a pair of dykes. Drill down at both sides of the base of the wall with this locator bit- then from the basement you will have a good target to drill the big hole up into the wall. Just fill the tiny hole from the locator bit with nothing (if carpet) or wood putty (if wood floor) or hide the locator bit holes behind the baseboard you pulled.

There's a company called Labor Saving Devices that makes all sorts of cool wire fishing gear, check out their website for products that just might exist to help you out with this problem- they've got some great stuff.

Hmm..
sounds like a heck of a place you got there, but i think i got it figured out.

Well, here is another option, i dont know if this would work for you, but i assume you have some sort of a couch at the viewing position, you could always purchase some speaker stands for the surrounds and place them at the sides and slightly behind the couch and just fish some flat cable under the carpet and have it come out where the stands will be placed. see if you can get some stands where the cable can run up through the center of the stand.

That option of course can cause 2 issues. First issue being that the surrounds are located rather close to you, ive had to have that configurration before and it really diddnt bother me a whole lot.
the 2nd problem is stability, there is always the chance of a dog knocking it over or etc etc.

Slappy:

I considered stands, but with a dog, and two kids two and under, I ruled against them. Plus, I already have my wall mounts installed. I think, however, that between your ideas and Pmkalby's, I can make it work. I never thought of just cutting a groove in the sheetrock, but yes, that should do it. I am not horrendous when it comes to drywall skills, and I have a friend or two who is(are) even better. Yes, the beam is between the floor and the location of the wall mounts. But, your idea of running a box up to the beam may work.

I am going to print out all of your suggestions and go over them while looking at the situation first hand. This is a bit more challenging than I initially thought it would be, but I very much appreciate the two of you taking the time to pass along some advice. It has been very helpful.

Thanks, Tom.

Yeah, im gonna have to remember that Groovin-Drywall suggestion myself, i thought that was pretty slick.
Great if you are gonna be painting a finished basement and want to get some wiring done.

FYI, I finally got to run the wire on Friday, and thanks to your suggestions, I was able to figure out a way to do it with minimal visual impact. I was able to run up through a little stub of wall that was left over from the former wall between the family room and the kitchen, then up into a bulkhead in the kitchen, then along the top of the beam between the kitchen and the family room. From there, I was able to find a spot fairly close to each speaker that I was able to get a long drill bit through. The holes came out fairly neat, so I just left it with the speaker cables coming out of the holes. Doesn't look too bad!

Again, thanks for the advice. Without both of you getting me to think along some different avenues, I would not have come up with that solution.

Take care, Tom.