How to Hide Ductless Tubing

Installing and Hiding the Tubing

• 1

  Identify the location for the interior environmental control unit and the air conditioning compressor. These pieces of equipment are mounted in separate areas. Choose a location so that the ductless air conditioner is on an exterior wall of the home while the air conditioner compressor can mount on the ground directly outside the same wall.

• 2

  Identity the studs in the wall with the stud finder. You will drill into the wall, and you want to drill into a wall cavity, not into a wall stud.

• 3

  Cut a 4-inch square hole next to a stud in the drywall behind the location where the environmental control unit mounts. Cut the hole so that the wall area below the hole is open, and not directly above a window or doorway.

• 4

  Cut a similar size hole in the drywall with the drywall jab saw directly down below the first hole. Save both of the pieces of drywall that you cut out to use to patch the drywall later. Using the drill, insert the drill bit through the lower drywall hole, and bore a hole through the exterior wall of the home that is large enough to pass the ductless tubing from the interior of the home to the exterior.

• 5

  Insert the electrician's fish tape into the upper hole, and fish it down the wall so that it is visible in the lower hole. Attach the ductless tubing to the fish tape with some electrical tape, and pull the tubing upward through the wall so that it enters the lower hole and exits the upper hole.

• 6

  Pass the lower end of the tubing through the hole bored to through the exterior wall. The tubing is now hidden from view inside, and only minimally visible on the outside of the home.

Repairing the Walls

• 7

  Mount the environmental control unit over the upper hole. The unit should be able to complete cover this access hole.

• 8

  Use fiberglass drywall tape and drywall compound to put the piece of drywall back into the hole at the lower part of the wall. Apply a thin coating of drywall compound over the hole with the 6-inch drywall knife, and let it dry. Sand the patch and repeat the process until the patch is smooth and unnoticeable.

• 9

  Caulk the hole on the outside of the home around the tube's exit point with siliconized acrylic caulk. Use a color caulk that matches your home's siding if possible.