My husband and I own a split level home with a doorbell upstairs. The problem is that we can't hear it if we're in a room downstairs. I bought a second doorbell and picked a location downstairs, but I'm not sure how to wire it in to the first doorbell, since there is a floor/ceiling beam in the way. Also, it's hard to tell if I'm exactly below the first doorbell. Any suggestions?

... the location of the upstairs doorbell using a point on or near the stairs as a reference and then translate these measurements to the downstairs. A pity the doorbell is not on a ceiling that you could punch a small hole through to the floor below.

If the beam is the only problem, drill a small hole in it for the wires. Where is the first door bell, the bell itself? If it is on an interior wall, the wall has a cavity 3 1/2'' by 14 1/2''. There will be a double joist under the wall. Is the lower level ceiling finished? Shine a light across the ceiling downstairs and look for drywall patches over the screws or nails to locate the joists. Measure from the outside wall on both levels and drill a hole through the ceiling, the subfloor above, the plate, and into the cavity. Be careful about other wires and pipes. Put a hook on a piece of wire and push it up through the hole until it is as high as the existing bell. Remove the bell. You may want to enlarge the hole the wires come out, making it as big as possible and still hide it with the bell. Now use a second piece of wire with a hook to try to snag the first wire. Once you manage to pull the first wireIf the beam is the only problem, drill a small hole in it for the wires. Where is the first door bell, the bell itself? If it is on an interior wall, the wall has a cavity 3 1/2'' by 14 1/2''. There will be a double joist under the wall. Is the lower level ceiling finished? Shine a light across the ceiling downstairs and look for drywall patches over the screws or nails to locate the joists. Measure from the outside wall on both levels and drill a hole through the ceiling, the subfloor above, the plate, and into the cavity. Be careful about other wires and pipes. Put a hook on a piece of wire and push it up through the hole until it is as high as the existing bell. Remove the bell. You may want to enlarge the hole the wires come out, making it as big as possible and still hide it with the bell. Now use a second piece of wire with a hook to try to snag the first wire. Once you manage to pull the first wire out the hole, fasten a pair of bell wires or any other light duty pair of wires to it and pull it down to the lower level. Connect both ends of the pair of wires to the contacts of each bell, fasten the bells in place over the holes. You are done. Go have a beer. Out the hole, fasten a pair of bell wires or any other light duty pair of wires to it and pull it down to the lower level. Connect both ends of the pair of wires to the contacts of each bell, fasten the bells in place over the holes. You are done. Go have a beer.

Thanks. I measured very carefully, only to find that the upstairs bell is located over our garage. Luckily, as I was preparing to drill a hole in the garage ceiling, and had cut the hole for the new downstairs chime in my downstairs hall, I found this little red wire and a little white wire running past the downstairs hole. After some investigation I was sure that they were the same wires that lead to my upstairs chime, so I tapped off the red wire and hung my new chime. Thanks so much for all your help. It really helped me get my bearings on this project.