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technique
join:2009-07-07
| My 1927 bungalow home structured wiring project
Just discovered this sub-forum... I started a structured wiring project about 1 month ago, here's my first post I did in another forum, I'm almost finished now so I'll post the history to document it here and solicit a few ideas as well:
SUMMARY:
The purpose of this thread is to document my structured wiring project and solicit any tips/advice along the way from the community here.
HISTORY:
My wife and I recently purchased an older 1927 home, which was remodeled just before we moved in. Unfortunately, the wiring was not redone so now I am in the unenviable position of starting to rewire the entire house while trying to destroy as little of the existing freshly painted walls as possible.
The house is 3 levels with above ground cables bringing in utilities - Level 1) Unfinished basement with exposed ceilings - Level 2) Finished 1st floor - Level 3) Finished 2nd floor
I started by ripping out all existing wires (copper, coax, security and a little ethernet)... A total hodge-podge of daisy-chained mess from nearly 100+ years of previous residents... I even found some old braided phone cable... Anyway, FIOS was installed a few days ago on the basement concrete wall in the utility room, and all the copper coming inside the house and the old NID on the side of the house are gone, with only the new ONT in the basement. Access to the first floor will be easy as the basement ceiling is exposed so I can run wires with no problem. Trickier is the 2nd floor, which I am planning to run 2" PVC pipe on the side of the house alongside the freon lines from the second zone HVAC unit into the attic as there are no clean ways to run wires up to the 2nd floor from the basement, let alone conduit which I would like to have everywhere.
As of now, the house is essentially wire-free except for power.
CURRENT HOUSE LAYOUT:
There are no jacks/outlets in any rooms. Rooms are configured as follows:
1st floor:
Kitchen - Small, perhaps a TV or radio or something in the future
Dining Room - Formal with large table, side bar, chandelier, and big mirrors on the wall - No plans for any electronics in this room
Living Room - Formal with fireplace, lots of windows, antique furniture - No plans for any electronics in this room
Bathroom - Small, no plans for TV or anything like that
Den - 52" LCD with surround sound and couch - This is where we watch movies, play PS3, etc...
Study - Desk with laptop docking station - Used daily
Nook - Small open area in the back of the house leading out to the deck - China Cabinet, Piano and wine cooler are currently there.
2nd floor:
Office - Desk with laptop docking station and printer - Used daily
Master Bedroom - Currently no TV, but maybe in the future
Master Bathroom - Small, no plans for TV or anything like that
PLANNED HOUSE LAYOUT:
Conduit to all planned drops:
1st floor - Kitchen (nothing for now), Dining Room (nothing for now), Living Room (nothing for now), Bathroom (nothing for now), Den (2 drops), Study (1 drop), Nook (1 drop)
2nd floor - Office (2 drops), Master Bedroom (2 drops), Master bathroom (nothing for now)
PLAN:
4 lines per drop - 2 cat6 and 2 RG6 quad (via conduit wherever possible)
All terminating in basement in utility room
CWP will be a 24-port patch panel in a 7U wall mount bracket mounted to plywood on the cinderblock wall (Have not thought about what to do with the RG6 yet)
PARTS PURCHASED SO FAR:
From monoprice:
1 - Wall Mount Bracket, 12.25X19X12 (inch) ,7U
50 - 10/32 Screw for Rack, Black
1 - Single Sided Shelf, 3.5(H)X10(D)X19(W), 30Lbs
1 - Cat 6 UTP Solid, Riser Rated (CMR), 500MHz 23WG 1000FT Bulk Cable - Black
12 - CAT 6 500MHz UTP 2FT Cable - Yellow
6 - Keystone Jack - Modular F Type (Black)
1 - Professional Compression Crimping Tool [HT-H548A3]
1 - Universal Cable Jacket Stripper [HT-352]
6 - Wall Plate for Keystone, 4 Hole -White
6 - Blank Insert For Wall Plate - White
1 - Cat6 Panel 110 Type 24 Port (568A/B Compatible)
From firefold:
12 - Cat6 Keystone Jack, 110 Style - Black
1 - Keystone Jack Punch Down Stand
1 - 1000 Foot RG6U Single Quad Shield - Black
From ebay:
50 - PPC RG6 EX6XL Compression Connectors
TOTAL COST SO FAR:
$396
GOAL:
To have a semi-impressive, crisp structured wiring setup in my house that is fairly future-proofed.
NOTES:
As of now, we only have FIOS internet, no TV. I have not had Cable TV for about 6 months. I gave it up for new years 2009 and have not really missed it as I have netflix and don't watch much TV. What little TV I do watch I can watch for free streaming from the stations websites or sites like hulu. That being said, I think my wife will probably insist on bringing TV back at some point, and besides, I want to be as future proofed as possible.
PENDING QUESTIONS:
1) How to terminate my RG6 in the CWP?
2) What size PVC pipe should I run from the CWP to the attic for my existing plan?
3) Are 2 cat6 and 2 quad RG6 per drop a good start?
4) Any suggestions on power for my 19" wide wall mount rack?
5) Any suggestions on mounting my FIOS box in my 19" wide wall mount rack?
6) I am considering installing a security system (ADT, etc.) and don't know if I should run security wire in anticipation of that or just have enough conduit run to pull whatever I need later... I don't know anything about security systems or even if security wire is still used.
MISC:
Please no "cat 5e vs cat 6", "standard vs quad shield", "lcd vs plasma", "PS3 vs xbox", "coax vs optical", or whatever comments in this thread. :cool:
Please let me know if you would like pics of anything specific posted.
I will edit this original post as questions are answered/suggestions are made.
Finally, thanks to everyone for their thoughts! | |
technique
join:2009-07-07
| Got the plywood up today...
Step 1: Remove the FIOS box that was nailed directly into the concrete wall by Verizon
Step 2: Have a carpenter install 3 furring strips
Step 3: Screw in a 4'X5' sheet of plywood onto the furring strips
I then realized that I didn't have any proper mounting screws for my new wall mounted rack or the FIOS box, so that will have to wait until tomorrow... For now, I have a blank canvas upon which to design my masterpiece 
Pics of Steps 2 and 3:
 | |
technique
join:2009-07-07
| Made some great progress this weekend, ran my first outlet to my HT room (the den) on the main level... Decided to go with a 6-port outet, 4 cat6 and 2 rg6, as it's a room that will be used heavily for media (as it is, I already need 2 cat6 runs to that room for my htpc docking station and PS3)... Heck, I may do this for other rooms, 2 runs of each did not seem to be enough, I really feel you can't have too much cat6 wiring...
Anyway, here are some pics of the first install:
Before pic of my setup, note the single disgusting white coax cable coming out from the floor in the corner of the room... That's how it was when I bought the house in each room 
Most of the smaller tools I used for the project, and yes, Miller Lite is a required tool when doing something like this, especially when you have plaster walls like I do 
After rough cutting the hole, installed a Carlon low voltage single gang old work bracket (SC100RR)... Used a level and stud finder to ensure proper and level placement...
As fate would have it, the wall I wanted to get into is supported below by TWO side-by-side joists So, I had to drill at an angle to get from the unfinished basement into the wall space above... I did a pilot hole with a 1/4" drill bit, then slightly adjusted my angle for the final hole which I did with a 1" spade bit, both were 18" long drill bits...
The fish tape at home depot was garbage, and the nylon fish tape was too expensive (almost $80 for a reel), so I bought a 5 foot flexible glow rod with eyelets on each end for $20... Worked perfectly with electricians bundle tape to pull all 6 wires through the hole simultaneously, no problem at all...
Pic of the rest of the tools I used to finish the wall plate, mostly from monoprice, my cat6 keystone jacks, PPC ex6 xl compression plugs, etc...
Everything wired, wall patched and painted where some of the plaster cracked around the carlon bracket, all that's left to do is cut the old coax coming out of the floor and screw the 6-port plate into the wall... I left a small 2 foot loop of cable behind the wall in case I ever need more wire/slack in the future... (I believe this is called a "service loop"?)
Done! Looks pretty good I think... Now, I have some serious cable management questions about my rack... | |
technique
join:2009-07-07
| OK, so I was inspired tonight and decided to run the rest of the drops to the main level... I decided on the following:
1 additional drop to the den on the other side of the room of the drop I just did this week
1 drop to my office, which shares a wall with the den
There was an existing coax jack in the wall of the office which I had already removed the existing wiring from, so it was just an empty wallplate... (The original coax was crappy quality and the wire run went OUTSIDE the house and to the basement, lol)
Anyway, I decided on 4 runs to each jack:
office (standard config) - 2 cat6 and 2 RG6
2nd den jack - 3 cat6 and 1 RG6 (giving a total of 7 cat6 and 3 RG6 in the den, which is the HT room)
OK, some pics:
First - The existing coax location as it was along with some tools for the job... NOTE: There is no miller lite required as this room (the office) is an addition that was put on the house so it has drywall instead of plaster!
Second - new hole cutout in existing location and 1/4" pilot hole drilled and glow rod successfully routed into basement
Third - View from the basement of the glow rod coming out the pilot hole... NOTE: I had to drill at an angle YET AGAIN... This time because this wall was an outside wall so it's at the very edge of the foundation and it's not a straight shot upward into the wall cavity... Gotta love older houses, nothing can just be an easy straight drill above 
Fourth - 1" hole drilled near the pilot hole to end up right in the middle of the wall cavity above so I can use it for both the office and den drop since they share a wall. NOTE: 1" is EXACTLY the right size for 3 RG6 and 5 Cat6 wires, it's a perfect fit!
Fifth - After 1" hole was drilled I mounted the Carlon low voltage single gang old work bracket (SC100RR). NOTE: The wood you see behind is the backing for the plaster and lath wall in the den.
Sixth - Boom! All eight wires (3 RG6 and 5 Cat6) successfully pulled via glow rod from the basement...
NOTE: I have not yet cut the wall hole in the den for the 2nd drop... I'll do that tomorrow (hopefully) as it's a plaster wall and I need lots of beer for that job and it's way to late to start drinking | |
technique
join:2009-07-07
| Finished the 1st floor... 2nd Drop in the den is done, and the Office drop is done as well... I am actually getting pretty good at cutting through plaster and wood, in fact, I was able to do it in about 30 minutes and with NO repair required afterwards! (Yes, I was lucky, and yes, miller lite was involved)
Anyway, here are some pics:
2nd den drop location, plaster drilled out for the Carlon mount... Luckily no plaster cracked/chipped off... Note the wood boards left to be cut, they are a pain as when cutting them, they tend to crack the plaster walls...
Lucky again! Removed all wood, and installed Carlon old work bracket perfectly leveled with no wall damage...
Finished! 3 Cat 6 and one RG6 making a total of 3 RG6 and 7 Cat6 in the Den (Home Theater Room)
Office drop finished! This is the "standard" drop for my home now (2 cat6 and 2 RG6), even though this is the first time I've used this config, lol
All wiring in the basement is run and today I plan to secure it to the overhead floor joists and run it behind the plywood panel... All cables are marked so I know which cable goes to which port... I will also probably start terminating my patch panel today so when my switch arrives on Wednesday I can plug it in and be in business..
Finally, I want to slightly reconfigure my arrangement in my rack, I'll post an updated pic and hopefully get some feedback... | |
technique
join:2009-07-07
| More updates:
Ordered a Panduit WMP1E (Panduit WMP1E Specs)... It's a 2U patch cable manager, should work nicely in between the switch and patch panel with a bunch of 2 ft patch cables... That should take care of patch panel to switch cable mgmt...
Also, went to my local electrical supply shop and picked up two Vanco dual-gang 2-piece reversible cable wall plates ([url]»www.vanco-online.com/index.php?m···71[/url]), then went over to home depot and got two carlon dual-gang low voltage brackets...
I will put one wall plate over each rack, as each one can hold plenty of wires...
I had enough depth for the Carlon low voltage mounting bracket, but I did have to trim the two screws just a bit (1/4"), but it fit perfectly! I re-ran all the cables to be nice and tight as I have 3 separate service loops so I am ready to rock... Here are some pics as it is right now, just waiting for my switch to arrive tomorrow to punch down my patch panel...
Cutting a hole was not easy without a power reciprocating saw, lol!
Brackets installed, wires velcro'd and run using a small chain as a pull cord, and coax and cat6 separated...
Starting to look nice and CLEAN!! I like the black wire and black hoods, hides the wires even more...
OK, so I will punch down the coax and cat6 panels tomorrow after my switch arrives... I really wish I had sufficient signal strength to keep my Dlink DIR-655 in the basement next to the rack, but alas, not enough wireless power... I guess I can add another access point...
Oh, here are a few pics of how I am running the cables from the drops to the rack along the unfinished basement ceiling:
Note the various service loops along the way... The messy one is right before the FIOS box where everything intersects... It looks messier than it is, but I guess I could wrap it up a bit tighter, but the way it is now, there are no sharp bends, and I figure once the basement is finished, it will be hidden up in the ceiling anyway... | |
technique
join:2009-07-07
| OK, we're getting REAL close to the end for now... The Netgear 24-port gigabit switch came in the mail today, so I terminated the patch panel with the 9 cat6 drops so far... All that's left are the following:
1) Install Panduit 2U Cable Management in between patch panel and switch (It arrives Tuesday)
2) Get an electrician to run a 20A circuit to the rack
3) Properly run all power cables to rack
Here's a picture for now, it will definitely look much neater when my Panduit 2U cable mgmt is installed (I hope!):
 | |
technique
join:2009-07-07
| OK, we are current now... Thank you for tolerating the simultaneous posting of 1 month worth of work in a few minutes... Hopefully it's not too confusing, but this is where we are now, as of 17-JUL-2009...
The electrician is coming over today to run a 20A circuit... Question is, where should he run it to on the rack and in what manner? The line will be coming from the ceiling above. I am planning to have him run a 12-3 line... I want to make sure my power cable management is as clean as the rest of the work... Thoughts? | |
dumbfound
join:2008-07-10
Union, NJ | reply to technique
Wow you did a really good job... I just did mines ~2months ago. I just attach it directly to my switch in the basement. I didn't attach it to that monoprice-device to the switch. Is it beneficial? | |
Beezler
Premium
join:2005-03-17
Allen, TX
| reply to technique
Great Job! Great descriptions of your step-by-step approach and how you were able to overcome the obstacles an older house can throw at you. The pictures especially helped to illustrate those efforts. It really is a big job and takes considerable planning and effort especially if you want to make it a clean cable plant. I'm impressed! | |
technique
join:2009-07-07
| reply to dumbfound
said by dumbfound  :Wow you did a really good job... I just did mines ~2months ago. I just attach it directly to my switch in the basement. I didn't attach it to that monoprice-device to the switch. Is it beneficial? Are you talking about the 24-port Patch Panel? Yes, they are VERY useful, as you can change which switch port goes where on the fly...
I love patch panels, but I've worked with them my whole life... | |
adamtech78
join:2006-01-25
Chicago, IL | reply to technique
Very very cool.
great photos and good descriptions.
FANTASTIC work!
show us photos of the rack when you can. | |
technique
join:2009-07-07
| OK, got a dedicated 20A circuit running to the wall... It terminates at the 4-plug outlet you see there:
I've got the tripplite rackmounted surge strip plugged into the outlet, and then FIOS and the Netgear switch plugged into the Tripplite.
Now that you can see things as they are in actuality, what do you think the best approach is?
1) Run the wires BEHIND the plywood - I like this idea, but as stated, there is a risk of drilling into them in the future.
2) Staple them to the plywood - This could look nice and neat, just need to think of the best way to run the wires on the board.
Finally, what do you guys do with all the extra power slack? The tripplite alone has like 14 feet of slack... The FIOS has a ton as well...
(I will post close-up pictures of the rack next week when the 2U cable management arrives on Tuesday... So expect those pics Tuesday evening...) | |
jeffmoss26
join:2002-07-22
Beachwood, OH
| reply to technique
Looks good-
A few suggestions:
1) on the ceiling joists, use D-rings or bridle rings instead of the staples. This way you can easily add more cables.
I also recommend using them to route the cable on the backboard, even though you already ran them behind the wall.
2) I like to tape the glow rod down to the bundle of wire so it is completely flat, the way you tape it, you might have a problem with it getting caught.
3) I'm not sure how to recommend you to handle the coax cabling. The cable company is not used to seeing such fancy things as patch panels. They will likely just slap some splitters on the wall.
Otherwise, good job. I swear by those PPC coax fittings. | |
Greg_Z
Premium
join:2001-08-08
Springfield, IL
 ·Comcast
| reply to technique
Besides the Tripp Lite on the upper panel, who makes the 75ohm patch panel that is there?
I myself, need to install Battery back up for my two servers, and would like to use the same type of 75 ohm distro panel for a/v.
--
I threw out the map a long time ago. Now I follow my own direction! | |
yolarry
join:2007-12-29
Creston, WV | reply to technique
Wow nice job. this is something I really need to do. | |
technique
join:2009-07-07
| reply to Greg_Z
said by Greg_Z :Besides the Tripp Lite on the upper panel, who makes the 75ohm patch panel that is there? I myself, need to install Battery back up for my two servers, and would like to use the same type of 75 ohm distro panel for a/v. 2U RG6 coax patch panel here:
[url]»www.computercablestore.com/2U_Co···px[/url]
They have all different types, with higher and lower density, and also diff sizes of connectors (1/2" BNC and the F-conn that I got) | |
technique
join:2009-07-07
| reply to jeffmoss26
said by jeffmoss26 :Looks good- A few suggestions: 1) on the ceiling joists, use D-rings or bridle rings instead of the staples. This way you can easily add more cables. I also recommend using them to route the cable on the backboard, even though you already ran them behind the wall. 2) I like to tape the glow rod down to the bundle of wire so it is completely flat, the way you tape it, you might have a problem with it getting caught. 3) I'm not sure how to recommend you to handle the coax cabling. The cable company is not used to seeing such fancy things as patch panels. They will likely just slap some splitters on the wall. Otherwise, good job. I swear by those PPC coax fittings. Can you elaborate a little more on #1? (Maybe even some pics?)
2) Hmmm, again, can you elaborate a little more and describe what you mean by "flat"? I had plenty of space with the holes I drilled for pulling wires, but I'd like to use the best technique possible so that in the future if I have a tighter fit I don't run into problems...
3) Ya, I will probably invest in some nice splitter/amps and mount them above or to the side of the top rack so they feed into the coax patch panel nicely... The electrician who installed the 20A circuit had wide eyes when he saw my panels, he was like "You did this???"... After that, he was sort of nervous and did a super neat job running the wire, lol... | |
jeffmoss26
join:2002-07-22
Beachwood, OH
| reply to technique
These are D rings-
You can see how I used them to contain the cable coming from the ceiling into my 66 blocks-
These are Bridle rings-
You would want the ones with wood screw threads to go right into the joists. | |
Cyber2lz
join:2001-11-15
Odessa, FL | reply to technique
U R going to have other equipment on that board, trust me!
Get a real ups! Otherwise, super nice job!
--
The Light Pipe is the Right Pipe !!! | |
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