Wiring

Lots of wires; how to run and connect them all.

This page describes some of the things I did and the tools I used in getting everything in place.

Specific cable types I dealt with:

• HDMI 1.3a
• RG-6 Coax
• Category 5 Network Cable
• Category 6 Network Cable
• Security Cable - 2 Pair AWG 18
• Audio Speaker cable - AWG 14 and AWG 12
• 12V power cable - AWG 14

Planning and Buying Cable

Start with a floor plan and mark all the locations where you want the specific outlets. I drew out all the places where I had drops, so I could visualize the drop and was sure I had everything covered.

I then listed all the drop locations line by line on a spreadsheet and estimate the lengths of each run so you know how much of each cable type to buy. This was the main reason for doing this... how much to buy. Then buy an extra 25%

• Here is the drawing file I used.
• Almost all new home electronics have a network connection - TVs, BluRay players, AV receiver, Satellite decoder, security system, game systems. Don't forget to extra dedicated drops for these devices.
• If you are doing a big reno with other electrical permits being pulled - Get your LV wiring permit from your city office!
• I found that there were a couple of hub locations that had many devices. Pull an extra Cat5 and 2-pair security to give you a bit of flexibility to adjust.
• I ran 12V that will be powered from a UPS - don't forget to run a drop to your cordless phone so it works when the power is out!

Construction Time

• It took about 10 8 hour days to get 90% done the wire pulling. (Not including any terminations)
• Expect to move things around because of things like wall studs in the wrong place, lights or existing wiring.
• Keep the electrical guys away from your media closet. On the 1st day I talked to the electrical guy and told him he could run his 120V wires anywhere he wants but stay away from the 1mx1m closet where all my wires would be terminating.
• Get a low profile drill or a 90 degree drill to fit into tight joist locations. I bought something like this. It did the job but BEWARE, it just barely lasted. It is very loose and feels like it is ready to fall apart after a weeks use.
• Battery powered drills won't do the job drilling holes in the joists for your cable. My house has 2nd growth Douglas fir from the 50s that is very hard. (This is a good thing for a solid house, but no so good for drilling holes.) I used a good 1/2 hp drill (most aren't 1/2 hp). The electrical guy had an industrial size drill with a long auger bit that worked really well.
• Use auger bits. they just work better.

Pulling Cable

• Get some gloves.
• Mark your cables. I had a few Sharpies that I would write the drop location at the start of the cable. ALSO, mark the box number if you are pulling more than one of the same type of cable.
• If you have runs where you are pulling multiple runs of the same cable type.... buy at least two boxes of that type of cable so you can pull both runs at the same time. For example, many locations had 2 coax outlets in the same drop location so having 2 boxes of coax cable allowed me to pull through the joists only once.
• If you know you are going to have many cables heading to a specific location - drill a bigger hole. In some places, I drilled 4 - 1 3/4 inch holes all at the same time so I would not have to go back and drill - I just had to pull wire.
• Don't drill the holes too close together - you don't want to damage the integrity of the the joist.
• It took about 1 or 2 hours to do one cable pull. That included figuring out where to run the cable, drilling and the pull. Many took longer.
• Some I had to re-pull because they were in the way or I changed my plan.

Did I mention- mark your cables. I can easily see getting mixed up when there are hundreds of cables hanging down in one room.

In-Wall Low Voltage boxes

If you want to save time and money - I strongly suggest doing some preliminary thinking about what want, going where, and shared with what other outlets. I was going to be "just one of the trades" working away in the basement with a fixed timeline and I did not want to get in the way, and I did not have time to run out to the store to buy "this and that" every time I ran out or found something I needed. I had everything ready to go before I started.