Hello all,

In my main floor living room, I have a very nice Oak built-in. When the house was built, it was cored and wired above the fireplace with Rg-6 coax, Svideo, and about 3 pair of standard audio (RCA end) coax.

As times have progressed and technology has changed, the need for more, and different wiring has come along. As it is above the fireplace, it is likely that there are some hooks holding the wires, etc, but I cannot see what is in there.

What I need to know, is short of dismantling my built-in, which would really have low WAF, are there tools/opticals/etc that can be rented for seeing what is in there, and running new wiring?

http://www.howardweb.org/forums/IMG_0342.JPG

Here is a picture to help explain what I am talking about. The cutouts for the wiring are at the back of the left side below the book case. It runs down from the top, into the area behind the doors. At the back bottom of the cabinet, there is another cutout with the cables running into the unknown. In the top center TV area, there is a cutout at the back with the cables coming through.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Jim

hmm, perhaps another picture would help out a bit. From the back of the small stack of components, it goes down through the back, into the cupboard. In the cupboard, there is a cutout in the back where it goes into the unknown, to come out up in the back of the center area where the TV is (a Tosh 40RF350U, btw). I need advise on how to run new cables through there without a complete dismantle... Perhaps some rental tools of some sort? Installer type tools? This one is beyond a simple tape I am afraid.

http://www.howardweb.org/forums/IMG_2985.JPG

what is on the other side of the built-in wall ? With some minor drywall work, could you open up a couple of patches in the wall to get to the back of the built-in's component area and TV niche ?

Your other option would be going up into the ceiling and then back down behind the TV - work which would require the services of a installer who is very good at fishing wires.

Have you tried pulling on one the the installed wires ? Can you feel it move on the other end ? If the wiring is not tied in place, you may be able to use one of the wires to pull new wireing through the cable recess (where ever it goes).

Thanks for your response. I was talking this over with a friend of mine this morning, that very ironically has a similar name to your forum name, but lives in MN.

Anyway, we discussed various places to cut more holes and poke a flashlight in. I think what I am going to try is a 2" holecut saw on the right side of the back of the cupboard, where the cut would never be seen, and see if I can poke a flashlight in to see what is going on. Best case I use that hole with a grommet in it, worse case, I use the plug to seal it back up.

My guess is there is some open space back there, but because of the fireplace, the wiring is in hangers. Pulling from either end shows no sign of slack or movement at the opposite end. Even the back and sides of the cupboard are wood though, so no drywall immediately visible.

I have no idea what is on the other side of the built-in though. Given the depth of the TV cutout area, and the depth of the bookcase/cupboard, and the fact that the outside wall is flat across the whole area, I am guessing there is a bit of space back there.

I was able to take enough parts of the house apart to find where the wiring goes... It goes from the cabinet on the left down through the bottom of the cabinet, down through the subfloor, into the (finished) basement, then across to the fireplace cutout, then up and from there I can trace it no further. Reaching in that far, the wiring is still not moving, so there must be something else holding it as well. I was able to find a work around without tearing into the house even more though, so while not ideal, and not the wiring I desire, it will work for now.