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20 Tips from a first-time Whole House Wiring veteran

25K views 30 replies 16 participants last post by  archbid 
#1 ·

So I just finished a whole-house wiring project (3000 sf, 27 CAT6, 17 RG6, 9pr Speakers), and I wanted to write the idiots tip list that I wished I had when I started.


I am NOT a professional, and the following 20 tips are just classic lessons learned by doing and reading and making stupid mistakes. I hope it helps someone!


1. Protect all exposed wires. Stuff it in the wall, cover it with a plate. I left a wire sticking out of the floor for a port in the kitchen island. It was trampled by the contractor's guys, who assumed it was Romex and indestructible. It was finally and fatally nicked by the flooring guys. Stuff it in and cover it

2. It takes two. You cannot do long, in-wall runs of wire with just one person. I had to re-run 3 lines because they got nicked in the pulling. Get a friend.

3. Oversize the holes. Check with your contractor for the rules, but make the biggest hole that is legal. I started with 5/8 holes and eventually just did 2" wherever I could and 1" everywhere else. Again, there are rules, so you can't just take drill any size, anywhere, but learn the rules and make the holes big.

4. Plan your runs. If you are building the house from the ground up, PLAN ALL YOUR RUNS! The unpleasant combination of steel beams and slab foundation made it cripplingly difficult to get runs from one side of the house to another. Had I run a few lengths of 2" through the slabs, it would have cut my time by 2/3 and I would have had better runs.

5. Talk to the electrician. I let him wire first, presuming that he would not be sensitive to my needs. Unfortunately, I did not talk through my runs, and he ran romex down both sides of every joist bay in some areas. I helped him re-route to give me a path, but I could have marked a few main runs and saved both of us a lot of trouble.

6. Think plywood, not structured media panel - I am using a Leviton panel inside a small wiring closet in the basement. I wish I had just mounted plywood. I am spending a small fortune on mounts and such and would have had an easier time buying standard patch panels and screwing it to the plywood. The closet has a door, so I don't need a recessed box. If the area is exposed to the room, the structured wiring panel is a great option.

7. Use speaker drilling brackets. Many manufacturers have brackets you can install prior to drywall that serve as a template for in-wall and in-ceiling speakers. I used them in the kitchen, but otherwise thought they would be a waste of money. That was a mistake. When the walls are open, you can resolve issues of lining up openings around the room in a way that accommodates existing framing or make modifications while the walls are open. Once the walls are closed, cutting a hole for a speaker is trivial. Placing the holes to avoid the framing is a royal pain.

8. Run empty smurf tube - I did all my wiring directly through the walls, then I ran flexible conduit next to the major runs. I left the conduit empty with mule tape inside. I have already used it, and the house isn't even done!

9. Get a powerful right-angle drill. I cheaped out and got the mid-range Milwaukee. $40 more would have helped me get through some very hairy runs.

10. Selfeed drill bits are a miracle. They are like a gift from the lord himself. Learn how to sharpen them, as I did every night.

11. Get a spool holder, and buy your wire on a spool. Box wire is harder to run and bound more often for me. The spools were beauty.

12. Mark everything immediately. Your labelmaker and a few extra tape cassettes are vital. You forget immediately!

13. Mark wires about 1" below where they enter your enclosure or wiring area. That way you can trim them without having to relabel.

14. Don't staple or tie if you don't have to. Run loose and use hangers. Plastic zip ties are lousy hangars, as they bind when pulled.

15. Think about power in your home run. I ran a separate circuit, and I have four outlets in my enclosure. I need more!

16. Run two grounds - one to the panel, one to the service entrance where cable and phone enter the house.

17. Remember nailing plates - I don't know if that is the real name, but buy a box of the metal plates with spikes that you nail to the studs where you have drilled close to the edge. These prevent drywall screws from penetrating your wires.

18. It is amazingly labor intensive. Don't tell your wife it is a "two day job". In fact, just tell her it will take forever, and that it is best that the kids are told that Daddy loves him and hopes to be there when they graduate college.

19. If it is concrete, it gets conduit. Terraces, decks, walkways, and driveways. Run a big conduit under any hard surface that you can't get under later so that you can use it for outdoor speakers, control wiring, satellite, etc. Then run another because the electrical contractor will love your first conduit, and he'll get there first.

20. If you have gotten this far, the last tip is take good notes. You will need it when you write your own "20 tips"!

21. Consider 4xCat6 (or CAT5e) per room instead of 2xCat6 + 2xRG6. I have miles of RG6 and I have terminated exactly two of the wires. The RG6 from service entry to the wiring panel is essential. For distribution I find it very questionable. You can run almost anything on CAT6. (1/20/11)

New add - 1/20/11:

21. Wear the most comfortable shoes you own. I'd much rather have dirtied a nicer pair than the ones I chose. (yobrigidey)

22. Bring a gallon jug of water. This will save you a trip. (yobrigidey)

23. Up and down ladders and stairs all day have put my calves into shock. Consider training! (yobrigidey)

24. Take lots and lots of pictures of everything while the walls are down. Take pictures with a measuring tape in sight so you know exactly where the wires/conduits are running within the walls. (mohitk)

 

New add - 8/20/12:

25. Never, ever run only one cable to a location.  Do at least two. 

26. Use Cat5 even for thermostats. Two wires not enough.
 
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#4 ·
My house is not new so I wanted to add AV outlets to places but WITHOUT disturbing the existing drywall.


I use that look like a tough fishing rod. U may have seen the cable guys use one. I bought a couple at Fry's a few years back 'coz it looked to be just a cool tool. U drill holes on both ends of the wall where u can patch it up later without much problem and u stick this rod in there and it comes out the other end, u attach the cable to it, pull the cable through and voila! U got a new cable run and a new outlet. Multiple rods can be threaded end-to-end for longer runs.
 
#6 ·
Electric supply house is a great source for flex conduit and fittings.


Edit - Also, thanks for sharing that info. You'll save many people a lot of headaches.
 
#9 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by carlog /forum/post/19193303


What was the diameter of the smurf tube you used? I'm seeing 1/2" and 3/4" at my local Home Depot and Lowes.

I ordered from Hometech. At one point I actually drove down 2 hours to meet them!


I used 2" for the main basement to attic chases (2)

I used 1.5" for the run from the service entry to the basement panel, and from the panel to the family room/HT

I used 1.25" to the Master and the office


I also ran 2-4" PVC through any concrete poured for foundation, driveway, and walkways.


I also put mule tape into all runs. And my Comcast installer pulled it out! Fiberglass fish tape fixed it. What a moron.
 
#10 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by carlog /forum/post/19207588


I'm seeing 100ft of 3/4" at Lowes for $31, or 31 cents per foot. At my local electric supply shop, they have 1 1/4" for 75 cents a foot. What do you guys think? This is just for future runs.

That is an amazing price. But 3/4 is really small. 3 wires, if you run them at the same time.
 
#11 ·
I think I read somewhere that the 3/4" is too small for most HDMI connectors, research it.
 
#15 ·
I wish I had found this forum before I did my project. I always say to put in more conduit options than you think you would need. Conduit, and wire for that matter, are cheap and easy compared to cutting into your walls later. I ran a lot of 1" PVC from my mechanical room to each point that I might want either a TV or internet access. I used thin wall pipe with grey conduit 90's for their long sweep turn. Where I didn't need conduit, I made hangers from 2" conduit sections about 1" long and then I routed the edges inside and out with a laminate trim router and an 1/8" radius bit. This was just an easy solution, not to save money or anything. This was for the new addition I did to my house, and I ran a combination of 1" and 2" conduits to the old part of the house to run consolidated runs from there. I haven't finished yet and still need to find a home automation control panel that I like, but I intend to integrate my alarm, HVAC, lighting control, etc. as I get time.


 
#17 ·
Sure. The main mounting panels that are darker are plastic laminate covered for durability. The pipes coming from above are the feeds to each room in my new addition as well as the five pipes on the left starting with the 2" capped pipe that feed the old section of the house (most of which is yet to be done). The red Cat6 coming in from the right are from a network switch on my Chatsworth rack and they plug into a patch panel that I took off of the same rack. just above the patch panel is a Panduit wire management part from the rack used to hide extra wire and each room is fed from the back of the patch panel. So, you can see those red Cat6 wires going up into the conduit (and a few going to the old part of the house to the left) along with the blue RG6 Quad (Carrol Cable).The box containing my cable splitter can just be seen on the lower left, the sprinkler controller is just below that and not visible, and the upper left is the edge of my Lennox Harmony III zone controller (I may have to replace this when I automate the HVAC). Lastly, to the left of the "Black Box" management piece is a small telephone patch panel. The wires coming out of the last two conduits on the right are Cat5 and Cat6 from all of my switches and receptacles for lighting control, and from the windows and doors for a security system, all that will be used in the future so they are just hung out of the way. There are a couple of black HDMI cables coming down and to the right, one of which isn't being used, and the other comes from a Panasonic AE-2000U in the theater going to my A/V equipment down on a short rack near the floor. That leaves the center of my mounting panel open for the future home automation control panel. I haven't decided what to use yet. I am a total noob and I just read whatever I could find before starting to wire. Suggestions from all are greatly appreciated.
 
#18 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by wileypost /forum/post/19233892


I wish I had found this forum before I did my project. I always say to put in more conduit options than you think you would need. Conduit, and wire for that matter, are cheap and easy compared to cutting into your walls later. I ran a lot of 1" PVC from my mechanical room to each point that I might want either a TV or internet access. I used thin wall pipe with grey conduit 90's for their long sweep turn. Where I didn't need conduit, I made hangers from 2" conduit sections about 1" long and then I routed the edges inside and out with a laminate trim router and an 1/8" radius bit. This was just an easy solution, not to save money or anything. This was for the new addition I did to my house, and I ran a combination of 1" and 2" conduits to the old part of the house to run consolidated runs from there. I haven't finished yet and still need to find a home automation control panel that I like, but I intend to integrate my alarm, HVAC, lighting control, etc. as I get time.

Holy cow. That is a neat panel!


I like your hangars. I now look for two things in a hangar:

1. No friction. The perfect world is that the old (or cut/broken) wire can be a pull tape if the hangars have very low friction or you use raceways/conduit.

2. Open sides for adding. Having to "thread" a hangar gets old. Hangars with an open side or a clamp are a godsend because you can run a wire along a wall then clip it into your hangar.
 
#19 ·
Just started my pre-wire today. A couple things I could add to the list:


1) Wear the most comfortable shoes you own. I wore some old grungy ones for fear of getting some nice ones dirty. Right now, I'd much rather have dirtied a nicer pair.


2) Bring a gallon jug of water. I brought a small thermos, it wasn't nearly enough to keep me hydrated. I had to make a trip to get some more. This will save you a trip.


3) I'm totally serious about this....start doing calf exercises a month ahead of time to get some strength in your calves. Up and down ladders and stairs all day have put my calves into shock!
 
#20 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by yobrigidey
Just started my pre-wire today. A couple things I could add to the list:


1) Wear the most comfortable shoes you own. I wore some old grungy ones for fear of getting some nice ones dirty. Right now, I'd much rather have dirtied a nicer pair.


2) Bring a gallon jug of water. I brought a small thermos, it wasn't nearly enough to keep me hydrated. I had to make a trip to get some more. This will save you a trip.


3) I'm totally serious about this....start doing calf exercises a month ahead of time to get some strength in your calves. Up and down ladders and stairs all day have put my calves into shock!
And knee pads! I had an old pair from when I used to rollerblade...
 
#21 ·
Just one more thing I would add based on my experiences running wires during my remodel (and I think it is an important one):


* Take lots and lots of pictures of everything while the walls are down. Take pictures with a measuring tape in sight so you know exactly where the wires/conduits are running within the walls.
 
#23 ·
If you're using a rack in the wiring closet, give yourself plenty of cable slack ('service loop'). I haven't trimmed out my rack yet, so I don't know what the minimum and maximum lengths should be.


As 39CentStamp suggested, I'm tucking my coiled service loops above the ceiling, of the adjacent room - I lucked out with a lower bathroom ceiling adjacent to my enclosure wall.
 
#24 ·

Quote:
21. Consider 4xCat6 (or CAT5e) per room instead of 2xCat6 + 2xRG6. I have miles of RG6 and I have terminated exactly two of the wires. The RG6 from service entry to the wiring panel is essential. For distribution I find it very questionable. You can run almost anything on CAT6. (1/20/11)

When we built our 2 story in 1999, my wife and I ran 20 home runs, with each run consisting of 2xRG6 Quad Shield and 2xCat5e, with nothing run in the basement! Every room had a minimum of 2 J-boxes, including the kitchen, except the bathrooms (ran 1 to the master and none in the other 2). Some rooms, such as the living room and great room had 3 runs. Even ran one set to the garage. Contrary to your experience, we use the RG6 all over the house, as we have cable, satellite, and OTA antenna feeds to most of the rooms in the house. We have even used the RG6 for internal monitor/security camera distribution. Sure, you can get everything IP-based, but often, used analog equipment is much cheaper for experimental or temporary installations.


With HDTV distribution all the rage, I would have included at least one fiber run to every room, as well. 10 years ago, I thought I could do everything with CAT5e, but that isn't always the ideal solution.


Another big tip, which we didn't do is run a conduit from your basement (or home drop) to the attic (and basement, if not already there).
 
#25 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Geordon /forum/post/19867464


Another big tip, which we didn't do is run a conduit from your basement (or home drop) to the attic (and basement, if not already there).

+1, Had to retrofit this. Hard work.
 
#26 ·
+1 on attic-> basement conduit. I ran 2x 2"

Smurf and have already used it! I found a wireless base station the is PoE and looks like a smoke detector. I screwed it into the ceiling at the top o the stairs and ran wire to the basement. Easy peasey.
 
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