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Demo Old House, Rebuidling Foundation Up!

post #1 of 26
11/13/11 at 8:58am
Thread Starter 
Last Feb my house was destroyed in a fire. 8 months later its finally being demo'd and rebuilt. The internals of the house are changed to a new layout and with this being a custom home.. I get to do whatever we want to do. I own a IT/Networking telcom services company so we will be running our own wiring/etc through out the house. What I am not is an audiophile, so AV equipment/selection etc for the house is going to be needed. I am a bit of a hands on person so more than likely a home grown automation/control system will be used but the house will have enough wires in it if we deemed to go control4/related the wiring is already done.

I'll post up the original plans and another set once we determin locations for speaker placement etc. If you have ideas for speaker placement etc by all means have at it and post em up!

We are probably 2-3 months out from wiring, but I will keep this thread alive as we progress through the construction build. The basement will not be finished right now and will be left open. That build will come next


Zones:
Kitchen - Audio
Family Room - Audio/Video
Master Bedroom - Audio/Video
Bdr 1 - Audio/Video
Bdr 2 - Audio/Video
Bdr 3 - Audio/Video
Deck - Audio
First Floor Aux (i.e Hallways/dining) - Audio
Second Floor Aux (Hallways/other) - Audio
Garage - Audio/Video

The basement will have some networking racks installed and panels in place for A/V distribution, cable boxes, media server, security camera server etc.

Ordered
  • 15k Feet of Cat6
  • 2.5k Feet or RG6
  • 4k Feet of Speaker wire
  • 16 Pairs of Dual Voice coil Speakers - indoor
  • Various Patch Panels Keystone + Cat6 Punch down
  • Wall Plates
  • Sharp 70 Pro-70x5fd
  • panamax M5300-PM
  • Denon AVR-4311ci
  • Deftech mythos three on-wall center
  • 47u 2 post telco rack
  • 47u 4 post rack

To Order
  • master bed Receiver
  • 2x Subs for the 2 7.1 Zones
  • Nuvo Audio Distribution System? Or Russound?
  • HDMI Distrubtion, JustAddPower.com or Other?
  • Security Cameras
  • Security System
  • Zwave outlets/light switches



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post #2 of 26
11/13/11 at 9:04am
Thread Starter 
Some Demo pics
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post #3 of 26
11/13/11 at 9:09am
Thread Starter 
And now shes all cleaned up and ready for framing to start.

Linky to the full set of demo shots. http://spudstr.smugmug.com/Other/Demo/20060335_Q9ckrv
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post #4 of 26
11/14/11 at 6:19am
Here is a good link for speaker placement: http://www.htd.com/s.nl/ctype.KB/it....=44&category=8

Here is a good link for whole house wiring: http://www.cocoontech.com/wiki/Wirin..._New_House_101
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post #5 of 26
11/26/11 at 8:26am
Thread Starter 
Thanks, I'll scan and upload my wiring schema placement. I'm going to update the first page with the stuff I have ordered, need to order etc for the rest of the house.
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post #6 of 26
11/26/11 at 1:55pm
Stop ordering stuff, e.g. DVC speakers. DVC speakers are only for hallways and half baths. Figure out what you need first. Even though you're 'hands on' I suggest you involve a pro in the wiring design. Local pro for a consulting fee, or Dennis Erskine's service online. Dennis does home theater designs as well as whole-house wiring designs. Search on AVS for reviews of his work. Nothing will be missed, and I bet it will save you a bundle; you won't be covering stuff you don't need. He and his company are very experienced.

Worry about the electronic components later - get the wiring correct now.
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post #7 of 26
11/26/11 at 2:27pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Neurorad View Post

Stop ordering stuff, e.g. DVC speakers. DVC speakers are only for hallways and half baths. Figure out what you need first. Even though you're 'hands on' I suggest you involve a pro in the wiring design. Local pro for a consulting fee, or Dennis Erskine's service online. Dennis does home theater designs as well as whole-house wiring designs. Search on AVS for reviews of his work. Nothing will be missed, and I bet it will save you a bundle; you won't be covering stuff you don't need. He and his company are very experienced.

Worry about the electronic components later - get the wiring correct now.

Oddly enough a pro did recommend the DV speakers but one per room.. sadly the rooms bedrooms all have ceiling fans in the middle so they recommended two per room to even the sound evenly since we couldn't go on center.

The cost in the speakers isn't much compared to the cost of wiring. And they are the ones who recommended the wiring layoug we are using.
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post #8 of 26
11/28/11 at 10:52am
Sorry, I'm with Neurorad. You only want DVC speakers in hallways, baths, large outdoor spaces. Two DVC's in a bedroom is silly. I'd get a second opinion from a different pro (actually a third, as I'm giving you the second now).
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post #9 of 26
11/28/11 at 12:07pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by cshepard View Post

Sorry, I'm with Neurorad. You only want DVC speakers in hallways, baths, large outdoor spaces. Two DVC's in a bedroom is silly. I'd get a second opinion from a different pro (actually a third, as I'm giving you the second now).

With respect why? The point is that we can't put a single speaker in the middle of the room. This audio is just for background noise and possibly audio for the tv's in the kids rooms. Theres nothing wrong with DVC speakers is there? From everything I gather its just more wiring options and they support both L and R in a single speaker. Were not planning on using DVC in the master bedroom or the family room. Except for part of the whole house audio.
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post #10 of 26
11/28/11 at 12:16pm
Generally speaking, the sound you will get from a DVC speaker, even when used in pairs for a single channel will e inferior to a "normal speaker". Also, since they typically use 2 tweeters, they use up more "scpace" in front of the woofer, therefore reducing the impact the woofer has for providing proper base response. The tweeter is also usually "off axis" making the sweet spot very small.

Rule of thumb: unless the space is at a premium, always use a stereo set of speakers. use DVC speakers only where there is no other choice.
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post #11 of 26
11/28/11 at 3:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spudstr View Post

With respect why? The point is that we can't put a single speaker in the middle of the room. This audio is just for background noise and possibly audio for the tv's in the kids rooms. Theres nothing wrong with DVC speakers is there? From everything I gather its just more wiring options and they support both L and R in a single speaker. Were not planning on using DVC in the master bedroom or the family room. Except for part of the whole house audio.

In addition to Canuck's comments (which are spot-on), you yourself pointed out the very reason above - I've bolded the statement. This is exactly WHEN you use normal speakers. You should ONLY use DVC speakers when you can only put a single speaker in a zone. I have normal pairs throughout my whole-house-audio system (including a pair of stereo speakers in the master bedroom on either side of the ceiling fan), with a single DVC in the master bath, which just did not lend itself well to a pair of speakers.
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post #12 of 26
11/28/11 at 9:59pm
^Bingo^
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post #13 of 26
12/15/11 at 9:15pm
Thread Starter 
Framing went up, two weeks to frame the supporting members and put the roof up. Pretty quick. Trying to get under roof before snow starts to fall. After the roof is up and house is wrapped they will put in the interior walls.
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post #14 of 26
1/23/12 at 9:59pm
Thread Starter 
Whelp, hopefully next week we start drywall.

some pictures. lucky for us there is a nice size chase going from the basement to the attic which has made pulling a lot easier.
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post #15 of 26
1/23/12 at 10:03pm
Thread Starter 
The old dining room table is hopefully going to be stripped down and restored, the construction company PM said he does that sort of work and as a gift he is going to try to restore our table. We loved that table. But for now it acts as a work bench for the plans. Wife ended up getting what she wanted. a 4 foot by 6 foot shower. She can sit on the foot bench without any issues :P

Hopefully this weekend i'll get some pictures of the basement where we pulled everything to and some more photos of some cleanup of some of the wire pulls so it will be easier for drywall to go up.
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post #16 of 26
1/23/12 at 10:09pm
(this may be obvious, but just in case)

Be sure to take photographs of every square inch of the walls and ceilings so you know where everything is in the future...

Jeff
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post #17 of 26
1/23/12 at 10:27pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jautor View Post

(this may be obvious, but just in case)

Be sure to take photographs of every square inch of the walls and ceilings so you know where everything is in the future...

Jeff

yeah, the only locations for runs we have to figure out/mark are the first floor ceiling stuff. Everything else was ran under the first floor and up from the basement which is unfinished or up the chase and down from the attic. We did overkill on cabling so if one cable dies/fouls/godknows what there are a bunch more. we ran 2x Ethernet to basically every wall and some rooms had 2x video spots which were 4x cat6 and 2x rg6.. in the end it ended up with a lot.. of cable.
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post #18 of 26
1/24/12 at 12:06am
Here is a new idea that will future proof as the technology becomes more popular. Run cat wire to your garage door opener. With sears and more adding the capability to monitor and even check/close your garage door remotely. I cannot tell you how many times I've driven off and wondered if the door actually was closed. Also nice to pre-wire your front door for both camera and door lock. As well as your thermostats. Then if you want to get extra crazy the day will come for wired refrigs and washer and dryers. For that matter you might want to run cat wire to light switches and pre-wire for exterior cameras. Not that I expect you to do any of the above just purring a bug in your ear lol.
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post #19 of 26
2/18/12 at 9:46pm
Thread Starter 
Finally got power in the house and was able to go to the basement and take some pictures of the cable/mess. It looks like a huge mess but its really not. When we dropped the ends down the chase we warped them with electrical tape. So you can pull a cable and there is no tangled mess.. although it looks like it is.

Just ordered the 2 post rack and 4 post rack along with some ladder racks to connect everything up for cabling.

We are going to go with Nuvo Grand Concerto for the whole house audio, the family room will be powered off a Denon AVR-3312CI and the master is still TBD.

Side note trying to decide on the TV, we can fit anything from a 65-80" on the wall, the fireplace is roughed in behind the drywall due to inspection process and not having the fireplace picked out yet we were forced to put the wall up until we install the fireplace to pass inspection.
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post #20 of 26
2/19/12 at 3:07pm
If ur doing it from scratch, some floor outlets would be really nice. They are real convenient. We have them in offices, airports, why can't we have them at home? I find the availability of floor outlets very luxurious.
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post #21 of 26
2/19/12 at 4:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrBobb View Post

If ur doing it from scratch, some floor outlets would be really nice. They are real convenient. We have them in offices, airports, why can't we have them at home? I find the availability of floor outlets very luxurious.

+1 and get the Carlon split floor outlet with both AC and low-volt sides. Great for under the desk where you want power, phone, and Ethernet.

Jeff
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post #22 of 26
2/20/12 at 7:06am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrBobb View Post

If ur doing it from scratch, some floor outlets would be really nice. They are real convenient. We have them in offices, airports, why can't we have them at home? I find the availability of floor outlets very luxurious.

We put in floor outlets in the family room.. two one on both sides of the sofa where the end tables are. We had a interior designer do everything and suggested the placement of the outlets soo we did it. We are probably going to replace a lot of switches/outlets with z-wave ones and eventually roll my own home automation. Everythings in place, even ran 2x cat6 to each entry way to each room for keypads already.
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post #23 of 26
3/5/12 at 9:01am
Thread Starter 
Big changes happening this week. We move in on the 9th!

Just ordered some new equipment. Going to update the equipment list up top.
  • Sharp 70 Pro-70x5fd
  • panamax M5300-PM
  • Denon AVR-4311ci
  • Deftech mythos three on-wall center
  • 47u 2 post telco rack
  • 47u 4 post rack

Going to start looking into the nuvo system and zwave/zigbee control for outlets/lighting and start working with CQC to control everything.

This weeks punch list is to install all the in-ceiling speakers and start terminating all the wall outlets.
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post #24 of 26
3/6/12 at 2:13pm
If you're using wall controls that have IR sensors back to a rack or patch panel you may want to add an IR sensor somewhere besides the entry location. It's one thing to have the wall control handy for entry/exit situations but that's often not the best place to be pointing a remote to control something back at the rack. And don't forget to take daylight into account as that can wreak havoc on IR pickups.
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post #25 of 26
3/7/12 at 10:33am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by wkearney99 View Post

If you're using wall controls that have IR sensors back to a rack or patch panel you may want to add an IR sensor somewhere besides the entry location. It's one thing to have the wall control handy for entry/exit situations but that's often not the best place to be pointing a remote to control something back at the rack. And don't forget to take daylight into account as that can wreak havoc on IR pickups.

were going to use a harmony RF remote to control the family room for now, we will roll into something else when we put up the rack in the basement and start rolling out the rest of the automation.
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post #26 of 26
3/7/12 at 12:55pm
Just keep the IR sensor placement in mind if you decide to use them. They do work reasonably well. Sometimes more reliably than RF. It's just the placement of the IR sensor in the entry door wall plate position is usually less than ideal. People are more inclined to point the remote at the TV (even if it's RF) than anywhere else. So most systems have the option to use a sensor located elsewhere, typically up by the screen.
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