Bethesda Build

Saturday we managed to do all the wiring for the Basement and 1st floor


all drops are the big green cable (2x2) cat6/rg6 - basically we're also wiring for all home runs and future home automation


This included:

1. Getting into the basement from the garage
2. running the cable along the back wall for all drops
3. 3 drops up to the first floor
4. 3 drops to future HT room
5. 1 drop to excercise room in basement
6. 2 Cat6s to the Systems closet for the security system

Below are pictures of the spool, and the run along the ceiling in the basement


we also managed to get one more drop into the basement for the rec-room on sunday after we ran up to the attic - wires were getting scarce but we managed to salvage from some aggressive runs earlier

Sunday was a really fun day

• Managed to get 5 drops up into the attic before we ran out of cable
• Salvaged 2 lines for one drop to the rec room and one drop to the room directly above the garage
• On impulse I bought a spool of 1000' cat5e from home depot (not good quality) and we cut it into 9 cables (5x100 and 4x125) for a run to the attic as well

and then..... we had a couple of mishaps with the electrician up in the attic

1. Foot came down in the wrong place up in the attic
2. Body came down in the wrong place in the attic

Luckily everyone was ok, he got his shoulder around a joist so it was an initial fall and then a short drop to the 2nd floor hardwood - 3ft over and it would have been 2 stories down onto marble


I've got to say - the dude was a trooper - he absolutely insisted on getting everything up there even after the fall. After that - i insisted on calling it quits. We had to tape up the ceiling b/c that spray insulation really makes a mess.


The smoke alarm is no real loss - we were planning on pulling that out anyway and using the wires for the new security panel and then using the cat5 up in the attic to hardwire new alarms


With a baby in the house wiring became second priority - on to my first drywall experience


End of the day - everyone is OK and everything is spooled up in the attic waiting to get pulled down into the bedrooms

Well my first drywall experience went really well.


While I was at Home Depot (only a mile away) - I realized that maybe now wasn't the best time to be learning how to patch holes (and not holes that big) so I started asking everyone I saw if they were contractors who knew how to drywall.


I got lucky and found the leader of a professional crew that was working about a mile away from the house and he brought his team by "after hours" to get things done.


Four guys and less than two hours later - good as new - only got a layer of primer up but you can barely tell anything happened


Bottom line - patch work done, and I decided to focus on unpacking boxes and sticking to labeling for the rest of this week


Figured the wife had been very very very understanding, and we now have no holes inside the house except for where the plates are coming (and in the basement which is where i get banished to anyway)

This weekend i'm hoping to

1. Get the bedroom drops in place
2. terminate everything

By my calculations I now have to terminate

• 34 Cat6s to the patch panel
• 9 Cat5es to another patch panel
• 26 RGs to a keystone panel
• 34 Cat6s to keystones
• 26 RG6s to keystones

Started labeling the panels and cables last night and the cartridge ran out - should be a fun fun weekend


I'll keep you all posted - hopefully the HT build will start mid-Feb... Thanks again to Ted for helping with the soundproofing plan


-j

good progress this weekend

• put down 2'x4' OSB in the attic for walkways - dododge - those panels are cool - but I basically just went to Home Depot and had them cut 2 4'x8's for me into 8 2'x4' panels (so they would fit in the car)
• dropped all the cables on the 2nd floor bedrooms
• cleaned up wiring in the garage
• installed all the rack management
• opened up all the cables (the 2x2 cat6/rg6s are really a bear)
• organized the rack and got everything ready to terminate

probably going to take it easy this week - next weekend - terminations and hopefully building a soffit over the cables in the basement


here are some pics of the rack ready to terminate

need to get a 58" Samsung Plasma on to a big stone fireplace

- TV is 130lbs

- Fireplace mortar has cracks in it

- no idea whats behind the stones

- picture below of fireplace

- I have the Sanus LA112 motorized mount

- it is rated to 180lbs

- it extends out up to 12" and swivels left / right up / down


per BigMouth's suggestion - i'm thinking I need a stonemason out to check out the structural integrity of the fireplace


other than that....


Any ideas?



Quote:
Originally Posted by jesto /forum/post/19928016


- Fireplace mortar has cracks in it

Click to expand...

Not evident from the picture is that the cracks are extensive. The mortar is crumbling between the stones and a large section of stones appears to have shifted. It looks like something went wrong with the mortar mix and it is losing it's bond.


Jesto has his hands full. Normally you would say just drill some holes and use masonry anchors to secure the mount. But I have a feeling..............


The vibration of a hammer drill and a masonry bit may actually do some significant damage.

well - I had a mason come out today and check out the fireplace - he didnt seem to see any structural issues, so i guess thats good news - probably have another one come out this week to double check and get another estimate for the mortar work


not exactly sure what to do at this point - the wifey is not happy about me potentially installing the TV myself (or with help) at this point - shes a bit paranoid these days b/c we have an 8 mo old thats about to start crawling about and the fireplace is right next to her play area


it's either put it on a stand next to the fireplace and put the cool motorized mount somewhere else for another TV (and kill the idea of having it viewable from the kitchen / play area), OR "hire professionals"


anyway, undeterred - i do think that placing like 10 anchors into the mount should be sufficient


regardless - this is the progress i've made today to help me build my case. learned this trick of cutting a template out of cardboard from a contractor friend who did this for the marble surround on the bathtub at my old place


since i had lots of cardboard and electrical tape laying around from the rack equipment and install - i think it worked out pretty well


hopefully tomorrow morning wifey will see how cool the tv will look in the right spot and let me give it a shot

It's been an interesting couple of weeks, and unfortunately not too much has been done on the HT build front


Turns out my wife got a hold of my contractor and decided to completely remodel two bathrooms - so that's slowed things down a little, but the good news is:


1. Whole house wiring is done

2. Patch panel is 90% complete (just need to finish off some coax terminations)

3. Network is up and running (boy is it fast!)

4. Ran 7 additional Cat6 cables through the main run for future touch panels and security cameras

5. Ran 2" conduit to the attic, and 1.5" and 3/4" throughout the basement for future craziness

6. Soffit covering the wiring is complete (including access panels)


Regarding the fireplace - basically it needs to be rebuilt - which isn't necc a bad thing as it will allow me to make it smaller, put a drywall backing above the mantel, and install all the electronics appropriately.


Here are some pics of the patch panel, soffit and conduit

- the hanging loops are the aforementioned future runs for cameras and touch panels for the exterior, first floor and basement

- we also added some decent access panels for any crazy ideas i get in the future


This weekend - DEMOLITION OF THE OLD HT ROOM BEGINS