90% open walls remodel, need to wire for everything

[DrunkenLizard]

Hello Cocoon Land! I'm helping out a family member who wants to wire their new house since it's undergoing heavy renovation.

Good news is most of the walls and ceiling are open, bad news is we have only a couple days before the garage get's drywalled but about a month to wire the rest of the house.

Planning on wiring for:

Distributed A/V
Whole Home Audio
Intercom
Cameras
Security
Automation
HVAC
Lighting
Landscape Lighting
Network
and anything else I can think of

No decisions have been made on any hardware yet so I'll need to be flexible in a few areas.


Looking for some advice on anything I may be overlooking when trying to future proof this garage.

3x Cameras (2 external, 1 internal)
2 cat5e, 1 rg6 each

4x inceiling speakers
speaker wire looped through keypad location and run to wiring closet, 1 cat5e from keypad to closet

Television
4 cat6, 2 rg6, 3 cat5e

2 Windows, 3 Garage doors, 1 external door, 1 motion, and 1 glass break
22/4 for each

Security keypad
2 cat5e

Network
2 cat6

Phone
2 cat6


Some of that might be overkill but I'd rather pull it and not need it than need something in a couple years and not have it. I've also put in a two inch conduit leading into the crawlspace above the garage and plan on putting in some smurf tube to LV boxes with pull string (thinking by the doors and tv?)

Any thoughts or advice is greatly appreciated.

Sorry for the poor sketch I'll try to put together something a little better tomorrow.

Thank you!

 

[DrunkenLizard]

would like to run hdmi to the tv as well but I think that run would be close to 70ft or so

 

[fcwilt]

Is the price difference between 5e and 6 enough to make a significant difference? If you look at the total cost of the home, wiring, etc does it save a meaningful amount?

I installed 6 everywhere just to keep things simple.

At my TV locations installed 4 RG6 and 4 CATx. The reason for the 4 RG6 was that the sat boxes needed 3 and I like to have an extra just in case. You have listed 4 CAT 6 and 3 CAT 5e - what is your plan for them?

 

[DrunkenLizard]

Main reason for using the cat5e is that I had a few cases sitting around, it wont be used for data or baluns, but for ir repeaters, rs232, etc if needed.

 

[tmbrown97]

Continuing our discussions here...

Cameras look decent - Really only need one Cat5 and an RG6 siamese would be nice; otherwise pull an 18/2 if you can. For outdoor cameras, if you think there's any chance of wanting a heated/cooled housing down the line, pull an 18/4 just for good measure.

Whole house audio - like you said, speakers home-run with a loop past the keypad for ultimate flexibility. Also consider if you want remote audio inputs in any of the rooms (iPod dock, etc) - if so, run a shielded stereo connection to that location.

Television - looks like overkill - so that's good ^_^ Still throw a smurf tube in there for good measure.

Doors/Windows - I'd just do 22/2 - keep it simpler to work with; but there's nothing wrong with 22/4 if you can stuff it in the wall out of the way but keep it serviceable.

Depending on how far apart the two windows are and what sort of room acoustics and window treatments, you might need two separate glassbreaks to cover them; hard to tell this early on.

For the security keypad, I'd personally do a Cat5 and an 18/4; or the two if you want

For HVAC, run at least 7-conductor tstat wiring along with a Cat5.

For network/phone, I run them all the same - so 2-3 per location and call it good; punch them down the same in the patch panel and don't differentiate.

For landscape lighting, it depends on your lighting technology; you can switch via relays/outputs or use UPB/Z-Wave on the transformer.

If you'll have sprinklers, it's nice to get a relay board out there to control that. For instance, with Elk I run a sub-panel out in the garage where a lot of those types of things go.

You also mentioned Garage specifically, so a couple wires for door contacts and for control of the door itself; probably best to run the ones for opening/closing to the opener button on the wall instead of the opener motor these days - that way if you want you can solder to the button pins and keep the smart panel working as intended. I also like a motion sensor in the garage for automation.

Other considerations: Anything you want to do with the doors (electronic latch, etc); wiring for a smarter doorbell (Cat5 or two); Ceiling mount WAP.

Intercom is the only one I don't think I've answered - I'll need to go look up a couple intercoms to see what they require. The one I gravitate most towards is the russound because it can work inline with the in-ceiling speakers if mounted nearby and it'll work with any brand; otherwise there are several makers.

 

[DrunkenLizard]

Thanks! got most of the wires run so far. What does everyone recommend for securing wire runs in a ceiling? Drings or such?

 

[Neurorad]

Cable D-ring, conduit clamp, bridle ring.

I recently used these GB multi cable 'staples', with good success:

 

[DrunkenLizard]

Thanks Neuro,
I have a few bags of those, working well in the garage crawlspace. Might order some D-rings or just pick up some conduit clamps for the large runs in the basement ceiling.

 

[DrunkenLizard]

anyone have any suggestions on where to buy coleman or similar quality cable online?

 

[Del91574]

You could probably do a one-shot through a supply house. Also look into CSC and Genesis cable.

 

[picta]

Monoprice has good cat cable, including shielded. It was easier to pull than the Coleman's because it had better jacketing. Performance wise I cannot tell the difference, both work great.

 

[Neurorad]

I recently emailed the author of a good cable book, Stephen Lampen, (Cable Installers Pocket Reference Guide), when I noticed he worked for Belden. I asked him about 1694A, to see where it was made. He confirmed that it was still made in the USA.

I'll pay a premium now, for US-made cable. The benefits, for me, outweigh the cost.

 

[foxtail22]

Don't know if your walls are still open but if possible, I would run a 2" PVC pipe from the box or basement if you have one to the crawl space in the attic area. This will let you add wires later if you find you need one you missed. You can drop wires down to from the attic in the interior walls by drilling a hole in the top plate and then fishing the wire down to a recessed box opening if you need to add something. i would also consider a pipe in the wall between where you hang your TV and the AV center with all the support equipment. This will let you add or upgrade HDMI or fiber optic cables as needed.

 

[apostolakisl]

Don't know if your walls are still open but if possible, I would run a 2" PVC pipe from the box or basement if you have one to the crawl space in the attic area. This will let you add wires later if you find you need one you missed. You can drop wires down to from the attic in the interior walls by drilling a hole in the top plate and then fishing the wire down to a recessed box opening if you need to add something. i would also consider a pipe in the wall between where you hang your TV and the AV center with all the support equipment. This will let you add or upgrade HDMI or fiber optic cables as needed.

I am a huge fan of conduit and agree. Also consider conduit to any of your exterior wall locations where you think you may want cables now or in the future. Interior walls are pretty easy to get into after the fact from basement or attic, but exterior walls are a much bigger challenge. You have insulation in the way and getting to the top plate or sill plate may be very challenging.