Pull security wire into existing home questions

[hunter69]

I have a Ranch style home with an attic and some vaulted ceilings.  I have access to the attic but only in some areas (due to vaulted ceilings.  All exterior walls are spray foam insulation.  So I know most people would probably go wireless.  I really don't want wireless due to having metal siding and roof.  I also don't like wireless due to the possibility of weird connection issues and batteries.  So I have been contemplating a way to gain access to each window. So here are my thoughts:
 
I have an aluminum soffit on a metal track.  The soffit is probably 2' in width.  From my wiring closet I can access the soffit.  SO I am wondering if anyone has had experience/success removing existing soffit panels with little damage.  I believe that if I can remove the soffit panels I will be able to access each window with little damage to existing sheetrock.
 
Thoughts?
 
 
 
Thanks for your time 
Bill

 

[sic0048]

How do you plan on running the wire from the soffit to the window?  I've never tried it, but I assume that the spray foam insulation is going to make pulling wires in the walls much harder than normal.  
 
It's hard enough to run wires in a pre-existing space when you have the right access.  It sounds like wireless is certainly an option to consider.  I would suggest buying a couple of wireless transmitters and trying them out.  See if you have interference from the metal siding and roof.  I doubt that you will.  We have aluminum siding and the wireless sensors we have work flawlessly.  I'm have a split level house and have quite good access to much of the house to pull wire from either the attic or crawl space.  I did initially pull wire to my door locations, but with the windows I decided it was easier to go wireless.  I haven't second guessed that decision at all.........

 

[standon]

I have spray foam in my house.  Usually it's sprayed on the exterior wall, then on mine I have some regular insulation on the inside half of the wall close to the drywall.  You might have the insulation with the foil or a vapor barrier, either one will be on the inside (warm) wall.
 
No idea on how to remove the soffit, but you'll probably need a hole to be patched (or two or three or more) inside near the window.  Many windows have two or three 2x4s stuck together as a framing support, either on the sides below or on top. To get into the framed part of the window you'd need a hole big enough to drill straight through these frames without drilling through the house exterior, which means your hole would have to be wide enough to fit your drill and an appropriate sized drill bit.  Not sure what kind of windows you have, but coming in from the top isn't always optimal, on my windows the middle side is where I would need a sensor.
 
If you take a look at this picture below, you would be drilling through the empty space between floors, then down through the double header at the top of the wall, then in through several 2x4s to the window.  Each turn might need a hole in the drywall since you need to be able to drill the hole and pull a continuous wire through it.  Your framing may not look like this though...  Anyway, for me this was way too much work and way too many windows (I have approximately 34 windows and doors).  Wireless has not been any trouble for me at all.
 

 
I'm going to edit my post with a suggestion... do you have crown moulding?  It may be easier (if wireless is not an option for you) to run the security cable through the crown moulding, dropping it into the walls where needed.  Then you could put up the moulding and hide the wires and holes.  You might still need holes to get to your destination on the window.  Yes, this could get expensive, but just another idea.

 

[hunter69]

Well we (my family) built this house back in 1996.  I did not wire for security due to lack of foresight.  So I know quite bit about the structure and insulation.  The foam insulation was sprayed on the outer wall.  This is a 2x6 wall.  We filled most of the wall with foam but there should be enough room for a wire.  If my memory serves me correctly if I can remove the soffit panels (without damage) then I should be able to gain access.
 
I really appreciate the help.  I guess all I can do is try one window and see  if it will work.  If not you guys have any suggests as to good wireless sensors for use with casement windows and an Elk M1 gold?
 
Thanks
Bill

 

[drvnbysound]

I'm interested to hear about your efforts when you give that first window a shot. I have a great feeling that you will be frustrated and find it to be more difficult than you were thinking... and end up going with wireless sensors. I'd love to be wrong, but this is based on doing various wiring jobs in my own house as well as others.... it's almost never as easy as it seems, even if it is just one wire.
 
Edit: You can take a look at my SMCs in a couple of places here on the forum; one of the threads is just a few below this one. The majority of my alarm wiring was done pre-sheetrock. The electrician pulled phone and cable to the outside demarc locations; I've since pulled them back into my SMC, and run a decent amount of Cat5E cable for networking. The latter was done in the past year, which was all retrofitting work...

 

[pete_c]

I am curious here too about your efforts.
 
Here the additional post wiring is related to WAF. 
 
That said I have gutted rooms that were not even 3 years old redoing them such that I have added circuits, speakers, more LV wiring so forth and so on. 

 

[Neurorad]

Maybe you could start with wireless, and replace with wired sensors slowly over the next 10 years.  Each time a room is painted, it's an opportunity to run new wires easily.
 
I have generally enjoyed the activity of retrofitting cables in my house.

 

[standon]

I reread my post and realized it sounded pretty negative... Hopefully it works out well for you and drywall patching is not necessarily a bad thing.  I have been able to make some right angle connections by drilling a 1" hole straight through the drywall and pulling through that, making the right angle connection outside the wall then pulling the other angle.  And Neurorad is correct, the success of it is pretty exciting (although for me no one celebrates with me, it's more like "So you're going to patch that hole tomorrow right?").  But my worst experiences have been in my garage (with crazy frame work) and exterior walls.
 
Anyways, in most parts of my home I have access from either above or below, and others (like the garage) I have drilled a giant hole to act as a conduit and ran like 25 wires through it.  My intent in the garage is to run the wires through a low voltage conduit... which honestly is on my to do list since the garage ceiling is about 14' high.  So my garage looks like a jungle with hanging ropes of coiled wire.  Most of my stuff is Cat5/6.  I bought an inspection camera from Costco when it was on sale for $75, and it's sort of useful when I can figure out which way is right and which way is left.  The problem with using it on exterior walls is that you probably have regular insulation stapled to the inside wall and nothing can be seen anyway.  I recommend having some good fishing tools - I frequently use my thinner 4' fiberglass rods with the hook attachment for retrofit wire running and fish tape is handy to have sometimes but much less useful for me than even a coat hanger.  I prefer 3/4" to 1"+ auger drill bits for going through studs since you need room to maneuver around and make the connection on a right angle.  I've probably gone through 4 different long auger bits, but watch out if you drill horizontally because mine tend to go through the wall since it's meant to subtly turn.