Wiring a garage (personal shop) and getting to low voltage. I know to keep it away from power and such. Thinking two drops of CAT 5e or 6 for each location homerun to the wiring "closet" area will allow for most things. Wondering about stapling it to the framing. Think I used staples with a crown in them so the wire isn't pinched when I wired the house but it's been a long time. Is that the preferred way? I could do conduit but not sure I need to do that in the walls. If I ever need to update things I could run surface conduit or just tack the wire to the wall since it's a working garage not a showplace. I want things to be neat but doesn't have to be perfect.
Attaching CAT5/6 to framing?
- Thread starter JimS
- Start date
upstatemike
Senior Member
Staples can sometimes cut the jacket of Cat5. Cat6 is sensitive to internal spacing between conductors and should not be compressed at any point (even has a center spacer to help maintain spacing. I would not be comfortable using staples on UTP wires even if they are wiring staples but that is just me. You could use romex staples and just pound them in enough to hold but allow the wires to be pulled through. I would not use any method that attaches tightly or where the cable is pressed against the beam.
pete_c
Guru
Here in the unfinished attic and basement went up to the rafters and used PVC pipe hangers on every stud. For coming down unfinished wood framing I used a drywall screw and a plastic strap with a little loop on it. Never stapled any wires in place.
Over did it in the finished garage on some low voltage wires using plastic PVC. IE: for wires going to GDO and sensor wires on each side of the garage door. The original garage door wires were all stapled in.
Over did it in the finished garage on some low voltage wires using plastic PVC. IE: for wires going to GDO and sensor wires on each side of the garage door. The original garage door wires were all stapled in.
If you have a small number of places that need fastening, you could use these cable staples and hand-hammer them.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HWMWWCK
If you have more than a few, a cable staple gun is the way to go. They use staples with a nice, round crown that won't damage the cable.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004Z2JX
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HWMWWCK
If you have more than a few, a cable staple gun is the way to go. They use staples with a nice, round crown that won't damage the cable.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004Z2JX
Cable ties (zip ties) with nail/screw ring. I pulled several miles of cat cable in a large house construction recently and attaching to framing using this method was the least time consuming part of it. You don't need to fasten often. Of course, this method works from a single cable up to large parall run bundles at once, so I guess the more runs pulled the more efficient this gets. I used drywall screwed because strength isn't a concern and they are quick to drive.
Don't have to worry about nicking or crimping a wire, easy to remove if needed.
Don't have to worry about nicking or crimping a wire, easy to remove if needed.
upstatemike
Senior Member
I have used this method except I pull the able tie just tight enough to make a loop large enough where I can add additional cables without removing the old tie and putting a new one on. There is no need to tie the cable down firmly and life is easier if you have the option to pull another cable through the loops if you need to add one at the last minute.rhosch said:
upstatemike
Senior Member
As it happens I am currently installing some Cat6 wire for volume controls so I need to address this same question. In this case I settled on the square wire-tie pads that mount with one sheetrock screw and then a wire tie slides through the slots so you can make a loop. Super cheap and very flexible for different mounting surfaces.
