How to close in wiring closet?

[JimS]

In an unfinished part of the basement I put a 4 x 8 sheet of OSB on the studs and hung my stuff. Works fine but now I want to close it in - doesn't have to be anything too fancy. Thinking of getting a utility cabinet and mounting it a few inches off the floor for good air circulation. Would leave the top and bottom off or cut large holes. How much depth would you recommend? I thought about just making the sides and doors but I doubt I could do it for what a cheap cabinet would cost and have it look decent...

Area is not that full yet but I want to leave room for expansion so wanted to keep the 4' width.

Looking for advice and what others have done for this....

Thanks!

 

[sic0048]

Personally I would leave it as is. 1) It's in an unfinished space, so asthetics don't really matter. 2) Leaving it open for airflow will also allow the same amount of dust and dirt to accumulate vs leaving it open. 3) Closing it in will make it harder to work on 4) It is an expense to close it in.

Personally I would wait until you are ready to finish off that part of the basement before I made anything closed it. Another option would be to get a couple large LV cans and transition from the board mount to the cans. This would give you the closed in/finished look, but also allows you to easily finish off the area with drywall in the future without any hassles. But then you have the expense of buying the cans.

PS - there is nothing wrong with simply leaving the OSB sheets up for good. There are a lot of setups that use this exact method. As long as you can secure access to it (more for commercial settings, but potential residential issues might warrant this), there is no need to have the equipment enclosed.

 

[Neurorad]

Depends on how much effort you want to put into the project, and how much time you have.

If it will be a finished space some day, I'd put in a closet made from studs and drywall, with a real door. Will you need to lock up the equipment - kids around? If dust is a concern, you could seal it tight, and add a fan with a filter, as needed. Or, cut a hole in the door, and add a filter. Or fit a filter into a louvered panel in the door.

4' x 8' utility cabinet? What do you have in mind?

Might be a good opportunity to learn about framing and drywall. Store-bought door with a frame, mounted inside wall studs, is probably easier to do than a home-built cabinet.

Might be a good opportunity to learn about building cabinets.

Of course, might be a good opportunity to learn about RS232 control, or anything else you could do with the free time you'll have if you don't worry about the equipment in the basement that nobody will see.

 

[JimS]

Personally I would leave it as is.

That has been my thinking and approach but it has a low SAF. This space will likely never be finished - the rest of the basement is finished and it's in an area with water heater, water softener, etc. If I finish (i.e drywall) it the tax man will value it more and tax it more (don't get me started on that...).

 

[PaulD]

My wiring closet has 6 ft wide bi-folding louvered closet doors on it. Folding them back give me lots of access plus they allow for airflow.

 

[pete_c]

I currently do not have a finshed basement.

I started with a home that was approximately 2 years old and a lot of "playing around room" in the basement utility area. I have redone plumbing and some infrastructure to create a utility room area of sorts. Relating to low voltage - HA - ETC. I started with one 42" Leviton can mounted on one of two pieces of plywood adjacent to the fuse panel. I ran all new cabling to same area. Initially I was hoping to fit everything in the one 42" can. It didn't happen and I've now expanded to both pieces of plywood. I've kind of also built a rack area about 10 feet from the "demarc" where I put another patch panel and have added electric. This "rack" area is kind of mobile and it will be adjacent (same wall) as the Utility room which most likely will remain pretty unfinished interiorly. The utility room will eventually have a subsection / room for the computer rack and it will remain out of view from the rest of the basement. I could put two more cans in place to give it a "neater" look but not sure when I will stop playing.

In FL I put both the Leviton can / HAI can in one closet with small bi-fold door. Its a tight fit as its only about 3 foot wide. I had wire shelves in the closet and cut them to fit in front of the two cans. So the closet works still as a regular closet and a wiring HA closet. The 28" can today is only CAT5, network, patch panel, telephone, speaker cable and RG-6. Another can houses the HAI panel. They are now interconnected. I cannot fit any more into the 28" panel it so may expand to a third can on the same wall.

I'm asking how finished are you with the area in question? "Capacity Planning" comes to mind.

Its easy for me now because that part of the house is not being used. Its different for you because you are using your basement and at a point of making the "wiring closet" aesthetically pleasing. (I am guessing here)