felixrosbergen
Senior Member
=========
30 October 2008
=========
ok, so i haven't updated this thread in a while. It's been rather busy with work, making choices and decisions on the house and spending many hours researching all the different automation options out there.
Updated pics will be posted soon, there has been much progress. Interior is being primed and kitchen is going in next week.
All the alarm wiring is in andbehind sheetrock, conduits are all in. I'm pretty happy with it overall. The hard thing is that there is no phone, coax and LAN wiring in the house at all, just the conduits. So first task at hand after closing is for me to go pull some wires so that we have at least some basic TV and Internet service in the house untill i run and terminate everything and install the panels, etc.
I'll be ordering the Elk soon and programming it as much as i can before we move in so there less time lost on that.
Construction is a bit delayed now, move in date is the day before Thanksgiving now...tentatively..
========
1 september 2008
========
Framing going on in full force. Progress is not bad with only 1 month of work in. But this baby needs to be delivered on 5 November which seems unlikely at this time.
Electrical walkthrough and final definition of any pre-wiring is coming up soon.
========
14 August 2008
========
Basement wall are up.
========
9 August 2008
========
Foundation poured and form remvoed.
Forms up for the walkout basement. Yep, it's 9', the tip of my finger is 8'.
=========
6 August 2008
=========
Foundation forms up.
========
2 August 2008
========
3/4" Flexible conduit experiment:
To test my planned concept of running 3/4" flexible conduit to the basement/attic from the LV outlet location I went to Lowe's an got 10' of Carlon ENT (blue smurftube) and some Cat5e and RG6QS. I don't expect any of the flex coduit run to be over 10' so that works out.
I load the 10' flex conduit on the floor and put 2 90 degree bends (one at beginning and one at the end) of about 1' radius in.
I was able to PUSH 2 RG6QS and 3 Cat5e runs through, I didnt even use the pullcord. With a bit more effort one might be able to get another cat5e in or make the total bundle 3 RG6QS + 2 Cat5e, but my feelings are that's about all that will fit in there.
I didnt' try to put some in first and then add some more...with a pullcord this may be possible, but worst case you unterminate, pull the existing cables and push the whole lot through again...a pain if if you plan right it shouldnt be necesarry.
Also did my first Cat5e keystone termination as a test .... (*^*&^ these wires are tiny... took less than 5 mins total so i don't think it's too bad. Didn't have a tested available...so i don't know if I did it right.
I have done some RG6QS termination before and this seems to be pretty straightforward with the right tool. I actually still don't know if i'm doing them fully correct. After i strip I peel and fold back the 2 layers of braid and foil, wiggle the plastic conductor into the compression fitting (remember to put the other piece on the cable first
and compress. I have been wondering if this is the proper way but can't seem to find a good answer. Alternatively on could try to wiggle the fitting between the plastic center conductor shield and the foil/braid, but that just seems hairy to me. My concern is that part of the braid gets distroyed when you fold it back, but i suppose since the whole thing is inside the connector i suppose it's properly shielder.
Next up: OnQ ALC Dimmer and Scene Switch Bench Test / Pilot install.
========
31 July 2008
========
The permit is FINALLY in. Supposedly digging starts on Monday the 4th of August leaving exactly 3 months for completely construction from nothing (well..the lot is cleared) to move in. I'm not so hopefull they can make it, but we'll see.
Cleared Lot:
========
28 July 2008
========
Framing / Final Layout meeting with developer/builder today.
- Changed bathroom to make it 5' x 3' with 2 shower heads, each with it's own control.
- Changed basement depth from 8' to 9' to ensure we can get 8' ceilings if we ever finish to basement.
- Builder confirmed the site allow us to have a walkout basement and he's proving sliding door and 2 windows without extra cost ( i guess framing/siding is much cheaper than concrete so they don't mind)
- Bulder confirmed the garage can be a 'sideload' rather than 'front load'. We much prefer the sideload since it makes the curb appeal much better IMHO.
- Made adjustments to the Master Bedroom closet to make it more functional
Unfortunately it appears the builder will frame/build of the red-lined set of prints we made that meeting. I actually don't have a copy to scan/post. Soon I'll probably draw up the house in Visio or something since i'll need that for GUI purposes anyway.
========
4 June 2008
========
Hi All,
Today 4 June 2008 i signed the contract to get my new house built. It is a 2500sqf 2 story single family home on a 1 acro lot in Connecticut. It is being built by a deveoper as one out of ten so technicall it's a tract home, but the builder/developer (actually the same guys owning both companies) are very flexible to adjust the house to our needs.
I hope to post the progress and ofcourse my home automation consideration here for other to see and hopefully for me to share what I learn as i go so that others may learn and I get a chance to give back to the cocoontech cummnity from which i have so far been mostly a taker.
12 June 2008
=========
Below are the tentative plans pending permit review and final framing meeting. Any comments on the floor plans are much appreciated as there is still time to change things if anybody has a good idea. Outside walls are pretty set, but inside walls can be moved without cost.
Ground Foor Plan
2nd Floor
Elevation
General Strategy:
Since the house is being built by a developed I cannot do any of the wiring myself. Therefore i must be carefull not to put in too much since i am paying dearly for it. The focus of pre-wiring is primairilly on the ground floor level since the 2nd floor is easilly accessed from the attic with batt insulation (no blown in....yeah).
For Alarm:
I am having the contractor pre-wire and mostly likely install recessed sensors in all doors/window. Also I will have him pre-wire for the keypads, sirens, thermostats and outside temp monitors as well as motion detectors at strategic locations on the ground floor. For alarm/automation platform i am looking at the Elk M1
For CATV/Ethernet:
Instead of having the contractor pre-wire i am having him put LV brackets with blank faceplates and 3/4" smurftube up to the attic (in case of 2nd floor) or down to the basement (in case of ground floor). They gave me a good price i think, $65 to put one of these locations in. I can then by the type/quality wiring i want and run it myself later. TV will be mostly ethernet based using HD extenders and SageTV. I am having three 2" trunks put in between the attic and basement.
For whole house audio:
I am having wiring put into every larger room on the ground floor for speakers and keypads and will have actual speakers and keypads installed in the kitchen and family room. If i want to go back and do the living/dinign room the wiring is already there. On the 2nd floor i am having speakers/keypads put into the master bath, master bedroom and office. Thats a total of 5 zones so 1 is available for outside. For audio distribution i am undecided, but running 14/4 and cat5 from basement to keypad location to speakers gives lots of options. Like i will be using a Russound CAV or CAM.
Other house info:
- Gas heating
- Well water
- Septic
This is about are far as the plans are now. I am working to mark up the plans with the location for all the devices. I hope to get comments from the good patrons of CT.
30 October 2008
=========
ok, so i haven't updated this thread in a while. It's been rather busy with work, making choices and decisions on the house and spending many hours researching all the different automation options out there.
Updated pics will be posted soon, there has been much progress. Interior is being primed and kitchen is going in next week.
All the alarm wiring is in andbehind sheetrock, conduits are all in. I'm pretty happy with it overall. The hard thing is that there is no phone, coax and LAN wiring in the house at all, just the conduits. So first task at hand after closing is for me to go pull some wires so that we have at least some basic TV and Internet service in the house untill i run and terminate everything and install the panels, etc.
I'll be ordering the Elk soon and programming it as much as i can before we move in so there less time lost on that.
Construction is a bit delayed now, move in date is the day before Thanksgiving now...tentatively..
========
1 september 2008
========
Framing going on in full force. Progress is not bad with only 1 month of work in. But this baby needs to be delivered on 5 November which seems unlikely at this time.
Electrical walkthrough and final definition of any pre-wiring is coming up soon.
========
14 August 2008
========
Basement wall are up.
========
9 August 2008
========
Foundation poured and form remvoed.
Forms up for the walkout basement. Yep, it's 9', the tip of my finger is 8'.
=========
6 August 2008
=========
Foundation forms up.
========
2 August 2008
========
3/4" Flexible conduit experiment:
To test my planned concept of running 3/4" flexible conduit to the basement/attic from the LV outlet location I went to Lowe's an got 10' of Carlon ENT (blue smurftube) and some Cat5e and RG6QS. I don't expect any of the flex coduit run to be over 10' so that works out.
I load the 10' flex conduit on the floor and put 2 90 degree bends (one at beginning and one at the end) of about 1' radius in.
I was able to PUSH 2 RG6QS and 3 Cat5e runs through, I didnt even use the pullcord. With a bit more effort one might be able to get another cat5e in or make the total bundle 3 RG6QS + 2 Cat5e, but my feelings are that's about all that will fit in there.
I didnt' try to put some in first and then add some more...with a pullcord this may be possible, but worst case you unterminate, pull the existing cables and push the whole lot through again...a pain if if you plan right it shouldnt be necesarry.
Also did my first Cat5e keystone termination as a test .... (*^*&^ these wires are tiny... took less than 5 mins total so i don't think it's too bad. Didn't have a tested available...so i don't know if I did it right.
I have done some RG6QS termination before and this seems to be pretty straightforward with the right tool. I actually still don't know if i'm doing them fully correct. After i strip I peel and fold back the 2 layers of braid and foil, wiggle the plastic conductor into the compression fitting (remember to put the other piece on the cable first
and compress. I have been wondering if this is the proper way but can't seem to find a good answer. Alternatively on could try to wiggle the fitting between the plastic center conductor shield and the foil/braid, but that just seems hairy to me. My concern is that part of the braid gets distroyed when you fold it back, but i suppose since the whole thing is inside the connector i suppose it's properly shielder.Next up: OnQ ALC Dimmer and Scene Switch Bench Test / Pilot install.
========
31 July 2008
========
The permit is FINALLY in. Supposedly digging starts on Monday the 4th of August leaving exactly 3 months for completely construction from nothing (well..the lot is cleared) to move in. I'm not so hopefull they can make it, but we'll see.
Cleared Lot:
========
28 July 2008
========
Framing / Final Layout meeting with developer/builder today.
- Changed bathroom to make it 5' x 3' with 2 shower heads, each with it's own control.
- Changed basement depth from 8' to 9' to ensure we can get 8' ceilings if we ever finish to basement.
- Builder confirmed the site allow us to have a walkout basement and he's proving sliding door and 2 windows without extra cost ( i guess framing/siding is much cheaper than concrete so they don't mind)
- Bulder confirmed the garage can be a 'sideload' rather than 'front load'. We much prefer the sideload since it makes the curb appeal much better IMHO.
- Made adjustments to the Master Bedroom closet to make it more functional
Unfortunately it appears the builder will frame/build of the red-lined set of prints we made that meeting. I actually don't have a copy to scan/post. Soon I'll probably draw up the house in Visio or something since i'll need that for GUI purposes anyway.
========
4 June 2008
========
Hi All,
Today 4 June 2008 i signed the contract to get my new house built. It is a 2500sqf 2 story single family home on a 1 acro lot in Connecticut. It is being built by a deveoper as one out of ten so technicall it's a tract home, but the builder/developer (actually the same guys owning both companies) are very flexible to adjust the house to our needs.
I hope to post the progress and ofcourse my home automation consideration here for other to see and hopefully for me to share what I learn as i go so that others may learn and I get a chance to give back to the cocoontech cummnity from which i have so far been mostly a taker.
12 June 2008
=========
Below are the tentative plans pending permit review and final framing meeting. Any comments on the floor plans are much appreciated as there is still time to change things if anybody has a good idea. Outside walls are pretty set, but inside walls can be moved without cost.
Ground Foor Plan
2nd Floor
Elevation
General Strategy:
Since the house is being built by a developed I cannot do any of the wiring myself. Therefore i must be carefull not to put in too much since i am paying dearly for it. The focus of pre-wiring is primairilly on the ground floor level since the 2nd floor is easilly accessed from the attic with batt insulation (no blown in....yeah).
For Alarm:
I am having the contractor pre-wire and mostly likely install recessed sensors in all doors/window. Also I will have him pre-wire for the keypads, sirens, thermostats and outside temp monitors as well as motion detectors at strategic locations on the ground floor. For alarm/automation platform i am looking at the Elk M1
For CATV/Ethernet:
Instead of having the contractor pre-wire i am having him put LV brackets with blank faceplates and 3/4" smurftube up to the attic (in case of 2nd floor) or down to the basement (in case of ground floor). They gave me a good price i think, $65 to put one of these locations in. I can then by the type/quality wiring i want and run it myself later. TV will be mostly ethernet based using HD extenders and SageTV. I am having three 2" trunks put in between the attic and basement.
For whole house audio:
I am having wiring put into every larger room on the ground floor for speakers and keypads and will have actual speakers and keypads installed in the kitchen and family room. If i want to go back and do the living/dinign room the wiring is already there. On the 2nd floor i am having speakers/keypads put into the master bath, master bedroom and office. Thats a total of 5 zones so 1 is available for outside. For audio distribution i am undecided, but running 14/4 and cat5 from basement to keypad location to speakers gives lots of options. Like i will be using a Russound CAV or CAM.
Other house info:
- Gas heating
- Well water
- Septic
This is about are far as the plans are now. I am working to mark up the plans with the location for all the devices. I hope to get comments from the good patrons of CT.
