My 1927 bungalow home structured wiring project

[Technique]

Hopefully this is the right forum for this post, I think Home Automation is correct

SUMMARY:
The purpose of this thread is to document my structured wiring project and solicit any tips/advice along the way from the community here.

HISTORY:
My wife and I recently purchased an older 1927 home, which was remodeled just before we moved in. Unfortunately, the wiring was not redone so now I am in the unenviable position of starting to rewire the entire house while trying to destroy as little of the existing freshly painted walls as possible.

The house is 3 levels with above ground cables bringing in utilities - Level 1) Unfinished basement with exposed ceilings - Level 2) Finished 1st floor - Level 3) Finished 2nd floor

I started by ripping out all existing wires (copper, coax, security and a little ethernet)... A total hodge-podge of daisy-chained mess from nearly 100+ years of previous residents... I even found some old braided phone cable... Anyway, FIOS was installed a few days ago on the basement concrete wall in the utility room, and all the copper coming inside the house and the old NID on the side of the house are gone, with only the new ONT in the basement. Access to the first floor will be easy as the basement ceiling is exposed so I can run wires with no problem. Trickier is the 2nd floor, which I am planning to run 2" PVC pipe on the side of the house alongside the freon lines from the second zone HVAC unit into the attic as there are no clean ways to run wires up to the 2nd floor from the basement, let alone conduit which I would like to have everywhere.

As of now, the house is essentially wire-free except for power.

CURRENT HOUSE LAYOUT:
There are no jacks/outlets in any rooms. Rooms are configured as follows:

1st floor:
Kitchen - Small, perhaps a TV or radio or something in the future
Dining Room - Formal with large table, side bar, chandelier, and big mirrors on the wall - No plans for any electronics in this room
Living Room - Formal with fireplace, lots of windows, antique furniture - No plans for any electronics in this room
Bathroom - Small, no plans for TV or anything like that
Den - 52" LCD with surround sound and couch - This is where we watch movies, play PS3, etc...
Study - Desk with laptop docking station - Used daily
Nook - Small open area in the back of the house leading out to the deck - China Cabinet, Piano and wine cooler are currently there.

2nd floor:
Office - Desk with laptop docking station and printer - Used daily
Master Bedroom - Currently no TV, but maybe in the future
Master Bathroom - Small, no plans for TV or anything like that

PLANNED HOUSE LAYOUT:
Conduit to all planned drops:
1st floor - Kitchen (nothing for now), Dining Room (nothing for now), Living Room (nothing for now), Bathroom (nothing for now), Den (2 drops), Study (1 drop), Nook (1 drop)
2nd floor - Office (2 drops), Master Bedroom (2 drops), Master bathroom (nothing for now)

PLAN:
4 lines per drop - 2 cat6 and 2 RG6 quad (via conduit wherever possible)
All terminating in basement in utility room
CWP will be a 24-port patch panel in a 7U wall mount bracket mounted to plywood on the cinderblock wall (Have not thought about what to do with the RG6 yet)

PARTS PURCHASED SO FAR:

From monoprice:
1 - Wall Mount Bracket, 12.25X19X12 (inch) ,7U
50 - 10/32 Screw for Rack, Black
1 - Single Sided Shelf, 3.5(H)X10(D)X19(W), 30Lbs
1 - Cat 6 UTP Solid, Riser Rated (CMR), 500MHz 23WG 1000FT Bulk Cable - Black
12 - CAT 6 500MHz UTP 2FT Cable - Yellow
6 - Keystone Jack - Modular F Type (Black)
1 - Professional Compression Crimping Tool [HT-H548A3]
1 - Universal Cable Jacket Stripper [HT-352]
6 - Wall Plate for Keystone, 4 Hole -White
6 - Blank Insert For Wall Plate - White
1 - Cat6 Panel 110 Type 24 Port (568A/B Compatible)

From firefold:
12 - Cat6 Keystone Jack, 110 Style - Black
1 - Keystone Jack Punch Down Stand
1 - 1000 Foot RG6U Single Quad Shield - Black

From ebay:
50 - PPC RG6 EX6XL Compression Connectors

TOTAL COST SO FAR:
$396

GOAL:
To have a semi-impressive, crisp structured wiring setup in my house that is fairly future-proofed.

NOTES:
As of now, we only have FIOS internet, no TV. I have not had Cable TV for about 6 months. I gave it up for new years 2009 and have not really missed it as I have netflix and don't watch much TV. What little TV I do watch I can watch for free streaming from the stations websites or sites like hulu. That being said, I think my wife will probably insist on bringing TV back at some point, and besides, I want to be as future proofed as possible.

PENDING QUESTIONS:
1) How to terminate my RG6 in the CWP?
2) What size PVC pipe should I run from the CWP to the attic for my existing plan?
3) Are 2 cat6 and 2 quad RG6 per drop a good start?
4) Any suggestions on power for my 19" wide wall mount rack?
5) Any suggestions on mounting my FIOS box in my 19" wide wall mount rack?
6) I am considering installing a security system (ADT, etc.) and don't know if I should run security wire in anticipation of that or just have enough conduit run to pull whatever I need later... I don't know anything about security systems or even if security wire is still used.

MISC:
Please no "cat 5e vs cat 6", "standard vs quad shield", "lcd vs plasma", "PS3 vs xbox", "coax vs optical", or whatever comments in this thread.

Please let me know if you would like pics of anything specific posted.

I will edit this original post as questions are answered/suggestions are made.

Finally, thanks to everyone for their thoughts!

 

[sic0048]

1) Some sort of coaxial patch panel that works similarly to the cat5 patch panel. Channel Vision makes structured wiring RG-6 patch panels - search for model #C-0213.

Another option is to use something designed for a rack. Somthing like this:

I've gone both routes. For the rack sized solution I made my own using a 2u blank rack cover and drilling it with holes to fit f barrel connectors. It was a lot cheaper than buying something like that premade.

2) THe largest one you can. Keep in mind that you only be able to fill it up about 1/2 way before it becomes too hard to fish more wires. You will never be able to fill the tube to capacity unless you fish all the wires at one time (even then you'll fight with it). So a 4" diameter conduit might only fit about 2" worth of wire.

3) If you are not going to run any precision coaxial wire for video distribution (not the same as TV broadcast distribution), then I would run a min of 3 cat6 wires. If you want to run component or HDMI video, you'll need at least 1 and potentially 2 of those wires to do that. Even with 3 wires, that only leaves 1 for IR distribution or phone or LAN.

4) I ran 2 20amp dedicated circuits to my equipment closet. I then use several plug strips (some rack mounted some normal plug strips), UPCs, etc to meet my power needs.

5) I wouldn't mount it in the rack. I'd either get a structured wiring enclosure or simply mount a sheet of plywood to the wall to mount devices like that on. Similar method to the old greenboards used in telecom setups.

6) If what you are doing wiring now that will require fixes to the existing walls, then run the security wire now. If you are simply going to run wire when and if you can without tearing anything up, then it really doesn't matter when you run the wire. There is a great Wiring 101 and Wiring 102 guide on this site that talk about what kinds of wire to run for all things (not just security). If you haven't read them, I suggest you look them over.

Also keep in mind that you can get wireless security devices for a lot of the different security systems. Each device costs about $40 more than it's hardwired comparable, but it allows you to set a system up without tearning into walls, etc.

Welcome to the site! I just wanted to keep my answers short and to the point, but feel free to ask more questions!

 

[signal15]

I just have one RG-6 to each room because that was what was wired when I moved in. My plan is to have all of my receiver equipment in the rack in the basement, so I'm not even going through the trouble of running it.

For areas that are going to have a TV or audio equipment, I'm running 6-8 Cat6's. You can do HDMI over 2 Cat6 with an extender. I chose NOT to run HDMI because in 5 years it probably won't even exist anymore and everyone will be using DisplayPort or something better.

I have 6 Cat6 in my office now, but it's full, so I'm going to run another 6 on the other side of the room. My basement is currently unfinished also, but I'm putting a riser to the attic with 24 ports of Cat6 on each end. Then once the basement is finished, I can easily drop more down the walls if I need to, and just plug the other end into the attic patch panel. Wire is cheap, and if you're going through the trouble, run way more than you think you need. You don't even have to terminate it all.

 

[Technique]

1) Some sort of coaxial patch panel that works similarly to the cat5 patch panel. Channel Vision makes structured wiring RG-6 patch panels - search for model #C-0213.

Another option is to use something designed for a rack. Somthing like this:

I've gone both routes. For the rack sized solution I made my own using a 2u blank rack cover and drilling it with holes to fit f barrel connectors. It was a lot cheaper than buying something like that premade.

2) THe largest one you can. Keep in mind that you only be able to fill it up about 1/2 way before it becomes too hard to fish more wires. You will never be able to fill the tube to capacity unless you fish all the wires at one time (even then you'll fight with it). So a 4" diameter conduit might only fit about 2" worth of wire.

3) If you are not going to run any precision coaxial wire for video distribution (not the same as TV broadcast distribution), then I would run a min of 3 cat6 wires. If you want to run component or HDMI video, you'll need at least 1 and potentially 2 of those wires to do that. Even with 3 wires, that only leaves 1 for IR distribution or phone or LAN.

4) I ran 2 20amp dedicated circuits to my equipment closet. I then use several plug strips (some rack mounted some normal plug strips), UPCs, etc to meet my power needs.

5) I wouldn't mount it in the rack. I'd either get a structured wiring enclosure or simply mount a sheet of plywood to the wall to mount devices like that on. Similar method to the old greenboards used in telecom setups.

6) If what you are doing wiring now that will require fixes to the existing walls, then run the security wire now. If you are simply going to run wire when and if you can without tearing anything up, then it really doesn't matter when you run the wire. There is a great Wiring 101 and Wiring 102 guide on this site that talk about what kinds of wire to run for all things (not just security). If you haven't read them, I suggest you look them over.

Also keep in mind that you can get wireless security devices for a lot of the different security systems. Each device costs about $40 more than it's hardwired comparable, but it allows you to set a system up without tearning into walls, etc.

Welcome to the site! I just wanted to keep my answers short and to the point, but feel free to ask more questions!

1) OK, looks like a coax patch panel is in my future... 2U 24 port...

2) I think 2" is the biggest I could do without upsetting the wife with aesthetics of pipes running up the side of the house

3) Hmmm, didn't know there was something called "precision coax"... Is the quad-shield RG6 I am running considered precision? If not, I'm fine doing just 1 RG6 and 3 cat6 considering I don't even have cable TV right now...

4) I've decided on a dedicated 20 amp circuit for sure... Possibly 2 of them...

5) Sounds good, I'll just leave it on the wall by itself, on some plywood that is furred to the cinderblock...

6) I'll read them right now, but I think I am going to hold off on the security because I am going to wire with MINIMAL wall destruction, so ya, maybe I'll just go wireless in the future for security...

Tthanks!

 

[Technique]

I just have one RG-6 to each room because that was what was wired when I moved in. My plan is to have all of my receiver equipment in the rack in the basement, so I'm not even going through the trouble of running it.

For areas that are going to have a TV or audio equipment, I'm running 6-8 Cat6's. You can do HDMI over 2 Cat6 with an extender. I chose NOT to run HDMI because in 5 years it probably won't even exist anymore and everyone will be using DisplayPort or something better.

I have 6 Cat6 in my office now, but it's full, so I'm going to run another 6 on the other side of the room. My basement is currently unfinished also, but I'm putting a riser to the attic with 24 ports of Cat6 on each end. Then once the basement is finished, I can easily drop more down the walls if I need to, and just plug the other end into the attic patch panel. Wire is cheap, and if you're going through the trouble, run way more than you think you need. You don't even have to terminate it all.

Sorry if I sound ignorant, but what is a "riser to the attic"? Is this an HVAC vent that you will run from your basement to the attic?

Yes, I will try and run as much cat6 as possible... Seems like you are favoring cat6 runs over more RG6 runs huh?

 

[tmbrown97]

The riser should be some sort of pathway from the basement to the attic. Ideally central to the floorplan or as close as possible to the location in the basement where the wire terminates... It needs to be good sized - personally I'd think 4" to be about right - larger if you can. Others will have opinions as well...

 

[sic0048]

1) OK, looks like a coax patch panel is in my future... 2U 24 port...

2) I think 2" is the biggest I could do without upsetting the wife with aesthetics of pipes running up the side of the house

3) Hmmm, didn't know there was something called "precision coax"... Is the quad-shield RG6 I am running considered precision? If not, I'm fine doing just 1 RG6 and 3 cat6 considering I don't even have cable TV right now...

4) I've decided on a dedicated 20 amp circuit for sure... Possibly 2 of them...

5) Sounds good, I'll just leave it on the wall by itself, on some plywood that is furred to the cinderblock...

6) I'll read them right now, but I think I am going to hold off on the security because I am going to wire with MINIMAL wall destruction, so ya, maybe I'll just go wireless in the future for security...

Tthanks!

Another set of short answers here. I'm not trying to be rude

3) There is regular coaxial cable (mostly designed for broadcast signals - signals from antennas, cable, satellite, etc). However, there is also "precision coaxial" cable. This has different design specs. It generally has a solid coper core (rather than a copper clad steel core) and copper tinned shielding (rather than aluminum). It is designed for line level signals (like component, S-video, and composite video feeds and analog and digital audio feeds). That is not to say that you cannot be successful running those types of signals over regular coaxial cable. But the regular cable is not designed for it, so I would test it before I counted on it to work.

I tried using regular RG-6 wire to distribute HD over component in my house and the results were unwatchable. Heavy ghosting and flickering made the feeds unwatchable. I switched to a mini-coax sized precision coax cable and can now distribute those HD signals all over the house.

The precision cable is more expensive than the regular coax because of the additional copper used in the construction and we all know how high copper prices are now. However, the extra cost may be worth it in order to ensure success. Also, the additional cost of the wire could be much less than the cost of the video baluns required to send an HD video signal over cat6 wire. If you feel that you will immediately have a need for the distribution of HD signals over component wires, then I would buy the precision cable. If there is not an immediate need, and it is more of a "future proof" scenerio, then running enough cat6 wire is probably sufficent. You can buy the baluns when and if you ever need them (plus the price may drop on the baluns over time).

4) If you are pulling a new wire for the new circuit (and generally you have to) then running a 12-3 wire (three 12 guage wires in a single insulated "wire") is just as easy as running a 12-2 wire (two 12 guage wires in a insulated "wire") which is the minimum required for a 20 amp circuit. So I simply ran 1 wire that was a 12-3 to supply both 20 amp circuits. The 12-3 wire costs a little more than the 12-2, but installation should be the same with either.

Hope that helps!

 

[nexus99]

Some things to think about.

If you ever plan to use a whole home audio system (Russound or similar) you might want to budget in a CAT5/6 run for each room for the wall controllers. You might not want tit now... but it is very cool when you get it. I only have 3 zones but we use it all the time (MBR, Office, LR).

Make sure you have a minimum of 2 CAT 6 to any location that might house a TV in the future. Everything will be be connected in another couple of years (if everything you have isn't already).

Considering your viewing habits I would imagine that you might be looking at a tiny HTPC in the future (one of the atom/ion boxes that can do 1080p out of a integrated HDMI port).

If you listen to music much you might want to think about how you want to handle your music storage in the future. Physical media is withering already... and most people on these boards are all ripped files onnly already.

Just some thoughts!

 

[Technique]

Looks like I can get a 32-port F-connector patch panel (2U size) for $40 + shipping... Only a few dollars more than the 24-port one, so guess I should get as many ports as will fit in 2U?

My hesitation is it will be too crowded and maybe the extra spacing is better with 24-ports... Dunno... Heck, I'm only going to be using maybe 4 of them once I get TV, so this is mucho overkill

24 PORT:

32 PORT:

I picked up 50 PPC 3ghz barrel connectors on ebay for $15 shipped so I can go 24 or 32 port... Thoughts?

 

[Technique]

Some pics of what I have so far for those that are interested:

Firefold's 1000 ft bulk quad shield RG6:

Monoprice's 1000 ft bulk Cat 6:

Monoprice and firefold bulk 1000 ft cat 6 and quad shield RG6:

The rest of the misc stuff:

 

[Technique]

Some things to think about.

If you ever plan to use a whole home audio system (Russound or similar) you might want to budget in a CAT5/6 run for each room for the wall controllers. You might not want tit now... but it is very cool when you get it. I only have 3 zones but we use it all the time (MBR, Office, LR).

Make sure you have a minimum of 2 CAT 6 to any location that might house a TV in the future. Everything will be be connected in another couple of years (if everything you have isn't already).

Considering your viewing habits I would imagine that you might be looking at a tiny HTPC in the future (one of the atom/ion boxes that can do 1080p out of a integrated HDMI port).

If you listen to music much you might want to think about how you want to handle your music storage in the future. Physical media is withering already... and most people on these boards are all ripped files onnly already.

Just some thoughts!

Ya, I already use my laptop as an HTPC via docking station and DVI-to-HDMI from the docking station to my 52" LCD... So 2 cat 6 is a minimum... I'm now wondering if I'm better running 3 cat6 and 1 rg6... Or, 3 cat 6 and 2 RG6... Wow... lol...

I am 100% ripped files for music and about 1/2 of my video... I still use physical media for all blu-ray and for occasional DVDs... I currently have a mid-size tower server with about 3TB of storage for that... Definitely need more space... Thoughts?

 

[sic0048]

The only real reason to run 2 RG-6 is to have the ability to run an antenna for local OTA reception and cable/sat at the same time. The problem is that the TV also needs to have two coaxial connectors on the back. Many TVs had this in the past, but newer TVs only seem to have 1 coaxial connector on them. So you would probably be fine only running 1 RG-6 wire to each TV location.

Keep in mind that you want a RG-6 run to any stereo receiver or FM tuner as well. This way you can plug in an antenna that is mounted somewhere hidden. If you are going to have a TV and recevier in one location, then you need to run 2 RG-6 wires to that spot.

 

[jumbodogs]

My Directv receiver needs 2 RG-6 wires ... I would run at least 2 RG-6 to each TV. I also read how some people have used RG-6 for sub wire.

 

[nexus99]

Some things to think about.

If you ever plan to use a whole home audio system (Russound or similar) you might want to budget in a CAT5/6 run for each room for the wall controllers. You might not want tit now... but it is very cool when you get it. I only have 3 zones but we use it all the time (MBR, Office, LR).

Make sure you have a minimum of 2 CAT 6 to any location that might house a TV in the future. Everything will be be connected in another couple of years (if everything you have isn't already).

Considering your viewing habits I would imagine that you might be looking at a tiny HTPC in the future (one of the atom/ion boxes that can do 1080p out of a integrated HDMI port).

If you listen to music much you might want to think about how you want to handle your music storage in the future. Physical media is withering already... and most people on these boards are all ripped files onnly already.

Just some thoughts!

Ya, I already use my laptop as an HTPC via docking station and DVI-to-HDMI from the docking station to my 52" LCD... So 2 cat 6 is a minimum... I'm now wondering if I'm better running 3 cat6 and 1 rg6... Or, 3 cat 6 and 2 RG6... Wow... lol...

I am 100% ripped files for music and about 1/2 of my video... I still use physical media for all blu-ray and for occasional DVDs... I currently have a mid-size tower server with about 3TB of storage for that... Definitely need more space... Thoughts?

For my home storage I went the route of a home brew Windows Home Server. To get video on the TV I use a small HTPC with a drive mapped back to the server. It playes well dragging the file over the 1000mb (gige) network. (You should make sure to use gige switches throughout your install).

For music I use iTunes loaded on the same server. I use an Apple Airport Express to get the music from the server to my CAM6.6 . (I really like running everything possible over my TCP network... I don't like having all the additional unnecessary cabling.) An iPod touch is used to remotely control the music from whatever room I am listening in. The last part to my puzzle is an iPod app to control my CAM6.6. I will probably have to write my own as that I don't want to pay Russoind 700 bucks for their Outdrive rebrand product.

I still use the COAX that was installed in the house when I got it. There are single runs to all of the locations that would ever need a TV. As posted above 2 COAX runs should be enough for most applications. You might want 1 more for your main TV viewing area. (In case you have a dish that requires 2 cables and you want to use one for radio reception.)

Have you though about telephone distribution and home security/automation? A few automated lights make things really nice. Hallway lights coming on at night from motion, etc.

 

[Technique]

Have you though about telephone distribution and home security/automation? A few automated lights make things really nice. Hallway lights coming on at night from motion, etc.

Telephone I have not thought too much about since I have not had a landline in about 10 years (just mobile phones)... But, I figure I can run VOIP/fios telephone over cat6 or rg6 if I ever decide to have a landline...

Home security/automation I would love to have... Just don't know much about it and am learning as much as I can now, but probably won't do anything on that front for a few months...

Security is a big priority for me, but I don't want lots of false alarms, etc... I live in a safe neighborhood, but still, I want some sort of system... I would have to have cameras and lights that come on automatically at night, all controlled by PCs in my house... Any good readings, please post URLs, I'm looking for as much info as I can get my hands on when it comes to security/HA...