new build, newb to HA

[anisbet]

Having a new house built over the next several months (haven't gone into contract yet and it'd be a March start when we do, so I've got some time) and I'm trying to pre-plan for some HA when it's easier to wire. I've read over the "Wiring your new House 101" a couple times, but it's pretty broad and daunting to be honest as I'm not entirely sure what all I want. I'm trying to limit my up front costs since we have a kid on the way and well we're buying a new house, but like I said, I still want the house to be primed.

I'm pretty sure I would like to go hardwired with ALC using cat5e/6 for reliability and speed. However, I'm not sure where to place the 'wiring closet'. Because of that, I guess I'm not sure how to estimate the amount of wiring I'll need or how long it might take 1-2 people to do during the build phase.

I'm also unsure of where I want to place my TV in the media room, any of the 3 walls would theoretically work, though I'm leaning toward the wall shared with the Office for easier PC/HTPC connections.

See attached layout...

Thanks.

 

[IVB]

what are you looking to do? Lighting? HVAC? Irrigation? Security? CCTV? Whole House Audio? Distributed Video?

 

[anisbet]

what are you looking to do? Lighting? HVAC? Irrigation? Security? CCTV? Whole House Audio? Distributed Video?

Eventually, I'd like to do it all. Timeline here is probably a year or two for everything. Top priorities being lighting and security - which sorta ties in CCTV.

HVAC (programmable keypad) and Security come standard in the house and I'm not sure how easy it will be to integrate into an all-in-one HA interface so I'll have to worry about that later I think. They do install sensors for windows/doors I know so I don't necessarily need to worry about that.

WHA - I think I'd just like to play music anywhere/everywhere? in the house and expand that to the garage (which will be 2-story with a ~15'x50' unfinished loft - I'll eventually make this into a man cave of some sort )

Distributed Video - not sure what else that would entail other than adding a couple smaller TVs in the house (MBR/Office/Kitchen) for viewing previously recorded shows or stuff from the web?

With all that in mind, besides running cat5e/6 to all my light switches and along ceiling rafters for speakers, and RG6QS to a few future TV sites, what am I missing?


Also, still not sure about the wiring closet I think I might be getting in over my head though :lol:

 

[AceCannon]

Unless you have a basement, it looks to me like the only spot for a serious rack of equipment is the office, maybe in a corner. Or if the garage is going go be a mancave, then could you locate the equipment there? More wire required, of course. . .

Video: You need a different solution than standard rg6 to these locations.
Audio: speaker wire and cat5e to keypad locations
HVAC: cat5e to thermostats
. . it goes on and on. I've got 15,000 ft of cat5e in my new house, not including rg59 mincoax 5-conductor bundles, security wire, speaker wire, rg6 to the roof for satellite.. . .

The wiring 101 essay is instructive. I'd read it again!

 

[anisbet]

Unless you have a basement, it looks to me like the only spot for a serious rack of equipment is the office, maybe in a corner. Or if the garage is going go be a mancave, then could you location the equipment there? More wire required, of course. . .

Yeah no basement as I'm south of Houston (only ~15'-18' above sea level!). I'll have an attic but I'm pretty sure it would get way too hot for HA components. In the office I'm afraid it'd be too unsightly, especially if we convert it to a bedroom and/or sell the house.

How much space would one typically need? Maybe I can convince the wife to give up some of that master closet space. Just an FYI that house layout is around 2850 sq. ft. I realized the only dimensions on there are in the garage, but that should give a rough idea.

 

[Monk]

Unless you have a basement, it looks to me like the only spot for a serious rack of equipment is the office, maybe in a corner. Or if the garage is going go be a mancave, then could you location the equipment there? More wire required, of course. . .

How much space would one typically need? Maybe I can convince the wife to give up some of that master closet space. Just an FYI that house layout is around 2850 sq. ft. I realized the only dimensions on there are in the garage, but that should give a rough idea.

That is laid out nice - reminds me of my last house... I am not sure how much room you would end up needing, but it might be safe to say that it would all fit into the office walk-in closet?

 

[felixrosbergen]

You said you're having a house built...is this by a developer or are you engaging a contractor yourself? This is important since if it's a developer it's not likely that you can do any of the pre-wire youself which means having somebody else do it which is obviously much more expensive. I would have a good chat with your builder/contractor to figure out what you're going to be able to do yourself before you get too carried away planning. Also disuss a schedule with the builder, you can read some expeirences here on the forumn about people doing wiring themselves and it taking much much longer than expected.

Your layout looks nice, not sure if you want comments, but i woudl suggest a door from the Master Bedroom into the walk-in closet in addition to the one from the master bath. You'll loose some storage space but you don't always need to be in the bathroom when you change clothers. This is one of the changes i have made and am happy with it and have gotten compliments on the layout.

This looks like a single story home. Will there be an attic? The reason i ask is that if you have a full attic you can postpone lots of wiring untill you actually need it savin tremendous cost especially if you end up not being able to do the wiring youself. It shoudl be pretty easy to add ceiling speakers and that kind of stuff later if you have an attic. You can also quite easilly drop cat5's into the interior walls for ALC lighting. It's definetely more work for yourself to do it this way rather than pre-wire everything, but at least you're only doing/paying for the connections you need when you need them. If you have an attic i would consider using insulation matts rather than the blown in kind since the blown in from my research is not fun to swim around in.

I've just moved into my new construction home and you can see some of my experiences in my showcase thead (link in signature). Although i don't have other experience i am a firm believer in the conduit method i used. I'm very happy with it so far, but it also depends on your construction type (attic/basement, etc). With regards to the wiring closet location perhaps you can get a closet built into the interior side of the media room. The corners at the door are likely to be 'dead' spots anyway. Am i missing some stairs? It's not clear to me where the garage is in relation to the home.

The cost of wiring is relatively low and if you have to pay somebody they will charge by the run for labour since i don't think you should let wire cost determine you wiring closet/room location.

 

[AceCannon]

I'll have to disagree with Mavric's master closet idea - the vast majority of times you go in there, you've just used the shower or been in the bathroom. I wouldn't sacrifice the closet space just to add a door from the master bedroom (which also reduces your usable wall space in the bedroom).

Monk is spot-on with the observation that the office closet maybe could hold a nice sized rack. I might be worried you would have a hard time getting access to the back / sides of a rack there, though. Dimensions?

I share Mavric's confusion as to where the garage is located is relation to the house. It may be the best location for a central wiring concentration.

 

[anisbet]

To clear up some confusions:

This is a developer/builder in a community, but they give quite a bit of leeway in the layout/construction/options for your house (but not quite to the "custom home" level). The picture I included is actually a close up snapshot of the entire lot (.46 acres) and the house is situated approx 10 ft from the left (north) property line. The garage placement is still up in the air, but where it is on that layout is where I've narrowed it down to (it's a detached garage with a breezeway overhead connected from the house which isn't shown).

There is an attic, but no basement. Not 100% but fairly certain they use blown-in insulation and yeah it's a mess as I have it in my current house, but that's not too big of a deal I don't think.

That office closet is not standard, I actually made it bigger on the layout that I'm proposing. The closet doors are all 2' for reference while the bedroom doors are 2' 8".

Regarding the master closet - I might end up moving the door from the bathroom to the master bedroom wall rather than adding a door, but we haven't decided. However I am fairly certain that I do not want to lose space by putting two doors in.

I have however toyed with the idea of placing a false wall in that closet to hide shit like a gun safe and/or the 'wiring closet', but I don't even know where to begin with that idea.

 

[anisbet]

Would the garage be a bad choice due to lack of temperature/humidity control? This IS Houston we're talking about... 100+ degrees in the summer with 99% humidity almost year round

edit: I forgot to add in the above post that the builder has a sheet of instructions for prewire that basically says "you do it yourself and when there aren't any other contractors on site"

 

[Steve]

If you plan it smart and depending on how much stuff you will have, you don't even really need to give up any space. Here are a few options.

1. This is what I am working toward now as I move my system from where the old alarm panel was. You can put a few 50" cans in the wall where you want your stuff - any of your closets would be a candidate. You can even put clothes rods in front of that wall so its out of sight and takes zero space. For access, simply slide the clothes to the side, or worst case take clothes and rod out temporarily for major service. Once you put it all in you will hardly ever touch it. You can put a shelf high in the closet to hold a pc, audio gear, etc, whatever won't go in a can. That way you are not really giving up any space except maybe some shelf space. Maybe you can raise the ceiling in a closet to get extra room if wanted?

2. The other choice besides a portion of one of the closets its to take the hall/umbrella closet by the front and call that the HA room. You can even do the same as in #1 so as not to give it up completely. I have a similar room - in fact that's where stuff is now and I would have kept it, but the way the studs are prevents me from putting recessed cans plus it is very difficult to reach from attic. But if you setup that room from scratch you can make sure its got the right studs, etc. Find out what closet area will have the best/easiest attic access cause at some point you will probably wind up in there.

 

[anisbet]

You can put a few 50" cans in the wall where you want your stuff - any of your closets would be a candidate.

Are those the white mounting boxes I see people use? Where would I find one?

Find out what closet area will have the best/easiest attic access cause at some point you will probably wind up in there.

That reminds me of something I left off from the blueprint. The short hallway leading to the office and nursery has the attic pulldown ladder in it. So I think if I did use the office closet as Monk suggested it would be fairly easy to access in the attic, though I'll have to go look at another house that's being built to this floorplan to be sure.

 

[electron]

Check out our Gallery, you'll find many pictures of these cans in use. Most larger vendors carry them. I personally have 2 Channel Vision 50" units.

 

[drozwood90]

Dunno if this was mentioned...

Run Neutrals to all your switches...even if you don't EVER use them.

It'll be MUCH easier later on!

--Dan

 

[anisbet]

Dunno if this was mentioned...

Run Neutrals to all your switches...even if you don't EVER use them.

It'll be MUCH easier later on!

--Dan

an electrician would know exactly what this means right? I mean I do, but I don't think I should have to explain this... (since the sales agent was clueless of course...)

any reason why they might charge extra?