Prewiring: The tools

It's VERY unlikely that the builder will let you do any work in the house if it is a spec. You should talk to him as soon as possible, however, to see if it would be a possibility. A more likely scenario would be that you tell him what you want, and you would just pay him to do it. If that is the case, try to get him to just put large conduit between basement and attic, and to any hard to get to locations. That was you could do wiring later, although, it will be much more difficult.

The reason that he is unlikely to let you wire, is that you will not own the house yet, and his insurance would not cover you if you were to get injured, or if you were to screw something up in the house while you are pulling wire. When you contract to build a custom home with a builder, you obtain course-of-construction insurance which covers you for most things. In addition, you are a=paying for whatever you want to. You should at least talk to your builder however, as all builders are different.
 
It's VERY unlikely that the builder will let you do any work in the house if it is a spec. You should talk to him as soon as possible, however, to see if it would be a possibility. A more likely scenario would be that you tell him what you want, and you would just pay him to do it. If that is the case, try to get him to just put large conduit between basement and attic, and to any hard to get to locations. That was you could do wiring later, although, it will be much more difficult.

The reason that he is unlikely to let you wire, is that you will not own the house yet, and his insurance would not cover you if you were to get injured, or if you were to screw something up in the house while you are pulling wire. When you contract to build a custom home with a builder, you obtain course-of-construction insurance which covers you for most things. In addition, you are a=paying for whatever you want to. You should at least talk to your builder however, as all builders are different.

I hadn't thought of the insurance angle...this is indeed a big stumbling block in this sue-happy environment.

So the option would be to:
A- have the building run the big conduit to the attic and i still have a major headache later.

B- have the building run the wiring, I presume i can still do all the terminations etc myself to save $$$$

I would much rather have a custom home built. Not sure how big the price difference would be because for a spec house the developer carries a lot of risk whereas a custom house i would carry all the risk. There other reasons why i'd want a custom house. Basicaly to get much more control over all the details. A lot of it could be done in a spechouse as well, but i think you end up paying for it.

I'm sure any builder will charge an arm and a leg for all the pre-wiring that is necesarry for some serious HA. At least doing all the terminations etc myself woudl save. I assume i can have the builder run the 22/4 or 22/2 for the alarm system to a central location and i can put in the Elk afterwards myself.
 
A- have the building run the big conduit to the attic and i still have a major headache later.

I would actually have them do this even if they allow you to do the wiring. Trust me, there will be things that you forgot or hadn't thought of in the future.


B- have the building run the wiring, I presume i can still do all the terminations etc myself to save $$$$

Once again, this would be up to the builder. In our area, the planning department will not pass a home for final inspection, unless all walls are sealed up. So, if I told the builder that I wanted to terminate, he would have to put blank cover plates on all mud rings, before it would pass final.

Another problem though, is that the builder might not want to just do "part" of a job. If there are problems with the install, there is a lot of finger pointing of whose fault it was. Typically, they will want to do the pulls and the terminations. Then if something is wrong, they are the ones who will fix it.


I would much rather have a custom home built. Not sure how big the price difference would be because for a spec house the developer carries a lot of risk whereas a custom house i would carry all the risk. There other reasons why i'd want a custom house. Basicaly to get much more control over all the details. A lot of it could be done in a spechouse as well, but i think you end up paying for it.

It all depends where you live. A couple of years ago, it was cheaper to build than to buy, as home prices were outrageous. Right now, it is just the opposite. We started our project a year ago though, and are too far engaged to change our minds now. Although, we are not too stressed about it, as we are getting just want we want, down to every detail, and we plan on being in this house for a minimum of 10 years, but likely a lot longer.
 
It all depends where you live. A couple of years ago, it was cheaper to build than to buy, as home prices were outrageous. Right now, it is just the opposite. We started our project a year ago though, and are too far engaged to change our minds now. Although, we are not too stressed about it, as we are getting just want we want, down to every detail, and we plan on being in this house for a minimum of 10 years, but likely a lot longer.

Ditto ditto, and ditto! Our last house was from a major US builder, and there wasn't a thing that we could do to it until it was ours. So we paid big $$$ just to get cat5 runs all over the house. They were fine with leaving it unterminated in the wall behind a mud ring, and speaker wires just hidden in the walls...but it all cost.

Our house now is with a custom builder, and I hope I never have to do it any other way again. Like sace says, we're getting EXACTLY what we want, and it's like night and day compared to the last house where it felt like we were unwelcome guests everytime we wanted to see the progress on it. We actually have a key to our house! It really does feel like we own it already, which is a good thing because it's 1) on OUR land, 2) insured by us, and 3) being paid for already!
 
It all depends where you live. A couple of years ago, it was cheaper to build than to buy, as home prices were outrageous. Right now, it is just the opposite. We started our project a year ago though, and are too far engaged to change our minds now. Although, we are not too stressed about it, as we are getting just want we want, down to every detail, and we plan on being in this house for a minimum of 10 years, but likely a lot longer.

Ditto ditto, and ditto! Our last house was from a major US builder, and there wasn't a thing that we could do to it until it was ours. So we paid big $$$ just to get cat5 runs all over the house. They were fine with leaving it unterminated in the wall behind a mud ring, and speaker wires just hidden in the walls...but it all cost.

Our house now is with a custom builder, and I hope I never have to do it any other way again. Like sace says, we're getting EXACTLY what we want, and it's like night and day compared to the last house where it felt like we were unwelcome guests everytime we wanted to see the progress on it. We actually have a key to our house! It really does feel like we own it already, which is a good thing because it's 1) on OUR land, 2) insured by us, and 3) being paid for already!

Sounds just like us Beelze. :D I actually drove by the lot today, on my way to the store, and saw that the contractor has all of the wood for the foundation forms on a couple of trailers. We should be getting our permit by the end of the week (after many revisions, and planning department crap), and will start right away.
 
Sounds just like us Beelze. :D I actually drove by the lot today, on my way to the store, and saw that the contractor has all of the wood for the foundation forms on a couple of trailers. We should be getting our permit by the end of the week (after many revisions, and planning department crap), and will start right away.

Nice! It was utterly amazing for us....we went from 3 months of waiting for financing and permits and all that, to suddenly in one month the house was fully framed. It was crazy. I mean, after all that waiting, it seemed like it was going TOO fast. I remember feeling excited and terrified at the same time. Heh.
 
I'm thinking probably the auger bits were meant for the bigger holes anyway. Certainly no one said "Don't use spade bits!", but I guess they wear down faster or something. I'm certain that by the time I'm done, I'll have acquired every possible variation on drill bits. :(

Well, I officially hate spade bits now. It has nothing to do with drilling through lots of wood....although the auger bits do that much easier. The spade bits were fine for most uses. However, I always noticed that it thumped around a lot as soon as it exited the wood...that broad side hitting the hole fast has a noticeable effect.

What finally did it for me was when I was trying to drill an extra large hole. Usually I would use the 1" auger bit and drill three overlapping holes, to get one big hole. Well, I had the large spade bit on, so I just figured I'd use that. First hole, not a problem. Second hole....I got most of the way through the hole when it literally ripped the drill out of my hands. The spade bit had caught a piece of the hole I was drilling next to and converted all of that spinning momentum to the drill. Thank God I happened to be kneeling on the floor for this particular effort and not on a ladder, or that drill would have landed on my head, probably point first.
 
Well, I officially hate spade bits now. It has nothing to do with drilling through lots of wood....although the auger bits do that much easier. The spade bits were fine for most uses. However, I always noticed that it thumped around a lot as soon as it exited the wood...that broad side hitting the hole fast has a noticeable effect.

What finally did it for me was when I was trying to drill an extra large hole. Usually I would use the 1" auger bit and drill three overlapping holes, to get one big hole. Well, I had the large spade bit on, so I just figured I'd use that. First hole, not a problem. Second hole....I got most of the way through the hole when it literally ripped the drill out of my hands. The spade bit had caught a piece of the hole I was drilling next to and converted all of that spinning momentum to the drill. Thank God I happened to be kneeling on the floor for this particular effort and not on a ladder, or that drill would have landed on my head, probably point first.

I had a similar thing happen with a very high torque drill, that did not have a built in break. I injured my wrist pretty bad, and had pain for weeks afterward.
 
Two words. "Ship Augers" You can get them at any hardware center. You hardly have to hold the drill. They pull themselves thru and cut thru nails also.
 
These are "ship Augers"

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores...mp;ddkey=Search

My set starts at 1/4 inch. Your right about the self feed hole cutters. They do clog on osb.

That's what I used all week. They worked just great. Once it started into the wood, I really just supported the drill while it did the work. The only problem I had was that they were so dang long...which makes sense I guess for drilling deep wood, but even with my 90 deg attachment, there was no way to use them in anything but a large open stud cavity.

Cutting multiple holes next to each other (overlapping) was sometimes difficult, as it wanted to skip out into the next hole, so it'd leave the bottom of the hole undrilled. I'd usually be able to come back at it from an angle and finish it off.
 
These are "ship Augers"

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores...mp;ddkey=Search

My set starts at 1/4 inch. Your right about the self feed hole cutters. They do clog on osb.

That's what I used all week. They worked just great. Once it started into the wood, I really just supported the drill while it did the work. The only problem I had was that they were so dang long...which makes sense I guess for drilling deep wood, but even with my 90 deg attachment, there was no way to use them in anything but a large open stud cavity.

Cutting multiple holes next to each other (overlapping) was sometimes difficult, as it wanted to skip out into the next hole, so it'd leave the bottom of the hole undrilled. I'd usually be able to come back at it from an angle and finish it off.
I have some that are as short as 4 inches. I use a angle drill, then add extensions as the auger drills in.
 
Hi Guys,

I need do some Coax terminations in my old house and figured it was a good time to buy the tools i need for the new house.

I am torn between the ICM Linear Compression Tool and this one.

Does the ICM one cut as well?? Are a lot of people using these T&B compression fittings? I don't really want to buy a tool that is limited to a proprietary type of fitting.

Anything specific about the compression fittings i need to know? Are most suitable for 3ghz? I thought i read somewhere that the actuall F-Connector (threaded stud) needs to be 'special' in order to do 3ghz...is this right?

Actually how does this combination of Fittings and Tool look to you guys??

Any words of advice?
 
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