Should I just kick the cans?

[Ridgeline]

I'm in the middle of my studs-up remodel and i'm planning my wiring closet. The "WC" is a dedicated walk-in closet (Ok, "stand in" is more accurate :blush: ) on the second floor where one side is the end of the long 40" wide hallway. I'm thinking of leaving out the studs and a piece of the bottom plate from this one non-load bearing wall. Instead i'd use a nice sheet of 3/4 inch plywood covered with drywall on the hallway side leaving the WC side open for that 36 inch section. I'd then cut a 12" slot on the plywood decking so that all the wiring running along the ceiling of the 1st floor hallway/floor of the 2nd floor hallway can easily come up into my wiring wall.

This idea has lead me to question whether I could/should skip buying several metal cans to mount on the wall, and just mount my M1, ALC, Cat6... stuff directly on the plywood. I'll end up with this 36 inch section of 3 1/2 inch stud bay open from floor to ceiling open. I'd add a plywood or plexiglass door to cover and protect it. This closet also has a door to access the above-garage attic, and a hatch to the attic above the 2nd floor so the WC door will be solid, locked and wired anyway.

What is the trade-off here? I suppose Metal boxes are another line of defense (both deterrent and detection). Is there an added fire risk here? Do building codes/inspectors might care?
Any other thought?

Thanks!

 

[Neurorad]

I think plywood could look very nice. Will anyone see it where it's located?

One of the (minor) benefits of plywood is having it raised a couple inches off of the wall behind it, to hide wires, but if you don't care about hiding the wires, shouldn't matter.

Why lose the studs? Few extra inches in the closet? Make sure nobody tries to hang something on that non-hollow, solid wall. Nailing stuff to the plywood may be difficult, since you can't go through it, but not many really heavy things you would need to hang.

 

[Sacedog]

I'll end up with this 36 inch section of 3 1/2 inch stud bay open from floor to ceiling open. I'd add a plywood or plexiglass door to cover and protect it.

I'm no expert, and codes very by locality, but I am guessing that this woudl not pass a framing inspection; load bearing or not. If it does, having a wall of plywood is a great way to mount stuff. We do it at work in all of our wiring closets...but the plywood is typically installed on top of sheetrock, with studs behind it.

 

[cornutt]

I'm no expert, and codes very by locality, but I am guessing that this woudl not pass a framing inspection; load bearing or not.

Just head it off as if it were a doorway. You can always tell the inspector it's a provision for a future door. That's done where I live all the time.

 

[sic0048]

I'm no expert, and codes very by locality, but I am guessing that this woudl not pass a framing inspection; load bearing or not.

Just head it off as if it were a doorway. You can always tell the inspector it's a provision for a future door. That's done where I live all the time.

But that would prevent the easy access to run wires into the spaces above the closet. I think it should probably be framed normally, but with a bunch of conduit placed at the top and bottom of the wall.

 

[Sacedog]

I'm no expert, and codes very by locality, but I am guessing that this woudl not pass a framing inspection; load bearing or not.

Just head it off as if it were a doorway. You can always tell the inspector it's a provision for a future door. That's done where I live all the time.

Where I live, they do that too, but they still require studs below the header. If you use it for a future door, you just remove the studs below the header.