Hello all (probably like 10 of you max...)
Thought I would update things a bit. Came home early tonight (10 PM) after being over there all day running more wires.
Lots of progress lately. Yesterday we (my favorite wife and I) got kind of a late start, but we were able to talk to the cabinet people and show them around. Seems a world away to me still that we will ever be that far...
Anyway, after that we ran some wires. The security, intercom, and lighting control wires were in, but we had to run all the wires for audio/video. I am probably going a little overboard in this department, but it's not tremendously harder to run extra wires. Here is how we did it...
First, you identify all the wires you need to a particular room, or even a particular area. Then we labeled the boxes and wires to match each other (because later when you come back to cut them, you have no idea what is what).
Here is an example of a run I did to the master bedroom...
2 RG6 wires to the TV location (these are probably overkill, but allows a dual SAT box I would never use)
2 CAT5e wires to the TV location (HDMI over baluns or Infrared control)
4 CAT5e data wires (these can be switched in the equipment room on demand from ethernet to phone)
1 Four conductor speaker wire (this is the audio side of the Russound Compoint intercom system)
1 Five conductor mini RGBHV video feed (this allows for component HD signals from the matrix)
1 Siamese RG6 and 18/2 cable (feeds a surveillance camera on the corner of the house)
Several CAT 5e Data runs to the adjacent study (I think I had 8 of them)
Anyway, this is quite a bundle of wire.... I added more after I took the picture...
And the problem is that you have tension on each wire, and every curve you go around adds to the friction. Here is a shot of some of the boxes all feeding cable. I don't show the ones that are on spools, which are being pulled from a different location to save moving them around all the time.
In this process I learned something about wire. If you ever purchase it, it turns out that a "pull box" is much easier to pull from that wire off a spool. They are wound inside the box in such a manner that they just come right out (assuming you don't get an occasion kink, very rare). Anyway, the wires that come on spools have to be handled differently, put on an axle, elevated, and they pull hard. When you get the spool going it wants to keep going, and then too much wire comes off and gets wrapped around the axle. The worst cable I have is a spool in a box. It is some Cat5 I bought, but it pulls VERY hard.
The idea here is to group all your cables together that are going to the same destination, in this case, my equipment room, and then separate your wires at both ends to match their exact destination... usually some box in the room, and some piece of equipment back in the equipment room.
So, each room gets basically the wiring program stated above. The only thing that changes is how much data I pull to each location. The funny part about the data lines is that they have essentially been replaced by cordless phones and wireless routers. In the computer world these days, about the only reason you need an ethernet connection is for transferring files, which is quicker with a wire, but otherwise, wireless routers and wireless phones have come a long ways.
By the time my kids get much older, I would imagine they will have cell phones, laptops, and some pretty cool handheld devices... BUT, I am running their study stations full of wire. Each kid will have 8 data wires. Certainly not that they will hook into 8 things at once, but it gives us flexibility in how to set the whole apparatus up... I think there is a good chance that NONE of those wires will get used. But, wouldn't you think it's pretty stupid not to run the wires anyway....
In the planning stages, I was going to have a lot more in the equipment room, but thankfully a lot of that all got moved upstairs to the attic, which wouldn't be possible without it's Air Conditioned status up there. Check out what the electricians were up to today...
This is how it started.... 6 hours later, they have added a CB panel and have everything all organized and ready for hookup... Every one of these wires is tagged with a numerical ID and they know exactly where they go (I hope anyway...).
I promised early on to not mention names, but I have really grown to like my electrical contractor. The best part about them is that they are not just electricians, but very well versed in the low voltage side of things. Even though I am doing my own low voltage, it's great to have them always taking into account what has to happen on my end. I am quite certain I have challenged them in addition to the norm...
The roofers also came out today. They tidied up some stuff on the roof, as well as measured the chimney for the metal flashing that has to go in the bottom of the chimney where the pipe comes out. They also laid down felt paper where the stucco guys will be working, so the roof underlayment doesnt' get trashed. There are pathways for the stucco guys to work so they don't have to step on tiles. I was also able to finally get the pipes stuck through the roof to the solar collector while they were here... That enables a whole new project...
Oh, the insulation contractor came out to day to check on things. I like this guy because I tend to get overwhelmed with all the details, and he puts me at ease that everything will happen just as it should...
So, perhaps next week we can get some inspections, and then we can foam away... After that, drywall can begin, then cabinets, trim, tile, floors, and then all the electrical and plumbing trimout inside. Outside can begin almost anytime now... Electrical boxes are set so they can work. The stucco guys have been busy making sample boards to get the finish texture and colors just right...
So... you can see it was a busy day.
PS, the temperature was 98 degrees today, and very humid. I drank almost 2 gallons of water just myself...
