Home Network and Communication Wiring Project

[Erich_870]

I'm going to rewire my house for cable, phone, network and RCA jacks using wall plate insert jacks and old construction low voltage boxes. I'm comparing prices right now, and I'd like to hear what suppliers you usually go with.

Whoever ran the phone and cable just drilled up through the floor in the corners of each room :chair:.

Erich

[Seanz0rz]

i used to use a local supplier, gave me a great price but they went out of business just after i quit doing that stuff (obviously i was keeping them afloat). i would avoid home depot and lowes, they will rob you blind on that kind of stuff. its been so long since i looked into any of it, im not sure who even makes the stuff anymore.

also remember, you cannot use the low voltage boxes in rated fire walls (the wall between your garage and living space for example)

[Erich_870]

i used to use a local supplier, gave me a great price but they went out of business just after i quit doing that stuff (obviously i was keeping them afloat). i would avoid home depot and Lowe's, they will rob you blind on that kind of stuff. its been so long since i looked into any of it, I'm not sure who even makes the stuff anymore.

also remember, you cannot use the low voltage boxes in rated fire walls (the wall between your garage and living space for example)


I'm using Home Depots prices as my baseline. I'm hoping to find a real supplier like you did.

Very good point about the fire walls. All of the boxes are going in interior, non-load bearing walls. I will drill up from the craw space and fish the wires through the box.

Erich

[Seanz0rz]

oh also watch out for mid stud cavity blocking. i know my house has blocking at 4 feet off the ground as fire blocking and to increase the sheer value of the wall. for me it is impossible to drill from the attic down the wall because the vast majority of my roof is less than 4 feet from the plate.

im assuming you have a crawl space under your house, unlike my concrete slab, so you shouldnt have a problem with this, at least for the ground floor. just check between two studs for a horizontal block in the middle.

talk to some local electricians in your area, or if possible companies that install this stuff. they might be able to give you a lead on suppliers. typically they dont like to deal with the public, but in this economy, i think they will do just about anything.

what are you looking at for routers and patch panels (for network) and other distribution systems for the other cables.

[Erich_870]

Oh also watch out for mid stud cavity blocking. i know my house has blocking at 4 feet off the ground as fire blocking and to increase the sheer value of the wall. for me it is impossible to drill from the attic down the wall because the vast majority of my roof is less than 4 feet from the plate.

I’m assuming you have a crawl space under your house, unlike my concrete slab, so you shouldn’t have a problem with this, at least for the ground floor. Just check between two studs for a horizontal block in the middle.

My house is a small, single story structure with a crawl space. I expect it to be pretty straight forward to use the existing wire locations as references to run them up through the floor and into the hollow interior walls.


Talk to some local electricians in your area, or if possible companies that install this stuff. they might be able to give you a lead on suppliers. Typically they don’t like to deal with the public, but in this economy, i think they will do just about anything.

I just got off the phone with a co-workers husband who does this kind of wiring and he’s going to hook me up with some of the supplies. He doesn’t deal with ordering though, so he’s not familiar with where the best deals are.



What are you looking at for routers and patch panels (for network) and other distribution systems for the other cables.

We have a 4 seat wireless router that I plan to connect to the network terminals.

Erich