ZoomZoom's Home Wiring Thread

[ZoomZoom71]

We're about to build a house and our builder is letting me do all my low-voltage pre-wire. This would include home network wiring, intercom wiring, security cameras, surround sound speaker wiring, and any other LV application I may find necessary to put in the walls for future use. I'm probably 3 months away from the actual wiring job, but I want to be prepared with the proper schematics, in-wall wiring, and fixture boxes, well in advance.

Along the way, I'll be posting questions here, to get some input and hopefully provide some help for folks who may go through the same process at some point.

Some details on what we're building:

-1-acre lot, 130' wide X 400' deep
-Home will be placed about 80' from the front of the lot, due to several century-old oaks in the middle of the lot
-2414 SqFt of heated/cooled space
-4 bedrooms, 3 full baths
-4th bedroom is 15x17, and will serve as a bonus room/playroom for the kids
-2nd bedroom is my home office, and has a walk-in closet, where I intend to place the structured wiring panel
-living room will serve as my wife's workout room
-formal living, formal dining, family room
-side entry, 3-car garage
-traditional elevation, covered front porch, large covered rear patio, future in-ground pool

So, to get this started, I want to know if any of you have built a home, from the ground up, and were able to select structured wiring options. What type of wiring needs to be in place to future proof the house? I don't want to go "over the top", but I do want enough support for what may go in the house within the next 2-3 years.

Ready.Set.Go

[Quo]

I've heard of people actually running conduit with the structured wire home runs in it to totally future-proof their houses! That'd be sweet, but I would bet it's expensive as heck...

We did do structured wiring in our house. We ran Cat-5 and TV drops to each room in two locations (two drops per spot). It's worked out pretty well for us, although I've had to add a network hub behind the TV to accomodate all the devices that now demand internet access.

Whatever you do, I'd add 20-25% excess capacity just for grins. I know you know this, but I'd mentally sit in every room and figure out where there's potentially a need for a jack. Esp the TV jacks now, since people are hanging TV's on the walls, in the corners, etc, now.

Only room that we significantly missed was the kitchen. We didn't run Cat-5 there (this was 2000). We should've as even appliances want access now.

The other thing we didn't plan for: whole house audio, which I would now totally figure out and do. I did manage to run and extra couple of speaker wires up in to the attic for some Channel B exterior speakers, but I wish I had taken the time to research the wiring for some hidden speakers in the living room. Good luck with it man... sounds like a little bit of fun and a whole lot of work!!

[dmiller68]

I have had a house built had the contractor do the wiring per my specs. However there are some things I would do different doing it over.

• I would always have a home run panel - I would try to have it centrally located in the house
• If the home run panel is on the first floor I would try to have a spot for cable modem/router/ wireless, etc
• 2 cable and 2 network (cat 6) to every room, I would dump phone lines
• Think about home theater speaker wiring in the room(s) where you are going to have it (my sugestion would be have it run for two setups, i.e with TV in two different locations so you can change it up).

[ZoomZoom71]

I met with our electrician today. He said that the clock is ticking on being able to get LV wiring done myself, as they're about to flip the switch in our county on requiring that work to be done by licensed individuals under a permit. He did say I could pull my own permit, though, as the homeowner. I guess that's the way I need to go, or be prepared to pay out the nose for a tradesman to do it.

[Peench]

Get on it bro! And video tape it so we can all check you out and critique your work! ;-)

[Mtheory]

I don't think you should completely ditch land line provisioning. Being a phone net tech, I run into lots of scenarios where phone wiring is a necessity. My company's (Qwest) future Fios (AKA fiber to the curb) connectivity is still going to use existing telephone wiring. Especially in a upper floor, or where your networking equipment will be.

Also there are some emerging networking technologies you might want to consider. Such as USB 3.0 and something called Light Peak. I don't know much about it, but it might be something to look into.

Check this: Intel predicts Light Peak to replace USB 3.0



But then again, wireless networking has evolved leaps and bounds in the last 5 years. Who knows what the future brings?

[ZoomZoom71]

Well, I got my permit this morning. Turns out, while the city does require a permit, they don't even inspect the work. It took all of 20 minutes and a permit fee of $10, and I'm ready to go. I have a local friend who's in this business, so I need to meet with him so he can look at my electrical plans and help me with placement, etc. I'll probably start my work this weekend. The electrician is scheduled to start on Wednesday.

[Quo]

Dude, where are the pictures of your house?

Congrats, sounds exciting!

[Causedawg 83]

What Quo said. Man, I'm jealous!

[ZoomZoom71]

See if this works: http://share.ovi.com/album/zoomzoom71.NewCons

[Causedawg 83]

That's exciting, man! Beautiful lot!!

[ZoomZoom71]

Well, I've finished my pre-wire. Man, there's a lot of wire in that house, now! I'll load up some pics, soon. In the interim, I wanted to get your thoughts on this speaker: Dayton CS620C 6-1/2" 2-Way Ceiling Speaker Pair | Parts-Express.com I'm trying to NOT spend a lot of money, and since the only speakers I'm installing are the rear/surrounds, from what I read on the reviews of this one, I could probably get by with just getting these. And, the price per pair is perfect!

Here's another one that looks good, too: http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=300-412

[Serren]

I agree with your thoughts on spending loess since these speakers are just for the rear/surrounds. What brand are your fronts? Does that brand sell a lower line of roof speakers?

[ZoomZoom71]

The only fronts I have right now are a pair of JBL Northridge-series towers (8" 3-ways) and the matching center channel. I'm pretty sure the Northridge series is at or near the low-end of JBL's lineup. I'll have to check what they have for ceiling speakers.

[Causedawg 83]

I invested some money in my rear/surround speakers, and I'm very glad I did. I always heard that they aren't as important and that you can get away with low quality, but I never knew what I was missing until I had my setup installed and experienced true surround. Try playing that "My Doodles Are Bugged" indie game with your surround system turned up. Whenever you beat a doodle/level, you should hear a victory sound that utilizes the surround speakers extremely well. It gives me the chills every time. It's little things like that that make me appreciate having good surround speakers. Of course, MW2 makes you appreciate it as well. I love knowing exactly where to turn to face an enemy because great surround speakers do an amazing job with directional sound.

If it were me, I'd keep looking. Maybe what you found is the best for what you're allowing in your budget, but I'd make sure before you buy. Where's Jon?

[Causedawg 83]

Another thing to think about is that you are putting something in your house that requires cutting a hole in the ceiling. It's obviously very permanent. Let's say that years down the road you decide to upgrade your sound system, and the surround speakers you bought are the weakest point in the setup. You're going to wish you had invested in some top notch surround speakers then, because I doubt you're going to want to get back in the attic and cut a new hole (possibly patching the old one first if it's a smaller cut-out size) and installing them.

Again, if it were me, I'd just bite the bullet and get something really nice, so you know when you get the urge to upgrade down the road the surrounds (which are by far the hardest part) will be already taken care of.

[ZoomZoom71]

Just to explain my entire setup...the only room that's getting officially wired for HT is the bonus room, which is essentially an over-sized bedroom. In that room, I am pre-wiring for 4 rear surrounds, a rear sub, and my front soundstage. The family room and master bedroom are each getting 2 rears, while the front soundstage and sub will come directly from the receiver in each room. If nothing else, I'm probably looking for some inexpensive/decent placeholders, until I choose to upgrade. These Dayton's seem like a good fit, but I'm open to other suggestions.

I know what you mean about the 'My Doodles are Bugged" sound. I love hearing that!

[Causedawg 83]

Oh ok. Cool.

[ZoomZoom71]

Any thoughts on these? Amazon.com: Yamaha In-Ceiling 3-Way 100 watts Natural Sound Custom Easy-to-install Speakers (Set of 4) with Dual…

[Peench]

Don't know much about Yamaha's speakers, but I own free standing Paradigms and love em. They have in-walls like THESE too. I recommended them to a friend and they love em.