Creating a House Wiring Plan
So, as we wrap up the first floor bathroom, we're starting to think about the second floor again. Not that this is new...we started work on the second floor back around Thanksgiving of last year. Wow... Thanksgiving of last year...
Anyway! I just got an email from Smarthome with this week's "Solution of the Week"...home wiring. Pretty good timing...this is something I've known we should do as we prepare to tear out the second floor. I just haven't done it. So here's the progress we've made so far...
The Problem
The second floor will be the largest project we've undertaken so far. We've decided that we're going to need to gut everything (even the plaster...sniff, sniff) and start fresh. The upside to the approach is that it will allow us to lay down the electricity, phonelines, coaxial cable, and even the ethernet that homes increasingly have today. The challenge is in the planning...no re-work allowed! ;-)
The Solution
The most important step we've done so far is was to prepare for wiring the house at the time we tore out the first floor bathroom. While those walls were exposed we installed three 1/2" pipes to run cable all the way from the basement to the attic. This "home run" piping runs along side the main stack and should allow us the flexibility to get all the different types of wiring upstairs in their own shielded piping.
Second, we've also sketched out the current and future floorplans with electrical service, including where we want all the outlets. Our electrician, Wes, helped out by specifying the symbols that will clarify for him what we want where.
Existing Wiring |
Future Wiring Plan |
So, the article I found at Smarthome got me interested in doing some more research. The main think it introduced me to was the concept of structured wiring--a new approach to bundling wiring from a central location rather than the traditional approach to daisy-chaining wiring in a more ad-hoc fashion. While I'm still researching the pros and cons of each approach, structured wiring does seem more planful.
What Comes Next
Overall my research has basically just uncovered that we need to get more precise about what we want where. It also raises an important issue that my drawings didn't: where each cable should begin and end. Again, the timing of this is actually pretty good because we're just starting to get to the next level of detail about the whole second floor.
I guess we're just proving the home improvement rule that things are always more complicated and take twice as long as we expected!
Other Resources
- "Getting Connected: the High Speed House" at bobvila.com
- The Complete Guide to Home Wiring
- Structured Wiring How-To <-- a very comprehensive site!
(2)
Looking for More?
| Search for more on 'structured wiring' on this site. |
| Search for 'structured wiring' on on other houseblogs like this one. |
| Search for 'structured wiring' on Google. |
| Search for 'structured wiring' on Amazon.com. |
Cabinet Refacing:
Face Your Kitchen | Your Guide to Kitchen Cabinet Refacing |
Comments
Perhaps not "ALL" of the plaster?? Bedroom walls? Can't they stay? The hallway, bathroom, closets and ceilings are gone for sure... but... mayyybeeee... there is some plaster that can stay???????
:)
Posted by: jmo | March 27, 2004 7:10 PM
If it makes you feel any better, our upstairs wasn't finished when the house was built. Instead, it was done later in dark wood paneling and what looks like plywood! They taped the seams (no mudding) and painted everything but the paneling... That's if you don't count the wallpapered doors... :( No plaster at all!
Posted by: Beth Ann | March 29, 2004 10:20 AM