House in Progress Diary

Creating a Cable Schedule

For those who've been following our site for awhile, you may recall the evolution of our planning to wire the house. We started modestly, installling coaxial cable ourselves the first summer. Then we started to think more holistically and developed a whole-house wiring plan that included electrical and low voltage services like telephone and computer networking. It was at that point that I stumbled upon the concept of "structured wiring." Since then I've been researching and planning for our own structured wiring installation. Last weekend, I installed the distribution panel and prepared raceways for running cable to the attic.

The Task
The priority is to make final decisions on the location and number of access points throughout the house. This is important in planning the cable runs (our next task) and in purchasing the various materials that will be needed later.

Our Approach
The materials needed depend upon the number of locations around the house that provide access and the type of access we want. This allows me to calculate the type and quantity of materials we need.

Defining Requirements
Structured wiring can provide support for a number of media and communication solutions. In our case, we wanted:

• Cable TV - While we only have one TV, we decided that we would like the future flexibility to have cable access in most rooms in the house.
• Closed Circuit Video - This allows the distribution of local video from sources within the house, like watching a DVD in a different room or incorporating a security camera. We don't really have an interest in this, but since the bundled cable I purchased includes two coaxial cables, doing this will be very inexpensive.
• Computer Networking and Internet Access - Beyond PCs, more appliances and entertainment systems are incorporating networking capabilities. Therefore, we're putting network access in every room.
• Whole House Audio - The ability to distribute audio throughout the house is cool and dedicated wiring is the traditional approach. However, lots of newer solutions are allowing the distribution of audio over a computer network so we decided against dedicated audio wiring.

Developing the Cable Schedule
Next, we had to identify the exact number and location of access ports. Creating a cable schedule is a convenient way to document this process and will help when adding up the materials needed for the job.

I found several examples but, in the end, I created my own. This was partially because I didn't need all of the information typical spreadsheets included (like audio wiring) and I wanted a more automated way to calculate the actual materials. Here's a screenshot of what I came up with (click to see a larger image):

Breaking it down to its elements, the spreadsheet identifies:

• Room/Wall - An itemized list of each room we which will have access and on which walls.
• Port List - This includes all of the possible ports in the plan. In our case, that includes telephone (Voice), computer (Data), cable TV (Cable EXT), and closed circuit video (Cable INT). This allows the creation of a grid of codes we'll need later for labeling the actual cables. More about that in a future post...
• Port Usage - This is a count of the number of ports we'll actually use for each location. For example, we'll want telephone, cable TV and Internet access in the master bedroom but we don't need a telephone line in the master bathroom.
• Task Checklist - A printed copy of the document will serve as a task checklist when we pull and finish the cables.

Resources
Everyones' wiring schedule and material needs will vary. If you find this approach useful, you're welcome to download the Excel spreadsheet I created: download file.

Next Steps
We're pulling the cable according to the schedule soon...pictures and a write-up will follow. I also expect to write up my lessons learned in identifying the materials needed to finish the cables at both the centralized panel and at each port location throughout the house.

Posted by aaron on August 29, 2004 at 7:24 AM