New Office Photos

[Adam]

So we started running the wires today at my new office. MAN we have a LOTTTTTTTTT of cables. Now shown here is what we had about 12-1pm... theres another bundle about this size still, and we still have 1/2 the office to do.

We ran network cables/phone cables/alarm cables/access control cables/camera cables to almost every office. Some offices (like mine) also got IR receiver cables/speaker cables/RG6 cables (for a subwoofer)

One drop bundle:

We hung the alarm wire from the ceiling:

These boxes are whats currently being pulled:

Some boxes not being used (we picked up about 30+ boxes of wire and we'll need to make a 2nd trip for more):

In our server room our main outlets for the racks come from above via ceiling mounted twist-in power outlets. They'll drop directly into the main rack cabinet/relay rack.

 

[calvinj]

That's alot of wire. More pics!

 

[Concentric]

Cool beans. Make sure to update when you have the racks in!

 

[Adam]

Ugh i hate drywall, really hate it. Today was rough. I put low-voltage cut-in boxes in and had to do some drops into my IT room. 4 drops, 2 data lines in each drop (to start with, still need to run a VGA cable for our 16 camera view for testing and a phone line) and had to snake/cut things out.

Next weekend we'll do more.

We're trying to get all the wiring/cut-outs done before carpet/floors go in, so we don't have to remove the tiles and dirty the floors.

I'll give you guys an exact count when my boss sends me his file listing each and every drop.

I took more photos today of my workbench area in my IT room where we test/build machines, so i'll post those later on... right now im doing laundry (shoes and jacket were COVERED in drywall/plaster).

BTW: We're low on wires as of today, we need to pickup about 10 more boxes of wires still. We're wiring EVERYTHING for ANYTHING possible. Multiple tv's, conf room for 7.1 audio, my office for 5.1, boss's for 5.1, sales guys for 5.1, reception/hallways with speakers.

We also have PTZ cameras going in and tablet style home audio system in our conference room for demo purposes.

This is gonna be a SICK office when its done, we've been waiting years to do this and we're sparing no expense on toys. Automatic blinds in our conference room,, 52" 1080p TV and in front of that a drop-down screen (no 1080p projector yet, thats something we DONT have a use for at this time, but its on our "to-do" list)

 

[Adam]

Heres some more:

More wires added to the bundle

My TV mount

You can see the speaker wires hanging as well

The IT workbench, 8 data lines (4 wall-mounted LCD monitors as well going in)

 

[MrGuvernment]

wow, how long is this dropping going to take alone?

 

[Adam]

Not sure i understand your question... we worked yesterday and today to get what you see in the photos above... we're guessing 1 day to wire up the relay rack, another maybe 1/4 day to wire up the main rack, and maybe 1 day to wire up the access control panels and alarm panels

 

[Lugztaz]

Very Sexy, please continue to post pics as you work!

 

[Adam]

Not sure if this link will work, but heres a video I did yesterday walking through the building:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1207373539902

 

[Lightworker]

No dice, privacy settings.

 

[moose517]

nope, its probably because of your privacy settings, upload on like youtube or something.

 

[Adam]

Try now i changed the privacy settings

 

[Volume]

Interesting stuff! What does your business do?

 

[Adam]

Access Control, Video Surveillance, Computer Networks, Alarms, Web Design, Custom Programming, Point of Sale and we dabble in Home Automation and Distributed Audio/Video... you name it, we do it. We've been waiting to move for a while and recently got some big deals and we're getting even bigger/busier... Tutor Time (the kids learning place) bought a facility 1 block up from us and we've watched them build it, well the owner had so much space he made a retail space and a 2nd floor available, so we jumped on the chance and took the 2nd floor.

We pretty much gut whatever he had built for a new tenant (we're the first tenants soon) and we're designing it as we want.

Its pretty cool and fun... but its a lot of work. My boss just finished building his house a year ago and now hes focusing on this, so his house is kinda on hold (we're doing a lot at his house also, it was a demo house for us with home automation)

 

[BootSector]

Where are you located Adam?

 

[MrGuvernment]

Not sure i understand your question... we worked yesterday and today to get what you see in the photos above... we're guessing 1 day to wire up the relay rack, another maybe 1/4 day to wire up the main rack, and maybe 1 day to wire up the access control panels and alarm panels

Thats some fast work, our new office here it took the installers almost 2 weeks to lay 156 cables, one for data, one for phones for an office you can see each end of, so sad! I kept telling them i could do it myself faster but the insisted on going with the ISP to do it.

 

[Adam]

We're fast.

We're on Long Island (Massapequa, NY).

 

[Adam]

Heres some more pictures from this weekend... we wired up our conference room for 7.1 surround and my bosses office for 5.1 surround (he actually has a 7.1 setup you'd think but depending on which way he looks, he'll change where the front speakers are... as he has 3 wall mounted monitors going up). We also ran wires for our conference table down through the floor, same for our reception desk, wires went down through the floor.

Starting to run AV cables to my boss's credenza:

One of two tv's up in the corner (each will show 16 cameras or can be used as computer displays from his computer):

Conference Room:

My server room:

Lots of wires:

Even more wires:

Ugh so many wires:

Photo of boss's office as we run wires and start to attach them to ceiling (we're trying to bunch them up as much as possible and attach them to the ceiling so they don't rest on the tiles):

Wire path from server room into boss's office (luckily his office, my office and my IT work area are all next to the server room):

Looking into our parking lot (we love this part, because right now we're in a basement office and we have like 3 parking places and the rest is street parking, which is impossible, so to have a lot to ourselves is excellent):

Btw this is our office (we have the 2nd floor). Our own entrance with downstairs lobby/elevator:

 

[Nacho]

No conduit? Raceways? Anything?

Kinda odd in a new install with that many runs to not have anything. I suppose the only good thing, is stuff in the ceiling.. will be hidden...

 

[Adam]

Well it would be very hard to do conduit/raceways... we don't have a LOT of clearance so we're just going to secure everything to the top of the floor, which is actually the layer under the roof i guess, lol

Plus we have wires going EVERYWHERE not simple

Id love to do raceways but it gets expensive, plus takes time to get it installed, and like i said, we have so much going on its a little tricky to get things in a proper raceway. So we're running things, then zip tieing them in a bunch and securing them to the ceiling above, and then we run new wires the next day and etc...

 

[Adam]

Heres some teasers of our new rack (well two of em). Still working on configurations but this may be pretty close to the final layout...

 

[Dawizman]

Out of curiosity, what type of drywall inserts are you using, and how well do they work? We are using Leviton metal mudrings right now, but I have always been curious about the plastic ones.

 

[Adam]

The plastic ones are low voltage, but i do believe they make them for voltage carrying lines (AC) as well. We use them when drywall is already up. For our office we have metal studs so even though the drywall is only up on one side, we can't simly nail a box into place, it wouldnt be secure on the metal. So we use the low voltage (orange) boxes. Brands range of course. The brand we are using im not 100% certain on, but i believe Home Depot sells them. We buy them from our distributor (ADI).

I find they work very well. I've never had one fall out on on me. They go in easy if you have a template (available for about $10). Theres a video here if you want to watch me cut one out:

http://www.facebook.com/Vyc0r?v=app_2392950137&ref=name#/video/video.php?v=1212363784655

 

[marley1]

i remember you, your the guy that had/has that pickup right? use to post in the audio section?

i thought you were in NJ, we are out in the east end of LI.

 

[Adam]

LOL as i saw the "last post" i actually thought "marley... wonder if thats the same marley"

Yeah well i have a red truck now, i sold the blue one. I was in NJ but im out here on LI now (originally from here as you may remember). Im in Suffolk (Lindenhurst) now. I MAY have posted in the audio section regarding car audio, not into that stuff really anymore. Now its home audio/networking stuff.

 

[Vitamin_uk]

Well at least they are not laying accross the ceiling. Shame you cant run any basket tray.

 

[Adam]

Not a lot of room. We have drop ceiling but theres maybe 1-2 feet of clearance, and we have a lot of hvac vents to work around so its tricky.

 

[jeffmoss26]

No j-hooks or rings to secure the wire?
Also for metal studs where the drywall has not been installed, you have a couple options...you can screw a metal mud ring right to the stud, or use a 4 inch square box and these guys:
http://www.erico.com/products/CADDYcfcBx2StdHngr.asp
http://www.erico.com/products/TEB23.asp
http://www.erico.com/products/CADDYcfcMntngBrcktAnyElecBx.asp
Most of the jobs I have done, sparky puts the boxes in and runs conduit stubs up to the ceiling...

 

[Adam]

Ohh i like these:

http://www.erico.com/products/TEB23.asp

We're using the regular metal boxes right now for the walls that don't have drywall up (like my office)... for walls that are already up, low voltage boxes obviously.

In my office though, even though the walls are not 100% up, im opting to wait till it goes up then cut my hole... reason being im putting a dual-gang in and im having vga cables and other big cables, which are hanging there right now... cant use the existing boxes we have and no sense trying to find a specialty box for one cutout, lol.

 

[jeffmoss26]

Normally these are what I use for low voltage old work:
http://www.erico.com/products/CADDYcfcMntngPltBrcktsMtllc.asp

 

[Adam]

Yeah ive seen those. I prefer these instead:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0F56EJ6TZAY6MZYFX69Y

Bottom left, sept the ones I use are SLIGHTLY better then those (they have more grip, but very very very similar just slightly different wings)

Theres a video of me actually installing a double gang in under a minute (and thats with my boss asking me to reposition it):

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1212363784655

I have another template now that has a dremel cutout tool built in so i dont even have to draw the box anymore (although i find drawing the box just as easy and cutting it out)

 

[jeffmoss26]

For whatever reason I just prefer the metal ones.
I've also used these, http://www.arlcatalog.com/Communication/Low Voltage Mounting Brackets.htm
I also have a template with a level. Got it at a tradeshow

 

[Adam]

Yeah those low voltage ones are like what I use, love em. They are a little tricky to use on double-insulated drywall though (drywall + foam in our new conference room makes for a tricky cutout)

Ordered my first one online, they took 1 1/2 weeks to ship it, ordered the 2nd one (that i got 2 days after i ordered it) at my local distributor. Was on sale for $10

 

[Adam]

Welp nearing closer. We havnt done anything lately but I ran some audio/video cables in my office today.

At my desk I will have 3 wall plates.

Plate #1: 2 Network, 1 Voice, 1 Subwoofer Output
Plate #2: VGA, Audio
Plate #3: Component Video and Audio

Subwoofer goes to the main rack and hooks up to my subwoofer under my desk.

VGA and audio go into my computer (for a 3rd monitor) which then goes to the 32" 1080p tv on my wall, audio goes to the rack to my receiver (so i can use my computer audio over the main speakers if i want... its also split into my desk speakers as well, so i don't have to unplug anything.

Component Video goes into an iPod/iPhone component adapter, which then goes into a docking station (which has media card ports also via usb into the computer). Its for my iPhone, the component video sometimes works but its not really what i care about. It goes directly to the TV. The audio however is what i care about, that goes back to the receiver in the rack. So that i can play my iPhone music over my speakers.

Crap I forgot one more HDMI cable I had to run from my rack to my tv. One is already there for the receiver but im also going to have my DVR go out over HDMI into my tv on a seperate HDMI source. Keeping it off the receiver so i can listen to music while i watch the 32 channel DVR system.

I left the wires hanging so after drywall goes up i can put my low voltage boxes in. I prefer to do that after drywall goes up so i have a better fit. I don't like using metal boxes as i need to move wires around afterwards and they can get a little cramped.

 

[Dawizman]

I left the wires hanging so after drywall goes up i can put my low voltage boxes in. I prefer to do that after drywall goes up so i have a better fit. I don't like using metal boxes as i need to move wires around afterwards and they can get a little cramped.

Looking good. You should take a look at a stud-mounted mud ring. Basically the same thing that you are using, except you mount it to the stud and they drywall over top of it. I can't find a link to the exact ones that we use, but here is something similar that I found on amazon.

 

[Lightworker]

That's a cool mount, going to have to use those next time.

 

[Adam]

Hrm well lookie at that... if they have em in home depot i'll definitly pick some up. Only downside is i can only get 2 in any given spot... and i need 3

(right side has an electrical box, left side would have a data box then i needed one in the middle), and then a 3rd actually under the others

 

[Dawizman]

Hrm well lookie at that... if they have em in home depot i'll definitly pick some up. Only downside is i can only get 2 in any given spot... and i need 3

(right side has an electrical box, left side would have a data box then i needed one in the middle), and then a 3rd actually under the others

You can get doubles, triples & quads. Not sure if Home Depot carries em or not though.

 

[Adam]

Glad i went to the office today to test fit the LCD monitor. Learned that the component cables will not fit because the tv is really up against the wall.

So that single gang box is now not going to be used. Put a tripple gang opening behind where the wires go so they can plug straight in. Will use the old single gang for power. Had to run another HDMI also but its going to be nice

 

[Adam]

So in about another month we should be done... heres the new rack layout:

Server Rack

Relay Rack

And some photos after the walls went up and we're adjusting some things (moving thermostats and running more lines for our HAI system, etc...)