Some questions about running ethernet in a house

somename

Gawd
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Jan 6, 2007
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I'm hoping to finish my basement once spring rolls around, and I figured if I'm ever gonna run ethernet lines in the house, it's probably my last chance. So I'm just trying to draw a few pointer from experiences some of you have.
I ran wired network in my previous residence, so I have all the hardware and ideas on what to do with them, But I've never installed wires behind walls, so I could use some pointers.

I'll run all wires to the basement where I'll house all my servers and networking gears. As I mentioned, the basement is still unfinished, so wiring the first floor seems simple enough. Just drill through bottom plates of the framing and subfloor panel between joists, no?
2nd floor is a bit tricky, but it looks like there might be some extra cavity next to return air duct. Not sure how much wood I'm going to have to drill through between floors though. Is it just bottom plate+subfloor+top plate or is there something else? Also How big of a hole can I make with out weakening the frame? I'm going to need to run at least 6 wires to 2nd floor, maybe it'd be better to make 2 holes? And I was wondering how hard would it be to run a cable along the outer walls with insulation? Would that be just impractical without opening up the drywall?

Also, I have a full sized rack cabinet that's going to house all my equipment in basement. I'm debating using patch panels or a bunch of regular wall plates to run the cables to the cabinet. If I can flush mount the patch panel into the drywall, I think I'd prefer that, but I'm not sure if I can?

Thanks for all the help. Any other advice in running cables in the walls would be greatly appreciated.
 
The first floor will be easy. If you actually want to get the wires in the wall you can use a flex bit. They are handy when you don't have direct access to what's below it, but can still reach the wire with a fiberglass rod.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-Flexible-Drill-Bit-Kit-3-Piece-53721/203913339

Your best bet for the 2nd floor is getting to an attic through a chase then down through the top plate. If you don't have an attic, getting from floor to floor can be a challenge depending on how old the house is. Unless you have a really old house, you probably have fire stops. Even then your only practical hope is fishing an inside load bearing wall as outside walls will have insulation. Basically you have will end up having either a blank wallplate on the first floor that you can pull through or you'l put a jack there too. Outside walls can be done, but they aren't easy and suck. All I can say is my magnepull is a lifesaver.

http://www.amazon.com/Magnepull-XP1000-LC-Wire-Pulling-System/dp/B000YJB5WO

If you have an attic but don't have a chase you could put conduit from the basement to the attic outside, run the ethernet into a room or closet with power and put a switch up there. You would be running all your upstairs drops to that switch.

Last option is putting all the Jacks on an outside wall and running the wires outside, ugly. If you don't use conduit the wire will eventually rot, even if you use uv stable wire. Uv stable ethernet usually lasts 5-8 years here in Michigan with direct sun. The winter is what kills it, all the extra freeze-thaw cycles.
 
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i am looking into doing this as well in my house. my house is a 4 level split and i dont have a clue as to how i am going to get wires from the basement all the way up to the top floor.

i was considering running some sort of conduit outside if it isnt looking like running them through the walls is going to work.

if the wires are run through some sort of conduit outside, are they affected by somewhat extreme cold?

it can get to -20F or so here in the winter.

im still hoping that i can maybe get an electrician friend to come help me navigate the walls since he'd have better experience with this than me. if i go that route, i will try and get back to you with whatever little tips and tricks i can learn from him. :D
 
Go for a rack for the patch panel. Though if you really don't want to it would be fairly easy to flush mount it. Just make sure you can easily access the back of it so you can add more in the future.

I personally like keystone patch panels for home because it's easy to add more stuff and it's modular. you can add phone, cable TV, ethernet etc. If you need to install 24+ jacks in one go then a standard patch panel makes more sense.

I would not run wires outside. It's another protrusion through your house that you don't need to make.
 
First floor as you said is pretty simple, find where you want the jacks, cut your hole and drill up from the basement. Bit size is between 5/16" and 3/4" depending on what needs to be pulled. Something like this makes finding where to drill a bit easier too, though it's not required.

Second floors can be a bit tricky, if there's an attic above you just need to find something that runs from the basement up there in a straight path, like a chimney, sewer vent pipe, etc. Once you get up there then it's just a matter of cutting the jacks in and drilling down (a small reference bit makes this way eaiser, just drill up where the wall and ceiling meet, find it in the attic and drill down.)

Outside walls usually aren't too bad if it's fiberglass or even closed cell foam. Just use a fiberglass rod to push it down the wall or it'll bind up on you. Open cell foam is doable as well, just a much bigger pain in the ass.
 
Second floors can be a bit tricky, if there's an attic above you just need to find something that runs from the basement up there in a straight path, like a chimney, sewer vent pipe, etc..

AFAIK running wires next to a chimney is illegal. Even if it isn't it's still a silly idea. Just another thing to burn, and being covered in plastic it burns with toxic fumes.

Don't run wires through a heating/cooling duct or a cold air return either.
 
If it's a masonry one it's legal, had many inspected retro fit jobs passed that way - but yeah don't do it on a metal chimney.
 
If it's a masonry one it's legal, had many inspected retro fit jobs passed that way - but yeah don't do it on a metal chimney.

Under normal circumstances it would be cool, but in the event of a chimney fire the plastic will ignite before wood.
 
If it's a masonry one it's legal, had many inspected retro fit jobs passed that way - but yeah don't do it on a metal chimney.

Where do you live? In MA U.S.A. this is a clear code violation. I'm not sure about the IRC though. If it's really important I can find out. But if you live in the United States and do this you may have issues if and when you go to sell your house. Nothing but metal and a few other nonflammable materials can touch any kind of chimney. Even if the chimney is no longer in use!
 
A masonry chimney will not get hot on the outside and is designed to not get hot on the outside. It's already touching all sorts of combustible material such as the vapor barrier and wood framing.
 
The code doesn't care AT ALL. You know it's safe. I know it's safe. The building inspector knows it's safe. The code doesn't. I'm not trying to say that it's hazardous. I'm saying that it's a code violation. The IRC doesn't allow framing to touch a chimney at all. It needs to be 2" away. There are very few materials that can come in contact with a chimney. Metal, asbestos, fire caulk, mineral wool and other straight up nonflammable materials which have been tested and approved. The exception is with condensing furnaces and boilers which waste so little heat that the exhaust can be plumbed through PVC. The PVC pipe isn't considered to be a "chimney".
 
A masonry chimney will not get hot on the outside and is designed to not get hot on the outside. It's already touching all sorts of combustible material such as the vapor barrier and wood framing.

Modern code where I am (Maine) requires at least a couple inches of clearance between a masonry chimney and the wood framing.

I have been in older buildings where they just cemented the wooden lathes into the chimney, and then plastered over everything though.
 
Personally, I would do it right the first time:

1) Find a common wall up to the attic or a IDF closet
2) Rip out the drywall from basement to the attic/closet. Either do a small section or do it 4ft wide to fit a full replacement sheet within the studs.
3) Run several 1" ENT in the wall cavity.
4) Fix/replace fire stops, put it back to code.

Go from there.

Yes, drywall, mud, tape, priming, painting is a pain, but it is done right and will serve you for a long time.

Run coax/telco/data/fiber/etc while you are at it.
 
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