Safest penetration into a Home?

[Mike500]

Basic installer: external walls.
Custom: through ducts, regular pvc jacketed rg-6 should work fine.

Placing PVC cables inside ducts is a clear code violation. In a fire, the gasses generated and sprad through the HVAC plenum would be poisonous and deadly. In such installations, inside ducts, only plenum cable should be used.

 

[Liquidforce88]

Hey alright!!!

There are people on here that know what they are doing. I posted that just to see if anybody would jump on it.

Cool

 

[dishcomm]

I am curious,

I am always interested in how others determine where on a wall for a stick built home and or a Mobile Home they will make their penetration.

I know what I look for, but what or how do you proceed?

Care to share?

. Before drilling always locate any obstructions on the exterior of the home...Meters, interfaces, faucets, ac cut off switches, etc...Work from the inside out....Locate the nearest electrical outlet to the tv where your receiver will be loctaed and tap on the wall to look for the nearest stud.....do not penetrate the wall in the same bay as the elect outlet...I don't use cut in boxes.....I use a 1/2" bit to drill thru the wall..Flip the bit so the shank(has a hole in it for the conductor) and use it to pull the cable thru the wall.Strip the jacket and dilectric off about 2" and place the conductor thru the hole in the end of my bit..I use plastic anchors to screw the wall plate to the drywall.........With mobile home is depends on the construction..older units tend to be of less quality....I will use a a floor penetration on those
Newer MH's somtimes are stick built at the factory..I will go thru the wall on those..Use your best judgement...Some may believe there specs on this..I haven't seen them..The old Primestar rules were most stringent...Those rules prevented us from mounting or drilling ANYTHING on a vinyl sided structure.....Primestar made NO allowances for slab built homes....Good luck

 

[dishcomm]

The Tate,

I agree with you as to the floor on the mobile Homes...

though I have to say we have gone through a wall a time or two and put up a wall plate.

On stick builts, we do about the same, plug high and puch threw from inside to out..

FIrst we make sure there is nothing in the area outside we will coming out to, then go inside and punch through.

Ok, curious, what is your tool of choice, sorry I didnt think to ask that before, but I have seen as far as bit size 3/8, 1/2

What is your fave?
Oh yeah, do you make a practice of using wall busings?


I know some do others dont... beleive it or not I have seen more in my area that dont...

i don't use bushings on the exterior...especially on the sunny side of the house...The bushings will rot due to UV radiation from the sun ..They will crack and break away..I use silicone on the exterior and wipe the excess away to leave a smooth application of the stuff.....Silicone lasts a pretty long time and is water tight if applied properly.....oh yeah, I always mount wall plates at "outlet" height...

 

[Mike500]

I prefer to make the entry hole "self draining" meaning that the entry hole is lower on the outside than on the inside.

 

[dishcomm]

I have a question since this thread is being watched/read/responded to by pro installers. How do you guys deal with two story homes when the wires need to go up to the top level for a room to get a receiver? I had Dish installed a little over a year ago and when they ran the lines to my two bedrooms upstairs he just punched a hole in the floor next to the floorboard? Is this normal or was he being lazy about it and just wanted to finish the job quickly? Thanks in advance.

James

That was alarm installers trick....I would not do it with coax....Esthetic reasons...I don't do two story wall fishes..Too many things can go wrong..I install satellite systems..I am not in the business of reparing drywall..If a receiver needs to be mirored or tv2ed to the second floor, I will take what the structure gives me and find a way to get it there. Newer homes don't have attic ot ground floor chases anymore..SO thta option isn't there..If it's not possible, it just plain old doesn't get done....That's very rare though

 

[chadzx11]

I usually go from the outside in. Especially on brick or 'asbestos' sided houses with sheet rock inside. There is nothing like jacking up some body's masonry or cracking one of those "shingles". OTOH, if it is wood paneling, I will always go inside out, and take my chances with the brick (never had to deal with asbestos AND wood paneling--that would present a quandary). Naturally, I triple check before I drill anything. Never hit romex or a box before. I generally try to go on the other side of the stud from any electrical outlets. And I try to match the height of the existing outlets.

For trailers, I generally hit the floor, but I leave that up to the customer. That just goes back to how I was trained. I started with primestar, and the company that I worked for did not want us to penetrate any siding on any trailer, ever.

 

[dishcomm]

Here is a question for the pro's on here...

My basement has a sheet rock ceiling (previous owner put it in), therefore I have no easy access to the 2nd floor for my wiring. I do have air ducts that go from the basement to the 2nd floor, but the runs are very long (probably 40-50 feet, a turn in the duct when it gets to the rooms). How do you run the wiring in that kind of environment? Through the ducts, or along the outside of the house and drill through the external wall?

Thanks in advance for your help.

depends.....if the basement is living space, I treat at as I would the rest of the house.....If the basement is utility area or a playroom..I ask the cust what they thionk is esthetically ok with them

 

[dishcomm]

Not true, as an ex journeyman electrician, the 12-2 14-2, or 14-3 ran inbetween outlets generally is ran 6 inches lower or higher( I always preferred lower) between the studs, you have to secure electrical with wire staples at 4" before entering the switch box. My suggestion is to always place them at the same height for safety purposes and aesthetics

Yeah..I have NEVER seen wiring in and out of a gang box even with it!..It's always above or below.......That's the other reason to go at outlet height.....Jeez..how that guy hasn't hit any romex before is a friggin miracle...

 

[HCI]

Hey alright!!!

There are people on here that know what they are doing. I posted that just to see if anybody would jump on it.

Cool

nice ass save.

 

[Liquidforce88]

Come on guy that was so easy to see i was just waiting for somebody to jump on me...

 

[HCI]

Come on guy that was so easy to see i was just waiting for somebody to jump on me...

Just having a little fun.

 

[BlackHitachi]

I really like the idea of putting the coax box on the other side of the stud from an outlet, but sometimes the cross-wiring can make the fish harder.

I always try to mount the box at the same height as outlets - for appearances sake if no other reason.

Last one I did (Monday) went down into a crawlspace. They didn't backfill up to the foundation walls. First time I ran into that, and wish they were all like that - shuffling along the trench was a lot easier than bellycrawling.

Well i tell ya what if i ever won a lotto i want Simon to wire my home!! Even before its done being built. Have you ever been to Oregon?? No really you are the man i have read other posts from you and i know you don't get paid enough not even close!! There is nothing Simple about you!:up

 

[SimpleSimon]

I prefer to make the entry hole "self draining" meaning that the entry hole is lower on the outside than on the inside.

I use ALL THREE methods. Slant the hole, pull the wire, lay on the goop, press in the bushing - which is nothing else loks a touch better.

As for outside in vs. inside out - yeah - depends on the materials. One trick I use is an 18" 1/4" bit. Once you're through with a too-small, slightly splintered hole, you go to the other side and make it the RIGHT size - thereby killing the damage.

EDIT: Thanks BH - missed the kudo, we posted at the same time.

Last time I was in Oregon was 1977. Interviewed for a job in Portland. Found the time to get to the coast and touch the Pacific for the first time.

As for your house - just find the best local guy around. You can't trust the average electrician to do it right (has that already been said here?), but SOME of them understand satellite.

There was a new house going up, and I saw the electrician pulling coax to the SE corner of the house - which was blocked by several 60-70' trees! I turned around, stopped in and "educated" him as to where they needed to go. Still hoping to land that house as an account.