Sacedog's House Wiring Project

[Sacedog]

If your going to have insulation in your attic I would recommend removing the 90 sweep from your chase pipe and adding about 2 feet to keep it above the insulation. Trust me it will not be fun to hunt for that in 24inchs of blown insulation. I have done it more time then I care to admit.

Great thought! I actually did do that after someone else suggested it, so I should be all set. I would like to assume that after pulling 40k feet of wire, I will not be needing to use it, but I'm sure something new will come out in the future that I will need to pull some new type of wire for.

 

[beelzerob]

sace, I'm assuming you did some research into where to get the best/cheapest cans. Where'd you end up getting them from?

 

[Sacedog]

sace, I'm assuming you did some research into where to get the best/cheapest cans. Where'd you end up getting them from?

Automated Outlet. I searched the web, and found a couple of places that were a few dollars cheaper, but I have purchased a lot from AO, and feel very comfortable with them.

I actually started with Leviton 42" cans, and decided to go with the 50" CV ones. SO....I have 3 Leviton 42" cans with hinged doors that I will be looking to sell...at a great discount.

 

[beelzerob]

I actually started with Leviton 42" cans, and decided to go with the 50" CV ones. SO....I have 3 Leviton 42" cans with hinged doors that I will be looking to sell...at a great discount.

Heh..I'll have to pre-subscribe to your sale thread, then. It scares me thinking of buying some cans that you already decided weren't sufficient for your needs.... But being in a completely unfinished basement, I have an advantage of adding more cans as needed for the forseeable future, so I think at this point ANY cans are better than none.

 

[Sacedog]

Well, not much new work has been done since I pulled the cable. I got all of the surface mount contacts for the windows hooked up and tested, as well as all of the exterior doors. I needed to get the windows down so that the finish carpenters could put on the window stools, as some of my wire came through the bottom rather than the side. Getting all of this connected went pretty fast, and I didn't have one bad wire!! I also found a spray paint that matched the color of my vinyl windows perfectly, so it made the contacts blend in more.

The cabinets are being installed now, and I thought I would post a picture of the opening to the wiring closet. I'm pretty stoked about this little addition! The secret door will have cabinet doors on the bottom section, and adjustable shelves in the top section. In the picture with the door open, you can see the mudrings where all of the wire for the rack will come up from underneath the house. It is currently just bundled up under the house. I set up pull strings for each mud ring through a seperate 2" hole for each one in the bottom wall plate.

I am waiting for the painter now, after which I will be very busy installing all of the motions, smokes, heats, and other wall clutter. In addition, after the painter is in, I can start terminating wire in the rooms. In the meantime, I will be working on terminating all of my security wire to 66 blocks.

 

[felixrosbergen]

Sage…you mentioned surface mount window sensors…why are you not using recessed?

 

[Sacedog]

Sage…you mentioned surface mount window sensors…why are you not using recessed?

Voided the manufacturer's warranty. I was pretty annoyed when I found out about that, but I made due. With the painted mini surface contacts, you don't really notice them.

 

[Sacedog]

I have been working a lot on getting all of my wire terminated, now that we have moved in. You can see the progress of the work in my gallery here:

http://www.cocoontech.com/index.php?autoco...um&album=19

I got things working in the following order: burgler alarm (just the exterior contacts, then motions...still have a lot more to hook up), phones, cable tv, networking, intercom, distiributed audio (have a lot more with this too...the wife wanted a few zones hooked up for Thanksgiving, so I obliged), Sage TV, cameras.

After I get the rest of the Russound audio hooked up and configured, the thermostats hooked up, and the remaining contacts hooked up, I will begin my CQC work. It wont be until I get into CQC before I start to hook up my lighting...I didn't include pics of that can, or the power can yet, as they are pretty empty so far.

 

[electron]

That is looking VERY clean! Nice job!

 

[Neurorad]

ray:

 

[Squintz]

That is looking really nice. You should put all your photos into your album to make it easier to look at them all. I'd like a tour of the rest of the house too.

 

[Neurorad]

Had some q's on the Russound:

1. Combination CAV/CAM, together? How separate are the systems? Doorbell interrupt working on both?
2. Compoint up and running? Happy with it? Seems kind of repetitively redundant. Are they integrated well, in your opinion?

 

[Neurorad]

I LOVE that closet door. Pull a book off the shelf to open?

What kind of catch does it use? I have a very similar 'hidden' door (that's much more obvious than yours), not really hidden. Came with the house I moved into last year, but the catch on the door works poorly, so it's been hanging open for a year and a half. Maybe I should consider a lock-able solution.

 

[dougmeredith]

These guys may have what you are looking for:

http://hiddenpassageway.com/

Doug

 

[Sacedog]

Had some q's on the Russound:

1. Combination CAV/CAM, together? How separate are the systems? Doorbell interrupt working on both?
2. Compoint up and running? Happy with it? Seems kind of repetitively redundant. Are they integrated well, in your opinion?

The systems will be tied together using Rnet. I got the CAV, because I thought I would use it for Composite video distribution, but I went with Sage instead. I might still use it for distribution of the composite security camera signal. The Compoint is what interrupts the audio, and it works awesomely. The Compoint can work with any audio solution (Russound, Nuvo, or just plain centralized amp and volume controls). The speaker wires from the central source go to the Compoint keypad first, then from the keypad to the speakers in the same room. During normal audio operation, the Compoint keypad just loops the audio signal...when the doorbell is rung, or somebody used the intercom, it mutes the distributed audio, and outputs the doorbell or intercom audio over the in room speakers. The sound quality is amazing! It's like the person is in the same room with you.

I'll upload a few pics of the finished door, and the hardware they used in a bit.