Help with planning a cable run for data cables

[sevenupcan]

I'm going to be running new network cabling through our house and I'm planing to do it using flexible conduit so I can easily change the cables in 10 years or more time if needed without having to pull up carpet and take plasterboard off.

However I'm not sure of the best way to get the cables from A to B and what joists to drill through. Ideally I want to use 32mm flexible conduit for each acces point upstairs which all leads back to a patch panel under the stairs. This however means I will have to drill 5 x 34-36mm holes next to each other through one or more joists to get to under the stairs. With building regulations stating that the minimum distance between holes should be 3 times the diameter (centre to centre) that means that the total distance taken up by conduit on one joist would be about 47cm.

Is there an easier way I can get the conduits to my patch panel? Judging by the research I've done I'm guessing not many houses in the UK use conduit to future proof cabling as I can't find many examples of it.

 

[chappers]

Don't take this the wrong way, but you are future proofing against a dying technology. In 10 years time my guess is that data cables, will be all but obsolete, with the advancement of wireless technology, it wouldn't surprise me also if in 10 years time we aren't even bringing our broadband into our homes via cables and wires. Even the new 5G technology is capable of speeds of upto 20gbps, around 10 times the fastest speeds we have now and there is already plans for what I suppose will be called 6G.
In our house we run three laptops, two printers, two ipads, and three TVs all on a std virgin media wireless router and tp link extender(to cover the garden)

 

[rob_j20]

I'm going to be running new network cabling through our house and I'm planing to do it using flexible conduit so I can easily change the cables in 10 years or more time if needed without having to pull up carpet and take plasterboard off.

However I'm not sure of the best way to get the cables from A to B and what joists to drill through. Ideally I want to use 32mm flexible conduit for each acces point upstairs which all leads back to a patch panel under the stairs. This however means I will have to drill 5 x 34-36mm holes next to each other through one or more joists to get to under the stairs. With building regulations stating that the minimum distance between holes should be 3 times the diameter (centre to centre) that means that the total distance taken up by conduit on one joist would be about 47cm.

Is there an easier way I can get the conduits to my patch panel? Judging by the research I've done I'm guessing not many houses in the UK use conduit to future proof cabling as I can't find many examples of it.

Its not easy in a home environment, i just run them as is where ever they will fit. The short runs typically seen in homes make it more forgiving, so you can get away with running next to mains.

The only place i use conduit is from the wall socket to below the skirting, i use 20mm. Then under the floor boards i just bunch them together, and run along the joists, i use any holes or notches that are already there. I have on average 4 sockets in each room all leading to the under stairs space.

 

[omega015]

I did exactly what rob has done, i.e. use conduit from the backbox to just under the floor. As I've been under the floorboards already I know in future I can pull back the carpet and easily get back under the floor (might need to move furniture but its not too bad). The only issue is if you lay and laminate/hardwood. I also made use of any existing holes, noggins, pathways etc... to try minimize and drilling I needed to do. Also by not using conduit for the cable runs I didn't need to drill such big holes. As long as the hole was big enough for a bunch of cables and the head of the HDMI connector.

Flexible conduit btw is not easy to feed cables in due to all the little ridges it has and this makes pulling cable through a pain in the ass. Also pulling cable through long runs with bends etc... will be extremely difficult/impossible and you could cause stress and break cables easily. Also you run the risk of rubbing against the other cables and burning the outer layers and potentially the inner conductors (I did this to a fibre cable once.... ooops).

I would go for a couple of pieces of conduit from the back box (2 pieces if a double box) to just under the floorboard and that should at least future proof you so you don't have to chase out the wall etc... Also try to think what cables you might need now and in the short term and run those cables at the same time. I ran 2 x Cat6, 1 x HDMI, 2 x 1.5 mm 2 core flex, 2 x RG6 which should give me plenty of choice for the next 5 years at least. The 2 core flex btw was for 12v supply as I was planning to have USB charger sockets and the other for infrared control. But now the USB charging is obsolete due to mains sockets incorporating this now.

Oh and while wireless speeds, 5G etc... is probably the future, I reckon 10gb cables will be more common place in domestic soon as prices get cheaper for the switches etc... Especially when reliability is a factor and wireless can be flaky

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Don't take this the wrong way, but you are future proofing against a dying technology. In 10 years time my guess is that data cables, will be all but obsolete, with the advancement of wireless technology,

http://www.ethernetalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Ethernet-Roadmap-2sides-29Feb.pdf

it wouldn't surprise me also if in 10 years time we aren't even bringing our broadband into our homes via cables and wires. Even the new 5G technology is capable of speeds of upto 20gbps, around 10 times the fastest speeds we have now and there is already plans for what I suppose will be called 6G.

Never mind the speeds, is it ever going to be as rock-solid reliable as wires?

"Use wireless when you have to, wired when you can"

 

[sevenupcan]

Thanks everyone for your replied. It's very helpful to hear what others have done.

Flexible conduit btw is not easy to feed cables in due to all the little ridges it has and this makes pulling cable through a pain in the ass. Also pulling cable through long runs with bends etc... will be extremely difficult/impossible and you could cause stress and break cables easily.

What rigid conduit did you use? I'm worried that if I use rigid PCV pipes that the cables won't pull round 90degree elbow bends very well. I will be using string to pull the cables through. My logic was that as least with flexible conduit I could add large arcs for the cables to go round (but I too fear the cable getting caught on the ridges of the convoluted conduit.

 

[omega015]

I didn't use any rigid conduit due to limit space between joists etc... I just used 20/25mm flexi but only about 50cm worth at each point. The rest of the cables were just left slightly loose running along side each other and as far away to any mains as possible (not always possible though). All the cables then meet out in my landing under the floor which then were taped together (grouped by individual socket) using coloured tape for identification.

Untitled

• omega015
• 2 Aug 2013
• 1

 

[rob_j20]

This is how mine look as they are going in. A 20mm conduit per 2 network cables, you can get 4 cables in a single tube but its tight.

 

[Iggifer]

As above I think. Conduit in walls and loose in the floor.

32mm copex is WAY oversized for a single network cable. 20mm is even too big for one but the only other option is oval tube and it's not as nice a finish really

 

[sevenupcan]

Ah see what you mean now.

I think I'm coming to terms with the fact I will need to leave access somewhere whether that be by pulling the carpet up or having an access hatch somewhere in the ceiling (avoids ruining the floor). I had hoped to fit a HDMI cable inside the conduit so I might see if 25mm conduit will work. As I am an amateur at this stuff I'm also future proofing in case I make a mistake (plus I enjoy planning this kind of stuff).

Does anyone know what or where I can find building regulations are on drilling holes and adding notches to sole plates, head plates and studs etc? I've found what the regulations are on joists but not when I'm drilling holes through sole plate up to the socket in a wooden frame load bearing wall.

 

[rob_j20]

The reason 20mm is so good to use is it fits perfectly into the knockouts of the boxes. Going bigger will mean you need to put the boxes deeper as well to them be able to cover them up.

Oval is a good idea or even some rectangular trunking.

 

[JohnW2]

Does anyone know what or where I can find building regulations are on drilling holes and adding notches to sole plates, head plates and studs etc? I've found what the regulations are on joists but not when I'm drilling holes through sole plate up to the socket in a wooden frame load bearing wall.

I'll be interested to hear if anyone knows better, but (somewhat to my surprise) I'm not convinced that any such regulations or guidance actually currently exists in the Building Regs (or associated documents), per se. The current version of Approved Document A says that its scope does not include timber-framed buildings, so it does not mention load-bearing timber-framed partitions/walls.

I'm not even sure where (if anywhere) the guidance/regulations in relation to notches and holes in joists now exists - I wonder what you have been looking at? The 1992 version of Approved Document A appears to have included the guidance figures which most people seem to still work to. However, those figures do not seem to exist in the 2013 amendment of the 2004 version of Approved Doc A, so I'm not sure where, if anywhere, they now exist in terms of the Building Regs and/or associated documents. I'm not even sure that the 1994 one actually addressed the question of holes drilled vertically through joists, which would be about the nearest it could have got to your sole/head plate question.

I'll be interested to hear if anyone can enlighten me.

Common sense would suggest to me that one would probably be hard-pressed to significantly compromise the structural integrity of a load-bearing timber-framed wall by drilling a 'sensibly' small number of 'sensible' holes (anywhere) in its sole plate and/or head plate, but that's no more than a personal 'gut feeling'!

Kind Regards, John

 

[sevenupcan]

I must admit I am a bit confused with regards to this aspect of the building regulations because I have looked at the Approved Document Part A on the government website and when I searched for notches there was nothing. But looking online paints a different picture. I just assumed the building regulations available to us muggins wasn't the whole thing, and you needed to "buy" some literature that goes into detail.

I suppose I really ought to contact building control but I don't really see why I should have to. In this day and age all guidance/regulations should be available online.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I'll be interested to hear if anyone can enlighten me.

Try your LABC.