Running cable between floors

[deadshort]

As TTC has advised, the pipe chase is the best option to get from to the bottom. You can run from the loft down the inside if a fitted cupboard and under the kitchen units by removing the kick boards if the soil pipe runs through the kitchen.

I have just wired a timber framed house for AV and apart from the insulation in the external walls, (as you would expect), all internal walls were clear of any vertical obstruction.

DS

 

[tony359]

Indeed one of the soil pipe runs behind the kitchen and if I remove the kick boards I can see the pipe - the plasterwall behind the kitchen was left a little unfinished. My question is what do I do next. I need that cable in the living room which is by the kitchen. The soil pipe ends up in the common corner so I could easily make a hole and run the cable from that corner into the living room but I need it at the other corner of the room. Are you saying that I should expect horizontal noggins and not vertical? I thought the wall was built as in the picture below.

Let me thank you all for your help so far, it's really appreciated!

 

[Taylortwocities]

You will have vertical and horizontal supports to negotiate. Like your picture!

 

[333rocky333]

You will have vertical and horizontal supports to negotiate. Like your picture!

I would expect that too, though Deadshort appears to me, to have just wired a house that did Not have horizontal noggins

 

[Echo the husky]

If you are unlucky enough to live in a house with metal stud work they also have no horizontal noggins.

 

[tony359]

so my question stands: how to I run the bloody cable? Indeed an ethernet socket by the wrong corner could be a compromise.

 

[JohnW2]

so my question stands: how to I run the bloody cable?

This discussion seems to be rather making a meal out of the issue. There can be no hard and fast rules/advice, since houses vary so much. It's just a question of exploring the possibilities and applying common sense. If none of the subsequent comments have given you any useful ideas, your original proposal is probably more-or-less as good as any.

Kind Regards, John

 

[deadshort]

This discussion seems to be rather making a meal out of the issue.[/QUOTE
Yes, not something that you would do

DS

 

[tony359]

Thank John
I am not familiar with this type of construction, I thought there was a more universal way of running cables around the house.
Where I come from houses are all bricks and blocks and we use corrugated hoses to fit all the cabling. If your cable fit one of the existing hoses, happy days (ok, Ethernet should not go with mains but it could be an acceptable compromise). If not - or if you want the cable where no existing sockets are installed - then the only solution is hammer and chisel. I now understand that in a timber frame house there are many "it depends" situations. Maybe I shall hire a stud finder to find out whether my original plan could work or whether running the cable down the soul pipe would allow me to then run the cable more close to the opposite corner of the room.

I'll update with my findings, in case someone else needs the information in the future.

Thanks all!
Tony

 

[Jackrae]

Strong hamster, though if might not travel like a crow

 

[motorbiking]

Powerline is definitely simpler for up to 600 Mbps, with the added advantage that only one network port is needed. I've got a mix of power line and cat6 based Gbit. The Cat6 quickly uses up your ports. Unless you are putting in some decent switches I wonder if Cat7 is worth the extra in this install?

 

[Tigercubrider]

You can always buy external grade cat 6 cable or internal and a bit of trunking/conduit/garden hose and run it externally

 

[tony359]

Motorbiking, as I said I can barely reach 50mbit with my netgear power line unfortunately.

 

[Iggifer]

If you are unlucky enough to live in a house with metal stud work they also have no horizontal noggins.

They'll also take some drilling now they've been built around. I hate drilling those things, particularly when the chippies have filled the horizontal piece across the top with wood. Killed off two expensive holesaws drilling that stuff recently. Ugh.

And people that think they can pass cables through the 'service holes' unprotected need a slap

 

[SimonH2]

I definitely need to run a proper Cat 7 Ethernet cable.

Gigabit will run on Cat5e, Cat6 is better (but slightly harder to work with), Cat7 is overkill and I've only ever seen one installation with it.

But back to your question ...
Sometimes it's hard, often it means making a mess and repairing it. Getting up the walls may mean making holes in the plasterboard to drill the noggins and soleplate etc - or with brick/block walls, chiselling out a chase to put a conduit in. Then to get around a floor the "tried and tested" technique is to lift a few floorboards and fishing the cable either along the space between the joists or through holes drilled in the joists**.
Sadly, modern houses appear to be designed to be non-maintainable. I looked round one recently that a relative is looking at, and what a flippin nightmare - completely and utterly non-maintainable by design.

* Note that there are rules on where you can safely drill the joists.