davidson55
IS-IT--Management
Hello,
I am planning an installation for a small, urban, multi-tenant luxury residential rental building that is currently undergoing a complete gut renovation, and I need some ideas for the routing of the horizontal cabling.
Unlike an office setting, there will be no drop ceilings or other possible overhead pathways, so everything needs to go in the metal-stud framing of the walls. One requirement, however, is that 10 years from now when these wires become obsolete, they can be replaced without destroying every wall in the apartment. In my experience, once the sheetrock goes on, there is little you can change. I suppose that might seem acceptable in dwellings of cheaper construction, but in apartments of mahogany moldings, marble bathrooms and inlaid floor patterns, the cost of preparing for the future is chump change in comparison to the cost of tearing things apart 10 years from now to accommodate some new wiring standard.
It seems that this problem could be easily solved with some sort of metal horizontal wiring channel, at faceplate-height, structurally integrated with the metal-stud framing. In this way, the faceplates themselves could double as access doors for pulling cable in the future. Even better would be such a product with a metal divider allowing for the placement of low and high voltage jacks in the same faceplate. I have not been able to source any such products, though, and surface raceway is understandably unacceptable to the developer.
I've looked at that “WireTracks” product that goes behind the baseboard, but I need far more capacity, and something far more solid than plastic to attach the baseboard to. (this is large, intricate mahogany baseboard that really cannot be moved once installed/varnished.
I've also considered the possibility of using electrical pipe conduit, but that would be sub-optimal, inflexible, and difficult to work with for a number of reasons.
Aesthetic requirements always seem to interfere with technological progress. I imagine this is a common problem, however, and I would appreciate any insight the people of this forum might have. I am not a professional in this area, but I keep getting asked to plan this kind of work, and I have been continually frustrated by the lack of future-proof wiring products. I guess it's a small percentage of dwellings in America that don't have basements, attics and wood framing. If I can't find a product that solves this problem, the contractor and I will improvise our own, probably by building cable duct with plywood and 1x2s.
Thanks! - Aaron
I am planning an installation for a small, urban, multi-tenant luxury residential rental building that is currently undergoing a complete gut renovation, and I need some ideas for the routing of the horizontal cabling.
Unlike an office setting, there will be no drop ceilings or other possible overhead pathways, so everything needs to go in the metal-stud framing of the walls. One requirement, however, is that 10 years from now when these wires become obsolete, they can be replaced without destroying every wall in the apartment. In my experience, once the sheetrock goes on, there is little you can change. I suppose that might seem acceptable in dwellings of cheaper construction, but in apartments of mahogany moldings, marble bathrooms and inlaid floor patterns, the cost of preparing for the future is chump change in comparison to the cost of tearing things apart 10 years from now to accommodate some new wiring standard.
It seems that this problem could be easily solved with some sort of metal horizontal wiring channel, at faceplate-height, structurally integrated with the metal-stud framing. In this way, the faceplates themselves could double as access doors for pulling cable in the future. Even better would be such a product with a metal divider allowing for the placement of low and high voltage jacks in the same faceplate. I have not been able to source any such products, though, and surface raceway is understandably unacceptable to the developer.
I've looked at that “WireTracks” product that goes behind the baseboard, but I need far more capacity, and something far more solid than plastic to attach the baseboard to. (this is large, intricate mahogany baseboard that really cannot be moved once installed/varnished.
I've also considered the possibility of using electrical pipe conduit, but that would be sub-optimal, inflexible, and difficult to work with for a number of reasons.
Aesthetic requirements always seem to interfere with technological progress. I imagine this is a common problem, however, and I would appreciate any insight the people of this forum might have. I am not a professional in this area, but I keep getting asked to plan this kind of work, and I have been continually frustrated by the lack of future-proof wiring products. I guess it's a small percentage of dwellings in America that don't have basements, attics and wood framing. If I can't find a product that solves this problem, the contractor and I will improvise our own, probably by building cable duct with plywood and 1x2s.
Thanks! - Aaron