Re-Wiring the whole house!!

[Enzian]

My wife and I are looking to purchase our first house. The house we're leaning toward is 80+ years old, and has uninsulated, paneled (no sheetrock or plaster!) walls. The power wiring is rated at 60amps. The phone wires are el-cheap-o flimsy wire run underneath the baseboard. The coax was strung up by a team of amphetemine-hopped monkeys and tacked to the ceiling of the basement.

If we were to buy this house, I'd like to rip the panelling off one wall at a time, replacing the power wires and outlets/switches, phone lines, coax and adding cat5e - in an orderly and neat manner. In the instance of an "outside" wall, I'd throw some insulation in there and sheetrock it.

Is this possible? Can I do this in an orderly fashion only doing one wall at a time? How? How can I do this without splicing cable?

Any hints? Tips I'll need?

 

[grimmer]

Power wiring is typically looped between devices(ie switches, lights and receptacles) - so it can get a little messy doing one wall at a time. Just plan ahead as to what the finished product is going to look like, lay out the wiring as it will be when it's all done, and then do it one wall at a time. You'll have to do some temporary connections as you progress through the reconstruction. Avoid splicing power wiring - that's just asking for trouble in the future.

Alternatively, you can do like I did - just gut the house in one shot and slowly(oh so slowly) rebuild to your heart's content. (He he)

As for the cable and data lines, they're easy. Pick a spot in the house where you want to set up distribution points for both systems(usually in the basement)and take each outlet back to that point. With those, you can connect and use them as you go. With power wiring, it's another story.

 

[Cballinger]

If you're just getting started I'd opt to pull CAT-6 to each location, instead of CAT-5, since CAT-6 supports giga-bit rates which you may eventually get to, plus it has a higher twist rate which will help reduce crosstalk. While you're at it pull an extra strand of CAT-6 or even CAT-5 as a backup and one or two strands of RG6 for your video needs at well. Just be sure and mark or color code the cables so when you are all done you know what goes where.

 

[mradmin]

Hi, since you said you were "looking" at purchase of this house, it's important to know as much about your future costs as possible. Please don't forget to check with any appropriate authorities regarding building codes compliance and any inspection requirements for your wiring work. If you only have 60 amp electrical service (unless it's a very small house) you should check into completely rewiring it, replacing ALL the cable, and the distribution panel as well. Standards for the number of outlets/room, the use of GFI protection in certain areas, approval of certain insulating materials and installation methods, etc. have all changed in the last 20 ot 30 years and the existing wiring is probably older than that. If you were in my 'neck of the woods', you'd have to get all of that work done before occupancy would be allowed (or before you could get fire insurance!) good luck.

 

[Enzian]

We scrapped our plans for this house, in favor of building a new house. We just found out that our offer for a lot was accepted. I'll be running the data drops after the Tyvek and the roof go up.

Yeeeee-doggie!

 

[Guest_imported]

The current recomendation (TIA/EIA-570/A grade 1) is 2 Cat5 and 2 RG6 per outlet with an outlet per every 25' of wall.