Re: Wires Through Walls

[Mike Barnes <april2006@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

In comp.home.automation, BrianEWilliams wrote:
>I'd like to put a media server in my bedroom closet.  The problem is
>that there is no power, cable, or ethernet in the closet.  I could run
>wires along the baseboard, but that is ugly.  I could pay an
>electrician, but that is expensive.  The idea I have is to drill a
>large hole through two pieces of wallboard and run the wires through
>that.  This would be behind furniture and not visible from the bedroom.
>
>The simplest thing I can think of to do this cleanly is a plastic
>conduit that has removable caps on both ends for when it is not in use,
>and 'flanges' on both sides to cover the rough cut of the wallboard.
>Looking at it in profile, it would look like this:
>
>     _   _
>wall  | |  wall
>wall _| |_ wall
>
>In this diagram, the wires would run between the |'s.  The _'s are the
>flanges.
>
>Anyone know if something like this is available?

I'm guessing from your vocabulary that you're in the US. I'm in the UK
and would do something quite different, and I don't know whether
anything similar would be possible over there. But it might be.

Here you can get blanking plates the same size as power outlets, and
it's possible to simply screw them to the wall, with a very neat and
inconspicuous appearance.

  http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSearch/partDetail.jsp?SKU=CS00049

I'd make my rough square hole in the wall and screw one of these
blanking plates over each side to cover it. Then, to fit the cables, I'd
remove the plates, run the cables through the wall, file grooves in the
narrow bottom edge of the blanking plates for each of the three cables,
and screw the plates back in place. The result is neat and airtight, and
the cables would lie flat against the wall.

      ____________________
     |     O   O   O      |
   wall    |   |   |     wall
   wall    |   |   |     wall
     |_____O___O___O______|

(view from below, three cables)

Total cost about $2.50

--
Mike Barnes