Soffit Vent removal for cat6 run

K

krassyg

n3wb
Jan 11, 2020
16
8
USA
Have to drop 8 cameras to the basement from bellow the deck; no attic. Planning to just staple white outdoor rated cat6 to the white corners and go down; shouldn't look too bad. Just in case I have to go sideways; how hard it is to remove the soffit vent if I want to hide the cable. I can also just staple it hidden below the front edge of the soffit but if I can take off the vents without wrecking them why not.

Any other tips you guys have for the wire runs? Get all 8 cables below the deck and then go into the basement from one location or do the front ones directly from the front of the house? Basement is drop ceiling with easy access throughout. What sealant would you recommend for the holes (NY)?

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That’s what we call a trunk slam job around here. Looks like a 2 story? I bet you’re installing cameras 20 ft up there? Is the basement ceiling drywall?
 
krassyg said:
Have to drop 8 cameras to the basement from bellow the deck; no attic. Planning to just staple white outdoor rated cat6 to the white corners and go down; shouldn't look too bad. Just in case I have to go sideways; how hard it is to remove the soffit vent if I want to hide the cable. I can also just staple it hidden below the front edge of the soffit but if I can take off the vents without wrecking them why not.

Any other tips you guys have for the wire runs? Get all 8 cables below the deck and then go into the basement from one location or do the front ones directly from the front of the house? Basement is drop ceiling with easy access throughout. What sealant would you recommend for the holes (NY)?

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I always try sneak the wires inside the garage without seeing them. Once wires are in the garage you can neatly surface mount the wires down into the basement. (Hint : try looking for something else going in basement like a water tap or central vac.
 
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dudemaar said:
That’s what we call a trunk slam job around here. Looks like a 2 story? I bet you’re installing cameras 20 ft up there? Is the basement ceiling drywall?
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1st floor; front would be about ~10-12'; from the back ~8-10" since there is a deck. Basement is tiles grid throughout. The cables for the rear cameras are going below the deck into the basement; the ones in the front of the house I am not sure yet. I can route them behind the house and below the deck or drop them straight down and go directly into the basement.
 
Don't use staples. Too easy to damage to the cable and cause a problem somewhere that way. Can you get behind that white trim board to run down behind it? If not and you have to go down there, might be able to bundle them and use a screw-in ring clamp on the back side edge to hide it. Soffit usually pops out fairly easily one way or another.
 
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Little bit high if you want a good face shot. Mine are around 6ft 10 - 7ft which is pretty much the recommended height. It's a msiconception you need to protect them from attack. Very few cameras ever get attacked and those that do are usually by professionals and even then they risk giving very detailed face shots even through the bit exposed in masks as they get close enough to attack them. Turrets are pretty much bullet proof anyway this side of obscuring the lens which usually has the result mentioned for the perp and if you have notifications set will have already notified you to someone's presence. Out of everyone on here, I don't think a single camera has ever been attacked and stealing them is a major undertaking as you'll find out when installing. Multiple layers of bracket to remove before you can remove the camera from the wall. If you're that worried, you can always have a high over view wide angle and another camera at face level. The problem with high cameras is you get poor facial shot unless they covering something some distance away to shallow the angle. Caps etc will prevent a facial capture entirely. When at around 7ft, the camera is almost at the same level as the face and the shallow angle means it will see under a cap from even a small distance away.
 
I’ll add my two cents if you’re going to try to snake any wire having both sectional glow rods in various flexibility and long reel is paramount in completing any (Big Pull). :thumb:

The LED light / flash light is a godsend . . .

I can not stress enough the benefits of having a flexible magnet in various types and the chain noodle.
 

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The fiberglass rods are a must-have, also a metal fish tape. Makes attic work much easier. If the basement ceiling is accessible, then you can send the wire directly down from the attic inside an interior wall? I do it all the time. (great job for those new glow rods)

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Drill small hole where needed or feed them through the vent itself. A small hole is just another vent. You don't need to waterproof a hole in the underside as water flows down not up. The only reason you might want to seal a hole is to prevent insects geting inside, but unless your existing vents are meshed and insect protected, even that kind of becomes pointless as any insects can just go through unprotected vents. Another option to sealing a hole would be to drill a hole that fits a rubber grommit (the limiting factor here might be the thickness of the facia material - try on a spare piece before committing yoruself). YOu could then gromit iot instead. BTW, EDPM lasts almost forever essentially, so if you want grommits & they fit, find EDPM ones as natural rubbish perishes.
 
Once you figure out where your penetrating point / pull point will be buy a name brand pull string.

For the average DIYer 500 feet of poly rope is more than fine. If you’re doing lots of pulls sometimes buying the 5000 feet bin makes a lot more sense feet per dollar.

If you’re doing any serious conduit (long pulls) for electrical 2500 lbs tensile mule tape is the only thing to use!

Leave a pull string behind for the future so it won’t be so hard next time. Some of the long reels as you saw me post up don’t come with any adaptors to allow the lead end to go over crevices / obstructions.

When you’re in the field you need to adapt and make your own that suites any need as seen here.

All this is, is two zip ties connected with bailing wire from the dollar store. Sometimes I use a tennis ball on specific pulls.

As noted having different lengths and types of flexible magnets / lights / chains in various size & lengths are going to help you during that big pull.

Good luck . . .
 

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Why pull it out and disturb it when you can simply use a pull tape? The shape of that vent is idealy being a v shaped valley as any tape / rods will naturally find themseleves down into the centre where the vent slats are from where they can be easily retreived.

If not nailed it's most likely silicone'd into the facia boards which would explain the cracking along the joints. If you try to pull it down you risk pulling the whole lot down or at least disturbing it and you're going to have lots of fun when it comes to putting it back trying to place, hold and silicone a 3m board whilst up a ladder.

A LAN cable will easily fit through the vent gaps or if the size is deceptive and it doesn't which I doubt, a simple snip of one of those vent bars would allow you to create a larger hole without any drilling, or you could drill a hole in between the vent strips. I'd keep any holes as small as possible to avoid pests getting in.
 
CCTVCam said:
Why pull it out and disturb it when you can simply use a pull tape? The shape of that vent is idealy being a v shaped valley as any tape / rods will naturally find themseleves down into the centre where the vent slats are from where they can be easily retreived.

If not nailed it's most likely silicone'd into the facia boards which would explain the cracking along the joints. If you try to pull it down you risk pulling the whole lot down or at least disturbing it and you're going to have lots of fun when it comes to putting it back trying to place, hold and silicone a 3m board whilst up a ladder.

A LAN cable will easily fit through the vent gaps or if the size is deceptive and it doesn't which I doubt, a simple snip of one of those vent bars would allow you to create a larger hole without any drilling, or you could drill a hole in between the vent strips. I'd keep any holes as small as possible to avoid pests getting in.
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The soffit vent came out easy; putting it back was a bit tricky but it worked out fine.
 

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