Cable running ideas

[rameshp]

Recently bought a house and was looking for security cameras. Finally landed here and cancelled my worse decisions reading information provided here. Now I wanted to go with cat6 wiring and running out of ideas how i can do cat6 wiring. I have attached front of my house with tentative location for cameras. But don't know how i can run the wiring. If you guys can guide or provide the link for such kind of cabling would be great.

 

[wittaj]

The two on either side of the garage can probably be access via the garage. Camera might have to go lower if the ceiling in there isn't high.

The other one poses more of a challenge for the DIYer. Some here have opened up holes in the drywall and then patched it after.

 

[sebastiantombs]

It looks like you're on a slab, no basement. That will make the one by the door much more difficult. Even if you make a hole inside you're still stuck having to go up through the second floor wall to reach the attic. That's not to say it can't be done, but it's intrusive, more access holes needed in the upstairs wall, and therefor more time consuming.

 

[mat200]

Recently bought a house and was looking for security cameras. Finally landed here and cancelled my worse decisions reading information provided here. Now I wanted to go with cat6 wiring and running out of ideas how i can do cat6 wiring. I have attached front of my house with tentative location for cameras. But don't know how i can run the wiring. If you guys can guide or provide the link for such kind of cabling would be great.

Often there is an airgap in newer construction between the brick work and the wall .. behind that there should be some sort of house wrap ( ideally we want to minimize holes in the house wrap and definitely want to try to watch out for potential water intrustion.

If you see similar houses being constructed, pay attention to how they are built, as that should give you some clear ideas of how to approach the job.

 

[rameshp]

The two on either side of the garage can probably be access via the garage. Camera might have to go lower if the ceiling in there isn't high.

The other one poses more of a challenge for the DIYer. Some here have opened up holes in the drywall and then patched it after.

Yes it is accessible from garage. But i'm struggling how i bring it to the top attic. On the porch totally blank on idea.

It looks like you're on a slab, no basement. That will make the on by the door much more difficult. Even if you make a hole inside you're still stuck having to go up through the second floor wall to reach the attic. That's not to say it can't ben done, but it's intrusive, more access holes needed in the upstairs wall, and therefor more time consuming.

I would have tried it but this will be the first time i'm playing with dry wall and second floor.

Often there is an airgap in newer construction between the brick work and the wall .. behind that there should be some sort of house wrap ( ideally we want to minimize holes in the house wrap and definitely want to try to watch out for potential water intrustion.

If you see similar houses being constructed, pay attention to how they are built, as that should give you some clear ideas of how to approach the job.

Yes there is a gap between brick wall and the wood wall. I have verified that by looking inside using endoscope device through weep hole which are already there to drain any moisture on this gap(verified with other under construction building from same builder). I was wondering if i will be able to fish through this gap?

 

[looktall]

You should consider where you need to run these cables to.
Make sure you can find or make a pathway for the entire length of the run.

Are you happy to surface mount conduit on the outside of your house? It will be hard to hide on brick.
If not you'll need to drill through the brick to the other side (or to the cavity).

Are those lights on the side of the garage low voltage or normal 120/220v?
If they're low voltage you could make use of the holes that are already in the brick.

If you haven't already, get yourself a fish tape. You'll need it.

 

[garycrist]

Does the porch have light centrally located? If so there is an exit point.

 

[mat200]

Yes it is accessible from garage. But i'm struggling how i bring it to the top attic. On the porch totally blank on idea.

I would have tried it but this will be the first time i'm playing with dry wall and second floor.

Yes there is a gap between brick wall and the wood wall. I have verified that by looking inside using endoscope device through weep hole which are already there to drain any moisture on this gap(verified with other under construction building from same builder). I was wondering if i will be able to fish through this gap?

Hi rameshp,

Normally I recall seeing enough of a gap between the brick face and wall .. when fishing, do use some caution so as not to rip any house wrap ( depends on the type of wrap used .. pricier wrap is fairly strong .. )

For the garage, often easy enough to take a section of dry wall off behind the locations you want to place the cameras and route a cable to the back of the brick ..

 

[Timokreon]

Are you dead set on running the cables yourself? Looking at how nice your house is, I would personally be getting quotes from a low voltage electrician about running cable, conduit, etc... around the house.
Good luck however you go about it. Great people on this forum to help!

 

[JNDATHP]

The room above our garage is a bedroom with a closet. We ran Ethernet from the the structured wiring can in one of our walk-in closets up to the attic and then down, thru 1” PVC in the bedroom closet. The PVC pipe is tucked in the corner of the wall that houses the doors. Can’t see it unless you’re in the closet.

Used fire caulk around an electrical junction box screwed to the garage ceiling and from there to a switch and then cameras and an access point.

 

[Firefighter]

Obviously it's difficult making assumptions from two photos. I installed professionally for a few years.
Here's what I would do.

If you dont want to cut drywall, drill through framing and repair then you really only have one choice.
Run conduit from the attic, BEHIND the brick ledge at the corner where the siding meets the brick. Paint it to match and you'll never notice it and who the hell cares anyway. Look at your huge electrical box on that side of the house.
At the bottom, drill through and into the garage. Preferrebly have an LB at that 90 into the garage.
Once in the garage, run the conduit or none along the ceiling front corner and drill out to where you want the cameras.
It really really helps having a friend who's comfortable doing these things or better yet have a contractor do the drilling and you can run the conduit and wire and seal it back up.

For the front porch, ah shit. That's just gonna suck if you again don't want to cut drywall, drill and repair. I'd honestly do something along the same lines and paint the conduit to match the brick. Then, maybe do something decorative to hide it if it's a major concern.

Here's a quick drawing that helps illiterate what im trying to explain.
While your running two cameras outside the garage, I'd install one inside the garage. Might as well.

 

[mat200]

Obviously it's difficult making assumptions from two photos. I installed professionally for a few years.
Here's what I would do.

If you dont want to cut drywall, drill through framing and repair then you really only have one choice.
Run conduit from the attic, BEHIND the brick ledge at the corner where the siding meets the brick. Paint it to match and you'll never notice it and who the hell cares anyway. Look at your huge electrical box on that side of the house.
At the bottom, drill through and into the garage. Preferrebly have an LB at that 90 into the garage.
Once in the garage, run the conduit or none along the ceiling front corner and drill out to where you want the cameras.
It really really helps having a friend who's comfortable doing these things or better yet have a contractor do the drilling and you can run the conduit and wire and seal it back up.

For the front porch, ah shit. That's just gonna suck if you again don't want to cut drywall, drill and repair. I'd honestly do something along the same lines and paint the conduit to match the brick. Then, maybe do something decorative to hide it if it's a major concern.

Here's a quick drawing that helps illiterate what im trying to explain.
While your running two cameras outside the garage, I'd install one inside the garage. Might as well.

hmm .. I think he can do something similar to the front porch area .. run the conduit down the wall, just behind the brick, and I think with a bit of careful fishing should be able to snake a cat5e cable behind the gap of the brick to the location he wants to put the camera... in theory no need to cut into the dry wall by the front door area if you can snake the cable behind the brick / corner area ..

 

[Firefighter]

hmm .. I think he can do something similar to the front porch area .. run the conduit down the wall, just behind the brick, and I think with a bit of careful fishing should be able to snake a cat5e cable behind the gap of the brick to the location he wants to put the camera... in theory no need to cut into the dry wall by the front door area if you can snake the cable behind the brick / corner area ..

Yeah I agree. For the porch side, I would run it down the siding to brick transition just like the other side. Getting it around the corner behind the brick will be difficult but worth a try. If that doesn't work then the conduit maybe the last resort option.

 

[rameshp]

Does the porch have light centrally located? If so there is an exit point.

Yes there is light. Do you think i can take benefit from this?

Are you dead set on running the cables yourself? Looking at how nice your house is, I would personally be getting quotes from a low voltage electrician about running cable, conduit, etc... around the house.
Good luck however you go about it. Great people on this forum to help!

I tried and still trying to get quote from camera installer. But they want to do it easy way which is mount to soffit. I said no.

Obviously it's difficult making assumptions from two photos. I installed professionally for a few years.
Here's what I would do.

If you dont want to cut drywall, drill through framing and repair then you really only have one choice.
Run conduit from the attic, BEHIND the brick ledge at the corner where the siding meets the brick. Paint it to match and you'll never notice it and who the hell cares anyway. Look at your huge electrical box on that side of the house.
At the bottom, drill through and into the garage. Preferrebly have an LB at that 90 into the garage.
Once in the garage, run the conduit or none along the ceiling front corner and drill out to where you want the cameras.
It really really helps having a friend who's comfortable doing these things or better yet have a contractor do the drilling and you can run the conduit and wire and seal it back up.

For the front porch, ah shit. That's just gonna suck if you again don't want to cut drywall, drill and repair. I'd honestly do something along the same lines and paint the conduit to match the brick. Then, maybe do something decorative to hide it if it's a major concern.

Here's a quick drawing that helps illiterate what im trying to explain.
While your running two cameras outside the garage, I'd install one inside the garage. Might as well.

Thanks for the detailed explanation. This one seems the last option as you mentioned. I can do some drilling and dry wall cutting. Just it will be first time I'll be doing.

 

[Timokreon]

Look for a electrician then that has low voltage installers, instead of camera installer. You can always just ask them to pull the conduit/cable to where YOU want it, then install the cameras yourself. Or anything in-between.

They don't need to know what the cable is for, it's purpose etc... their only concern is getting the cable from point A to point B, in a manner which you're ok with.
I dealt with a alarm company, which installs cameras as well. The manner in which they wanted to do things was a complete joke.

Or perhaps you have a friend, relative, that is experienced in pulling cables? I have a neighbor who helped me with 4 or 5 of my cameras.

 

[rameshp]

Following idea is it even possible ?
From attic drill a hole towards outer brick wall. So that i get access to the gap. Then drop ball chain on this gap and use strong magnet to find it and pull through the hole made on brick.
Difficulty i see (Let me remind i'm total noob)
1) Can i actually drill through the attic to get access to that gap?
2) Will i find the strong enough magnet that will work from this single layer of brick or from inside of garage which is normal wood wall with insulation?

 

[sebastiantombs]

Given that you have a hip roof, eaves on all four sides, drilling down will be a problem. You'll need a right angle drill and something to lay on in the attic to work out that close to the outside wall. Then, locating exactly where to drill that hole will become a problem. Too far out and you're outside, too far in and you're through the ceiling below. Neodymium magnets are exceedingly strong and should work for that, but you'll need a hole big enough to get a fair sized one into the hole in the first place.

 

[Firefighter]

It's going to be difficult to run anything in the gap. It should have ties to the structure and mortar all over the place.
Is the conduit down the edge and into the garage not wanted?
Seems like the most sensible.

 

[mat200]

It's going to be difficult to run anything in the gap. It should have ties to the structure and mortar all over the place.
Is the conduit down the edge and into the garage not wanted?
Seems like the most sensible.

Agreed, conduit down the sides .. unless you know more about the structure / framing ..

If you can find similar homes being built, it helps to see how they are framing it to get a better idea.

 

[samplenhold]

All new construction here in the Houston area is brick veneer. But as @Firefighter stated, it will not be a smooth, easy fishing experience.

I will bet that there are LAN jacks in every room, some rooms probably have more than one. If you can get from the outside to one of these, you can place a POE switch there for the cams to plug into and then plug that switch into one LAN jack to get you to the IT closet. I have done this at my front door and in the garage. This is how I got from the front door to the study where there are a few LAN jacks.



See the post below to get an idea on how I ran some cable for LPR and front porch cams.

LPR Case Study: Scoping, Planning, Proof of Concept, Installation, & Results

Introduction This thread is about my journey into LPR (License Plate Recognition) after having about 18 months of experience with IP cams and having quite a bit of my system finished. I am not an expert on LPR, or IP cameras either. But I have spent a lot of time working with my system and...

ipcamtalk.com

If you can't get a low-voltage guy to run it for you, you will really have to get comfortable with your plan BEFORE you start drilling/cutting. Realize that you could get a sheetrock type guy to come in behind you to fix any holes. Since they are still doing construction there, you could walk a few homes that are in various stages of construction to get an idea on how things are tied together framing wise.