Sealing holes in concrete and vinyl siding

Dave88LX

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I have tried searching the forum for the correct way to seal the holes used to bring Cat6 through the walls, but I'm not having much luck for some reason.

Cameras may come through the poured foundation wall, and through the vinyl siding.

If there's already an existing post where this has been addressed, please feel free to point me toward it.

I don't know if it's generally advisable to only run the cable through the wall and seal that, or if I should be installing a small conduit for the cabling (either for the poured concrete walls, or the normal house walls.

What specific off-the-shelf product at Big Orange/Blue is best to seal the holes? I've heard Duct Seal, GE Silicone from searching around online, but really don't know.

Thanks!
 

tangent

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Post a picture of the wall and where you want the camera. There may be a better way.
 

eggsan

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Tinman

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If you do caulk I recommend this. You can paint it and it will outlast any silicone. I have many contractors who swear by it.

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Dave88LX

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Post a picture of the wall and where you want the camera. There may be a better way.
It's dark outside now, but it's literally just a poured concrete foundation wall. Other areas will be your basic vinyl siding.

The first camera I'm going to be putting up is going to be on the side of the house, somewhere at or below the bottom of the window opening. How far front-to-back on the house is yet TBD until I set it out there and play around.

Main objective of this particular camera is catching vehicles in the street. Might end up on the concrete, might end up on top of siding.

 

tangent

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It's dark outside now, but it's literally just a poured concrete foundation wall. Other areas will be your basic vinyl siding.

The first camera I'm going to be putting up is going to be on the side of the house, somewhere at or below the bottom of the window opening. How far front-to-back on the house is yet TBD until I set it out there and play around.

Main objective of this particular camera is catching vehicles in the street. Might end up on the concrete, might end up on top of siding.

That's what I figured you were dealing with. My advice would be run the cable through the wood part of the wall not the concrete, at the level of the floor joists so it's easy to run the cable. You can go up or down from there for mounting the camera and mount to the concrete if you need to. Running the cable behind the siding would be easy if you needed to.
 
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eggsan

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Dave88LX, must of my installations are on cement/concrete. You may not need to include the silicon around the contact between the plastic (rounded area) and the cement, since the bushing will seal almost perfectly. I mostly use the silicon (or even the 3M Emblem glue) around the cable entrance for outside installations (including the cable loop for water dripping). For single cable entrance, I also use the Skywalker connectors. For extra cables, as the one listed in my post, it requires an extra drilling to accommodate the bushing in a larger hole (see the photos posted by reviewers). Just cut the plastic cap located at the end of the bushing, in which case I use the extra silicon for sealing.
 

guykuo

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If do need to drill through a concrete foundation, a rotary hammer is your friend. Mine will effortlessly drill a 3/4 drill hole completely through foundation concrete in about 2 minutes. Only thing that will slow it down is hitting rebar. It will cut through rebar if you don't pay attention.

Don't confuse a rotary hammer for its weakling, distant cousin, the hammer drill.

I can attest that my rotary hammer really does go through concrete like butter. Just like in this video.

 
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eggsan

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On new constructions, just specify in the floorplans 2-gang boxes with 1-gang raise covers (horizontal orientation). On remodeling, drilling may be the only way around, at least in my case. It all depends on how clean you want the finish product
 

awsum140

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Last fall I drilled through a seven inch thick, poured concrete, basement wall using a Milwaukee hammer drill to install three 1/2" conduits. I started with a pilot hole of a 1/2", widened them out to 3/4" and finally took them out to the full one inch I needed. It took about a half hour, actually spent more time double checking where to drill than drilling. I found that I had to pull the bit to prevent the spoils from jamming and overheating the bit on the 1/2" holes. When widening the holes there was enough "room" for the spoils to clear. I ran PVC electrical conduit through the holes, used quick patch inside, and outside, then used a rubber based paint on the outside. I put on four coats with each coat spreading further and further out and further along the conduits. On the inside I used a high quality rubberized caulk. No leaks.

IMHO, when going through concrete definitely use conduit. If you ever need to replace, or add, cable its very easy to do. Above grade, Ducseal works very well. Below grade use a concrete patch then apply waterproof coating, and be very generous with the coating.
 
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Dave88LX

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I felt like it was a stupid question when I was typing it, but I'm glad that I asked! It sounds like I should just be able to just come out through the outermost floor joist (what the heck is that one called?), or on the front of the house, through the rim/band joist.

I'll need to do some digging on how to fish up through a sill plate and inside a wall, to a hole in the outside wall. PITA being full of insulation.
 

awsum140

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The outer most joist is called the "header joist" from what I can find, which seems a little confusing since it isn't really a header in the true sense. I always called it the "box end" since it forms the end of the "box" made by the joists.

For fishing up the wall, the trick is to use the natural curve of a standard electricians snake to your advantage. Working from the bottom, put it in the hole with the curve facing out so that the end stays tight against the sheathing. When you fish that out at the top, your "hook" for locating it also needs to stay tight to the sheathing while you find the fish tape end. Then, once your sure you're a little past the fish tap, give it a 180 degree turn to engage that hook around the fish tape and pull it on out. It can be a lot easier with someone working the fish tape and another person using the hook. I've done it more times than I care to admit to and worked through holes at the "top" end as small as 1/2" which is a real PITA.
 
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guykuo

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Another fishing tool, which is perfect for INSULATED walls, is a length of steel measuring tape. Cut one end of it so it is rounded. That end goes through insulation without tearing things up. The measuring tape also goes straight when you want it, but can turn a very tight radius. That makes it easy to slip past fiberglass insulation.

Slit the vapor barrier membrane and pass the tape almost straight in with a slight upward tilt. The measuring tape will pass through the insulation cleanly. When it hits the outer OSB sheath, it will bend and you can push it easily up the wall. It's so thin, it doesn't move the insulation as much as a regular fish tape. A cable toner attached to the tape lets you easily locate it from the outside. Once done with fishing your cable, seal your slit in the vapor barrier with red sheathing tape.
 
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Dave88LX

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Another fishing tool, which is perfect for INSULATED walls, is a length of steel measuring tape. Cut on end of it so it is curved. That end cuts through insulation without tearing things up. Slit the vapor barrier membrane and pass the tape almost straight in with a slight upward tilt. The measuring tape will pass through the insulation cleanly. When it hits the outer OSB sheath, it will bend and you can push it easily up the wall. It's so thin, it doesn't move the insulation as much as a regular fish tape. A cable toner attached to the tape lets you easily locate it from the outside. Once done with fishing your cable, seal your slit in the vapor barrier with red sheathing tape.
I tried to follow that but couldn't quite follow it. I think this works when you cut an access hole in the drywall to fish up through? I searched YouTube and found this video, and now I get it...

Not sure what you mean about "Cut on end of it so it is curved" though.




In my case for my first two runs, I'll be coming up through the basement into the walls.

Coming up into this wall from the basement (sill plate).
upload_2018-8-20_12-48-27.jpeg



And in this wall here (this wall is the "side" of the house in the first post)
upload_2018-8-20_12-50-53.jpeg
 

blake

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Depends on code. You might be able to seal with expansion foam.
 

awsum140

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Work fast, before the sheetrock goes up and you won't need to fish diddly squat. Personally, I'd pull one side of the insulation in the bay I was working in, drill down, run the cable and just staple the side of the insulation I pulled. While you're at it, you might want to include alarm wiring while the walls are open.
 
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