ChrisMS Posted February 21, 2020 Posted February 21, 2020 Hi, Hoping for some smart suggestions from the brains trust! Moved in to a newly renovated house that included a built in TV/AV cabinet with MDF shell and a marble top and sides (see pictures below). I would like to run the cables for the floor-standing speakers to the amp inside the centre cupboard (already has a GPO for power). Interested in anyone else who has faced the same issue and/or any smart suggestions (e.g. cutting a port through the plaster wall behind versus drilling a hole through the marble top). Apologies if this is in the incorrect subforum. Many thanks, Chris
swervyn Posted February 21, 2020 Posted February 21, 2020 I would avoid drilling the marble if possible If you have underfloor access can always drop the cable down from the amp then back up to the speakers? Either that or run cable sideways through cabinet and drill hole through the side of the marble to the speaker If none of that works and you want to get rid of all the crap on top of the cabinet and hide it, then use some rectangular rangehood duct or similar and a couple of 90deg bends and cut plaster to suit (size depending on how many cables you need to run) 1
Bunno77 Posted February 21, 2020 Posted February 21, 2020 Bull nose or brush plate inside and outside? Would depend exactly where the stud is as to how difficult but might get lucky with the vertical marble that the stud isn't inline with it 1
Guest rmpfyf Posted February 21, 2020 Posted February 21, 2020 1 hour ago, Bunno77 said: Bull nose or brush plate inside and outside? Would depend exactly where the stud is as to how difficult but might get lucky with the vertical marble that the stud isn't inline with it Was going to suggest brush plates - make life pretty easy. You're likely to cross studs at that point so I'd bank on (much) longer cabling, going up through the top plate and into the ceiling cavity then back down to where you need to go. A minute with a stud finder will tell you all you need to know. (I'd get a level out and reset that ADSL socket whilst at it.)
rawl99 Posted February 22, 2020 Posted February 22, 2020 On 21/02/2020 at 7:06 PM, rmpfyf said: Was going to suggest brush plates - make life pretty easy. You're likely to cross studs at that point so I'd bank on (much) longer cabling, going up through the top plate and into the ceiling cavity then back down to where you need to go. A minute with a stud finder will tell you all you need to know. (I'd get a level out and reset that ADSL socket whilst at it.) Ric, Totally agree on the brush plates. The stud is not really an issue. If it happens to coincide with where the marble is then one can skew drill sideways through the stud using the plate hole as the access point for drilling. Ie angle the drill at 45-60 degrees to drill sideways through the stud. One of the holes on either inside or outside will give access to drill a chunk out of the stud to get the cable through. Do this all the time. Tis not much of an issue with some spade bits and possibly a short extension bit. The only caveat is that depending on the stud positions it my not be possible to get the plate for the speaker cable directly behind the speaker where it looks the nicest. It will quite possibly end up just outside of the marble side of the cabinet. Theres my ocd in action I would avoid drilling the marble as it is then permanent. I would seriously avoid going up the wall. Degree of difficulty of that is 50 times doing the short run sideways. To go up wall across and down, inherent in your assumption is that this either single story or top floor of multi-story and that you have decent ceiling access. Will also need drills and extension bits to drill down through the nog plus rods to get down the wall. Specialised gear that only AV monkeys and sparkies will typically have. Sideways be the winner. Be careful that there is not Dacron insulation in the wall. It makes this a difficult exercise as it grabs drill bits like a pit bull. Cheers mate Rawl 1
Guest rmpfyf Posted February 22, 2020 Posted February 22, 2020 (edited) 5 hours ago, rawl99 said: Ric, Totally agree on the brush plates. The stud is not really an issue. If it happens to coincide with where the marble is then one can skew drill sideways through the stud using the plate hole as the access point for drilling. Ie angle the drill at 45-60 degrees to drill sideways through the stud. One of the holes on either inside or outside will give access to drill a chunk out of the stud to get the cable through. Do this all the time. Tis not much of an issue with some spade bits and possibly a short extension bit. The only caveat is that depending on the stud positions it my not be possible to get the plate for the speaker cable directly behind the speaker where it looks the nicest. It will quite possibly end up just outside of the marble side of the cabinet. Theres my ocd in action I would avoid drilling the marble as it is then permanent. I would seriously avoid going up the wall. Degree of difficulty of that is 50 times doing the short run sideways. To go up wall across and down, inherent in your assumption is that this either single story or top floor of multi-story and that you have decent ceiling access. Will also need drills and extension bits to drill down through the nog plus rods to get down the wall. Specialised gear that only AV monkeys and sparkies will typically have. Sideways be the winner. Be careful that there is not Dacron insulation in the wall. It makes this a difficult exercise as it grabs drill bits like a pit bull. Cheers mate Rawl All correct. I quite literally wrote that post from the inside of my single-story roof cavity whilst rerouting wiring! All depends on appetite for plastering/patching, stud access and shzt in the way (some of which may be live!) This and I turned all my noggins side on for this reason... Forgot is not normal. Have a beautiful shot of a sparkie's 25mm spade bit catching an Ethernet cable that I really should share in the morning ... (Score the plaster and trowel over it? Too cheap!) -R Edited February 22, 2020 by rmpfyf
ChrisMS Posted February 23, 2020 Author Posted February 23, 2020 On 21/02/2020 at 8:06 PM, rmpfyf said: (I'd get a level out and reset that ADSL socket whilst at it.) Good point! I don't look inside the cupboard too often but I did start twitching when I took this pic!
ChrisMS Posted February 23, 2020 Author Posted February 23, 2020 Many thanks everyone for the suggestions. 13 hours ago, rawl99 said: To go up wall across and down, inherent in your assumption is that this either single story or top floor of multi-story and that you have decent ceiling access. Will also need drills and extension bits to drill down through the nog plus rods to get down the wall. Specialised gear that only AV monkeys and sparkies will typically have. Its a single story with a pitched roof so pretty good ceiling access, but this still seems like the more difficult way. I'll get a sparky on the job since I'd like it neat and my efforts clearly won't be. Looks like the brush plates are the way to go and just sort out the best route for the cable to go sideways... time to get busy with the studfinder! I'm not sure if there is enough clearance behind the drawers each side to make it through the inside of the unit - ideally I want to re-use the existing transparent speaker cables. Chris
Guest rmpfyf Posted February 23, 2020 Posted February 23, 2020 You might have a touch of plastering and repainting to do is all. Just don't do anything like in the photo below. This was CAT5e. Much worse if it's mains flex.
Guest rmpfyf Posted February 23, 2020 Posted February 23, 2020 1 hour ago, ChrisMS said: Ouch! Expensively so.
Tony M Posted February 23, 2020 Posted February 23, 2020 (edited) My 2c worth is not to be intimidated by cutting holes in plasterboard and patching it up afterwards. Provided you have matching paint on hand, it really is as easy as the online tutorials make it look. I've done it many times and I baulk at some jobs others do easily - eg anything to do with caulking makes me shiver with fear of messing it up. Low down on a wall behind speakers means you don't have to worry about glancing light showing up an imperfect job of getting the wall perfectly smooth. This is a pic of a power points aerial plate and a brush plate behind our TV. I had to move the power points and install the brush plate after putting the HDMI cables through the wall to the cabinet below. Like yours, I didn't want any holes in it. BTW, I got the position of the aerial plate wrong and the aerial wire interfered with the arm when the TV was back against the wall. Hence the 4 gang plate and 3 mechs that do nothing except hide my boo boo. One of the patches is to the left of the aerial point, to the left of the upright part of the TV bracket. I can only see it if I shine a light at the right angle so I don't do that. Anyway, it's behind the TV so who cares? Edited February 23, 2020 by Tony M
ChrisMS Posted February 23, 2020 Author Posted February 23, 2020 @Tony M, nice work there... I do like some neat cable ties! Helpful to see the brush plate in situ from the photo.
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