Re-wiring house

NotAGolf

NotAGolf

NotAGolf

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I'm doing a bit of work to the house including an extension and re-doing the kitchen. As a result I have to move the consumer unit and open up most of the floorboards.

I have a mate who's a sparky so thought I'd use this opportunity to sort out the wiring in the house as we need a few new plug points fitting and a new lights in the kitchen.

Anyone got any hints to help? Mistakes you made or things you didn't consider or what you'd do differently when you've done something similar?
 
Well what i always said to my clients you can never have enough sockets even if you don't use them, you may in the future.
Its easy to throw some spare cables around the place and leave in certain places, do a drawing so you can keep for reference later on if you need something you may be able to use the cables.
 
+1 as above

I now have three chairs that recline and wished I had put a few sockets in middle of walls - got them at corners etc but now got wires all over the place.

You can never have enough especially behind where TV will go.

behind my PC I have two doubles with an 8 way in one of sockets.

Also think of floor lamps/table lamps and anything else that sits or moves.

Never put a single socket where a double will go and I am only talking lounge here.

Same applies in bedrooms - halls- dining - kitchen.

If you are making a mess do it once it will be cheaper in long run
 
We went for loads of sockets, 4 doubles behind TV, even a double in the under stairs cupboard. 8 sockets in bedrooms as well, living room has a total of 12.

We did it just right before we moved any furniture in the mess it makes is amazing dust every where.
Do some networking at the same time, I'm just finishing mine off.
 
Sounds like an ideal time to run Ethernet everywhere whilst the floor is up. Also maybe some additional twin satellite sockets.
 
You in exactly the same situation as me. Got my mate coming around on Wednesday to start a complete rewire.

Are all your light switches in the 'correct' position? There's a few I want to move and a few id like to add in.

I'm looking forward to getting stuck in!
 
What are the rules when running network cabling close to electrical cabling? Its so easy to ruin these in parallel but can they interfere with each other?
 
I worried about that as well. But went with running them where was easiest. Works just fine. Got runs of about 10 meters along side mains cables.
It's saved me needing to drill or notch anymore joists. Went with cat6 and about at least 2 network points in each room and 6 in the living room.
 
Router is in the living room next to the master socket this plugs into a socket which goes to the understairs cupboard where it all terminates to a patch panel then patch leads to a switch. I then have wires going down under the suspended floor for all the downstairs sockets and up following the mains wires and boiler pipes for all the upstairs sockets.

I could have extended the master socket via cat6 but I prefer to have the router as close to the entry point as possible. Plus it gives me an extra 3 sockets in the living room.

I also have cat6 left coiled under the floor boards for some ip cameras I plan on drilling through into the floor board/ceiling space so you don't see any of those cables.
 
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Yes. My initial plan was to have the router within the under-stair cupboard. But like you I'll have it by the master socket and send a cable to the cupboard.

So from here, does that cable feed into the patch panel and then into the switch. And then do you have cables coming from the switch into the patch panel which then feed off to all your upstairs and downstairs sockets? I'm just trying to get my head around the switch/patch panel combo.
 
I have a double socket next to the router, both terminate at the patch panel then go to the switch, then from the switch i go back to the patch panel for all the other sockets around the house.

The patch panel does nothing other than allow you to avoid crimping RJ45s, makes it easier to fault diagnose as well. I will also at some point have a NAS under the stairs, this will plug straight into the switch.
 
So the patch panel is essentially dumb? Everything goes into that initially and then to the switch which does all the fancy networky things.

I can initially lay all the cable and fit the network sockets and lead them all to the under-stairs cupboard where I can connect them all at a later date. I'm thinking this as it will mean that I won't need to rush to get any of the network hardware.
 
Yes. I ran all the cables initially leaving just the cables sticking out of the back boxes. Then purchased all the equipment at a later date, i ran the cables through 20mm conduit from the back boxes as well, so after its plastered you can still easily change cables should you ever need to, just about get 4 Cat6 through. Under the floor boards i used two lots of the conduit as it was a doddle to push two cat6 through it for a longer length, meant taking up less floor boards or using rods, and conduit is cheap as chips.

I did initially ask on here about putting them next to mains and a few said don't worry about it. Reading online its less about interference and more about possible mains voltage going down the network cable should they become damaged.
 
topgun06 said:
Cool. I'm interested to know how you've got it all set up. Are you using a hub? Where is your router located etc?
Click to expand...

Fibre modem at the master socket, then a cat5e run to the 'cabinet' where it goes from my router into a 24 port switch (all fanless). And a patch panel above the switch where all the network ports feed back to.

Use a decent brand of cable/modules/patch panel.

CCS or Excel, both well priced and great to work with.
 
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Its a shame the likes of CCS dont make some more attractive offerings, CCS is my preferred brand but they look a bit industrial in the living room, i hide my behind the tv and behind the sofa.
 
I've brought all my cat6 to under the stairs which can be my server room. I've also added an up and down run into the loft just incase. I've not gone overboard I'm just running 2 cat6 into each room. I'll back it up with wireless if need be.
 
Well my rewire has begun. Spent 2 hours getting the carpets and floorboards up to investigate what's going on. There is so much rubbish under the floorboards! There was a house brick resting on the other side of the ceiling plaster of the living room. Wha!
 
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