New House Build in WV

[EddieWalker]

Don't forget to block for TV mounts - that's an easy on to miss. Also if you know where you want a TV always nice to add a plug up high behind where the TV will be mounted.

Good point. I get a bunch of jobs every year adding an outlet to where people want to mount their TV on the wall. The mounting brackets are pretty good at dealing with studs being wherever they are, but blocking couldn't hurt, and it's a simple thing to do before the sheetrock goes up.

Another thing that I get hired to do is install a 2 inch PVC pipe inside the wall to hide the cables going to the TV. Depending on the wall or fireplace mantel, I run the pipe off to the side where the controls will be, or just down the wall a couple feet with two elbows so the cables go through it easily. Kind of like a long letter C. It seems that a lot of people hate seeing those cables dangling down from their TV's!!!

 

[fried1765]

Good point. I get a bunch of jobs every year adding an outlet to where people want to mount their TV on the wall. The mounting brackets are pretty good at dealing with studs being wherever they are, but blocking couldn't hurt, and it's a simple thing to do before the sheetrock goes up.

Another thing that I get hired to do is install a 2 inch PVC pipe inside the wall to hide the cables going to the TV. Depending on the wall or fireplace mantel, I run the pipe off to the side where the controls will be, or just down the wall a couple feet with two elbows so the cables go through it easily. Kind of like a long letter C. It seems that a lot of people hate seeing those cables dangling down from their TV's!!!

When I built my Summer place in Nova Scotia I ran 5 separate chase tubes (empty PVC) from the 2nd floor to the basement, and a 6th one for TV cable.

 

[TnWV]

Hope the upcoming storm does not delay you too much

Our power just went out and the roads are a solid sheet of ice. I’m hoping it doesn’t affect my drywall schedule, but it certainly could if it lasts very long. There are people a few miles away who lost power on Thursday and still don’t have it yet.

 

[TnWV]

Don't forget to block for TV mounts - that's an easy on to miss. Also if you know where you want a TV always nice to add a plug up high behind where the TV will be mounted.

I did put outlets up high for a tv, but didn’t put blocking, may add some.

 

[TnWV]

I set pieces of 1/2" plywood flush with the front of the studs on both sides of every window opening for fastening curtain rods. Also did the entire wall over the mantle just in case. Sure made life easier when we did window treatments.

I was just telling my wife that maybe we should have planned on covering every wall with plywood and drywall over top of it. It was a joke but honestly, it would sure make hanging things easier down the road.

 

[TnWV]

Good point. I get a bunch of jobs every year adding an outlet to where people want to mount their TV on the wall. The mounting brackets are pretty good at dealing with studs being wherever they are, but blocking couldn't hurt, and it's a simple thing to do before the sheetrock goes up.

Another thing that I get hired to do is install a 2 inch PVC pipe inside the wall to hide the cables going to the TV. Depending on the wall or fireplace mantel, I run the pipe off to the side where the controls will be, or just down the wall a couple feet with two elbows so the cables go through it easily. Kind of like a long letter C. It seems that a lot of people hate seeing those cables dangling down from their TV's!!!

We have used nothing but streaming for our tv for so long, I didn’t really consider putting in a chase for other wires. May think more about that.

 

[s219]

Most wall TV brackets are wide enough to span 16" studs with at least half offset to one side or another, and they have holes spaced about every 1", so you shouldn't need blocking for that.

What I did was to put an electrical outlet up behind the TV as well as an empty hole with a pull string that could later be used to fish cables to the TV. You can get AV trim plates with brushes or covers that let wires/cables come out neatly:

https://www.lowes.com/search?searchTerm=av+trim+plate

These can be mounted directly to drywall using an "old work" box plate:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/CARLON-1-G...dard-Rectangular-Wall-Electrical-Box/50385688

Then you just run the wires/cables inside the wall cavity. As long as they are low voltage (or data/RF) it's allowed. It's just the electrical that needs a proper outlet and box.

The other thing I did, that I thought was clever, was to designate a first floor closet as my "AV hub" and have all ethernet, phone, and cable TV wiring run to that closet (with some spares and pull strings to the attic and crawl). That's where I have all our internet gear, phone hub, and TV antenna distribution setup. The raw wiring comes through the wall using one of the AV plates above, and then I ran it to the various pieces of equipment that sit on a shelf or are mounted to the wall.

I had a structured wiring guy give me a quote and he wanted about $500 for a special metal AV cabinet for the same purpose, and I kept trying to tell him "no, the whole closet is my cabinet". Why the heck would I spend big bucks on a cabinet that is hard to work in when I have this 4' x 5' closet I can actually stand in, it has a full size door for entry/exit, and I have power outlets there, a light, and shelving. He finally caught on. Of course he got the neighbors to pay the $500 for the dinky AV cabinet in their house, so I figure it must be a pretty easy money grab....

 

[s219]

Also, for streaming, ethernet is way way faster than wifi. So it's good to allow for running an ethernet cable to each TV. In our living room, I had to run a second ethernet (years later, which was a pain) because we use one for the Apple TV box and the second for a Sony smart TV. The Sony smart TV is a real pile of crap, with a lousy operating system, buggy behavior, and really dumb features, so I would skip that next time around and only use the Apple TV (or similar box). The TV just complicates everything else. I am sure someday that smart TV will be crippled by a software problem and stop working. I sure hope we can buy a regular TV when that day comes.

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm not familiar with what an ethernet cable is or what it does? We have a wifi for our computers and the TV. Would an ethernet cable make it faster when watching TV? Most of the time it's good, but some times we have buffering issues.

 

[MoKelly]

I'm not familiar with what an ethernet cable is or what it does? We have a wifi for our computers and the TV. Would an ethernet cable make it faster when watching TV? Most of the time it's good, but some times we have buffering issues.

The Ethernet cable goes directly from your router (plugs into the router) to the TV. You need a Ethernet outlet on the back of the TV to plug the other side into. Newer TV’s have them. It delivers the fastest internet speed you can get from your system. No WIFI needed.

You will eliminate buffering with an Ethernet cable.

You can also use ethernet cables to plug directly into your computer making it faster.

The more devices you have on Ethernet cables the better your WiFi will be as there are less devices using WiFi. So, your phone and tablets should work faster.

Ethernet cables should also be run to appropriate locations when building - same as electric. But obviously you can run Ethernet cables anytime same as other wires.

Ethernet cables are also referred to as CAT5 or CAT6.

MoKelly