Drywall patchers?

Hi,

When we moved into our new SF home almost 4 years ago, we were told that the cables in the basement were pushed over the stairs into the area where the network interface is. So my hubby who knows this stuff well, went to pull it down and NOTHING WAS IN THE BLUE CONDUIT! (he was linking it up for our internal server.

SO...he cut out a panel equal to the width of the openband panel form that panel to just under the ceiling in order to find the lines to pull them down. 3 years later it is still like this. Also, when he installed bar cabinets in the basement he took out a grid in the wall where you could see into the unfinished area and installed the upper cabinets right over it - except for an area that still shows.

I need to find someone with good drywall experience to fix these two areas and tape up an area in the wall next to my pantry where the seam is showing badly. we expect to put our house up for sale sometime this year so I can't leave things like this!

 

not that it is helpful now, but those blue tubes, do not have any wires in them to begin with. Those conduits are there for the use of the homeowner at a later time to make additional cable installation easier. Sometimes they are grey in color as well (more recent models).

There should be a fiberglass string coming out of the conduit. That is there to help pull cable through and you need from one end or the other...

Now I did see that our house has it it one area where it looks like the installer used it, but I also have the central conduit in the center of the house too... of course not next to the NID.

 

We have the tube with string. How do you find out where the other end of the conduit is?

We're in a Miller and Smith townhouse (Wyndemere).

Any ideas on where to look would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Richard

 

unless they changed drastically in the past year (which I doubt) Miller & Smith was putting that blue "Smurf" tube in the same place in all their townhomes. First place to look (which I think is where you found it), is near or next to your termination point for your current wires (NID). Could be tied to one of the joists in the ceiling if this is in an unfinished utility room where your heater and washer/dryer might be as well.

The other end, or termination point will be in the attic. They usually try to get this near the door so as you get up into the attic and look around, try to look for that same plastic tube. Might be tied to one of he roof beams.

One thing this is really helpful for is the installation of a satellite dish. Roof mounted dishes can have their wires come into the attic and them go into the conduit down to the distribution point. I did this - so let me know if you want more details about a couple of lessons from doing this (like adding dish soap as a lubricant to shove those wires through). Another usage would be to feed network (cat5/6) or speaker wire up to the third floor. From the attic, you could access all other rooms for ceiling speakers, or cable drops into the walls for network etc. A wireless router could then act as your gateway in your wiring closet and provide you with a basic firewall etc.

 

Thanks for the reply. I found one end of the tube in the SmartHouse box (or whatever it's called), it was the other end that was the mystery. I'll go back in the attic and look some more for the other end.

Our thought was to add TV drops to the upstairs bedrooms and this should make it easier.

I'm interested in any tips you have to offer (such as using soap).

Best regards,
Richard

 

do you have cable TV service now (Comcast/Adelphia)?

that box is usually referred to as the "NID" or Network Inderface Device. Your cable tv service starts there, and then the signal gets distributed throughout the townhouse back to each video drop. I am going to guess that you have 3 bedrooms on the third floor. You should be able to get 3 RG6 (cable tv) wires through the tube, and yea, make sure to have a small tube of dish soap handy.

I think it is easiest for you to feed the cable "up" the tube. Someone stand on the bottom floor, to "shove" the cable through and apply the dish soap about every 10 feet or so, or as it might get stuck. Those tubes tend to make some funky turns so it does not do much good to drop any soap from above.

Make sure to tape up the wire end you are feeding through real well with something like electrical tape and to secure the nylon string - which is what you will pull from the attic at the same time.

If you run 3 cables, each one will end up being around 60 feet I believe. So you can buy enough for that and then just cut 3 pieces or get 3 roles and cut them after you know you have the wire in the attic.

Is that enough to get started? Do you have a cable cutter and crimper? Installing the wires is not that hard. Also, if you want to get the local HD channels over-the-air, let me know, I have extra equipment.

 

Hi,
I have a great person to recommend for drywall repairs and painting. I have hired him many, many times at four different properties and he has always done excellent work! He is very dependable, the drywall, paint and walls always look beautiful, and he and his crew are quick. Some other posters mentioned you get what you pay for and I always feel I get such a great value from the high quality work he does. His name is Ronald Jimenez, and he can be reached at 703-932-0551.

If you have any questions, let me know.
Cheryl Adams
703-726-0388