Chasing cables into the wall from the TV to Amp

[Sabotaj]

Wondering how I go about installing cables into a solid outside wall?

Hoping to have my plasma mounted and I keep switching between in wall concealment and trunk for the outside. I would much prefer the in wall option, but I am unsure how deep, what and if I use any box at entry and exit points...

I know it's cutting a channel into the wall, but most guides I've seen are for drywall.


Pioneer Kuro 5090
Toshiba SD330E DVD player
Sky Box (Pace box, normal sky digital)
Onkyo 876

Blu Ray player in the near future.

I guess I need to be buying all the cables first to see what size I need cut.

Would appreciate some advice, thanks

[Grantthesparky]

Hi there what sort of outside wall is it i.e solid brick or rock,concrete block with render on top or plasterboard,what sort of floor do you have concrete,chipboard or old style wooden flooring?sorry about all the questions just there are many ways of doin it depending on the buildings circumstances?

[Sabotaj]

Originally Posted by Grantthesparky

Hi there what sort of outside wall is it i.e solid brick or rock,concrete block with render on top or plasterboard,what sort of floor do you have concrete,chipboard or old style wooden flooring?sorry about all the questions just there are many ways of doin it depending on the buildings circumstances?

Hi there

This house is an ex council house, has pebel dash on the outside of the outside wall, I have no idea what the wall is made up inbetween, but it's solid when I give it a thump. The floor is also concrete.



Thanks

[DaveCHCI]

Use a wall chaser (screwfix have many) to cut the channel, most go to about 45mm deep and 50mm wide. This is a massive amount of room when chiseled out. Enough to hold 10+ cables in my experience.

[dampres]

[quote=Sabotaj;8515868]Hi there

This house is an ex council house, has pebel dash on the outside of the outside wall, I have no idea what the wall is made up inbetween, but it's solid when I give it a thump. The floor is also concrete

Go to your local hire shop and get a dual disc cutter make sure you cover everything because this is a very messy job .Set the gauge on the disc cutter to the size you need depending on the amount of cables going into the wall.Then you can break out the wall with a concrete chisel.Put all your cables in a plastic wavin you can get this from an electrical wholesalers.Make sure the wavin sits in past the wall otherwise it will be a complete nightmare to plaster over.Best of luck oh by the way make sure there are no piping or electrical cables where you are going to be cutting out.

[Sanders79]

[QUOTE=dampres;8516401]

Originally Posted by Sabotaj

...make sure you cover everything because this is a very messy job.

This point really cannot be overstated! If you do decide to do this then clear the room totally before you start cutting. Even with a dust extractor it will get very ducty very quickly. Personally I would be reluctant to use one in an occupied house but others do so without any major issues. Get any furniture out, tape up the doors etc...

A more controlled and slightly cleaner way is to use a drill and drill a series of holes along the outer lines of where you want the channel before chiselling out the bit in between. Put some electrical tape or similar on the drill bit at the depth you want.

I was lucky in that I did all my chasing before we moved in (about 2 months before actually) and the house was a wreck before we started, so dust didn't matter... I did all the cutting with angle grinders!!

[Sabotaj]

Cheers for the tips peeps!

I've decided that I'm not going to install wires into the wall, instead going to use trunking and then paint it. I'm hoping to build a floating wall within the next 5 months or so. This would save me ALOT of hassle, plus feeding wire through would be a hell of alot easier. For me anyway.


Thanks though, I've learnt a hell of alot over the last couple of weeks on these forums.

[Sanders79]

Originally Posted by Sabotaj

...I've learnt a hell of alot over the last couple of weeks on these forums.

These forums are definitely good for that... I first stumbled across the site a couple of years ago when looking for advice about some new speaker cable... and now I have a full on home cinema system, cables all nicely hidden in the walls etc...

This website is great for your knowledge but not for your wallet