Massive Home Network Install - Part 2: Pulling The Cables!

[@camerongray1515]

Buy on Amazon (Affiliate): - IMAYCC 360° Green Laser Level: geni.us/PLdr8Rl Other Products Used: - Excel CAT 6A LSOH B2ca 305m Cable: excel-networking.com/catalogue/product/190-191-305M - 2 Core 1.5mm Speaker Cable: cpc.farnell.com/pro-power/2cspkcble1-5-100m/cable-loudspeaker-1-50mm-2-core/dp/CB17819 - 4 Core 1.5mm Speaker Cable: cpc.farnell.com/pro-power/4cspkcble1-5-100m/cable-loudspeaker-1-50mm-4-core/dp/CB17822 - 8 Core Alarm Cable: www.screwfix.com/p/time-white-8-core-alarm-cable-50m-drum/519jy - CT100 Coax: www.toolstation.com/pitacs-tv-satellite-cable-cucu-ct100/p10423 - Cable Basket From: directchannel.uk.com/ - Envirograf Multi-Purpose Intumescent Box: envirograf.com/product/multi-purpose-fire-box/

[@linearburn8838]

if i tried to do this my wife would stab me :P

[@smileymattj]

Do you know if the distance between the two horizontal lines are fixed? Or can the distance between them be adjusted?

[@camerongray1515]

They're fixed unfortunately, not quite sure what the benefit of them really is. I'd recommend using this with a tripod that has a hand crank for easy height adjustment if you're going to need to regularly raise/lower the laser level

[@LeoSimmons09]

pretty crazy job for one person, well done!

[@CallumT5]

Great job of installing the cables. The racking in the loft is a great idea

[@cedarstuff]

Just binged part 1 and 2 back to back. Jam packed with really useful info - thanks!

[@TenForceFalls]

Couldn’t help but notice all the older computers. Can’t wait to see those!

[@rogerjones9984]

The system unit in the foreground looks like an IBM XT - Which was the model I used on my first IT job

[@laialbert]

I wouldn’t necessarily recommend doing it this way, but I ran a few CAT 6A and an armored bundle of 24 single mode fibers from the attic to the basement by using 5 super long extensions and drilling straight down through all the top plates and fire blocking (with only 1 mishap punching through a wall). Was still an incredible amount of work to just do that. I’m impressed with how much work you’ve done!

[@camerongray1515]

That would have been ideal, I actually bought a couple of long flexible drill bits for this purpose. Unfortunately all of the internal walls have insulation in them so a drill bit would just bind up and turn into something resembling a stick of candy floss!

[@jamescollins6085]

This series has sold me on a new build house. The ease with which you have been able to run these cables would be near impossible in an older property. Not to mention potentially having to deal with asbestos and lead.

[@edc1569]

Where is lead used internally?

[@jamescollins6085]

@@edc1569 Only real example I can think of is older layers of paint, but still a consideration.

[@davidnorth1021]

The best cable route on an older property can be "go round the outside" in my experience

[@Rob87]

Although I've basically done this to my house over the years, watching it happen all at once makes me really want to build my next house so I can have this in the walls before insulation and drywall 😅

[@SBBUK]

Its not impossible but you will likely need to chase the walls or go outside. On my first house (traditional construction) I did a network install at the same time as my electrician was doing a full rewire so it wasn't that much extra work as all of the routes were (mostly) already created. Plus in old houses traditional floorboards are a LOT easier to lift/work with than MDF flooring working through access holes - so you win and lose in different areas. You're unlikely to find lead - asbestos is only really a thing indoors in SOME textured ceiling coverings - it's something you can get checked for as part of a survey process by way of sending off a small sample but unless you are sanding the ceiling you're likely fine. Most common place to find it is old garages which you'd definitely want to demolish at this point anyway.

[@thevaginalbloodfart]

Some experience as a CATV installation technician in a past life, to make an even smaller hole in the ceiling that requires practically no filler after the job is completed is to take a bit of coax cable, strip about 0.3-0.5 meters (depending on thickness of insulation above if there is any) and expose that much of the center conductor. Then cut the conductor tip at an angle like the tip of a syringe which will make it nice and sharp then just push that through the drywall. The idea of that is as you push all of the center conductor through the drywall and it comes out the other end, you'll see it on the other side. When all is said and done, just pull the coax out and you're left with the tiny pin-hole that you can either leave "as-is" and no one will notice unless they're really really looking for it, or use your filler of choice which would only need the smallest of amounts to cover the hole. Hope someone finds that information useful for when they want to do this kind of project for their house or anywhere else that's applicable. Excellent document video, well made!😃👍 ~Cheers!

[@ianbutler1983]

I used to use a piece of wire coat hanger, but your method sounds even better. I used to use toothpaste to patch small holes in white plasterboard. Thanks.

[@thevaginalbloodfart]

Wire coat hanger + toothpaste = success! Nothing wrong with that method either. The smaller the hole the better.😉

[@cedarstuff]

@@ianbutler1983 Just make sure it's not the toothpaste with the stripe.

[@bailey125]

I certainly have network envy with this one!

[@AdaptiveSystems]

its nice to see someone do this in a none paper house.

[@SBBUK]

It's a newbuild so its corrugated cardboard at best - what did you mean in comparison to, american houses?

[@rorylong314]

A full video on cable runs for sure. I’ve always heard that you should never pull network cable, only roll it. Looking at your install, that’s incorrect. As you know more about it than I ever will, I’d really appreciate a proper tutorial. My house is 200+ years old, 80+cm think stone walls. Being able to pull a cable would make Poe connections back to my Unifi setup so much easier. This series is absolutely brilliant!

[@mrmotofy]

You can use pvc conduit outside. I have a couple vids on home networking on my channel playlists to show examples

[@DozIT]

Depends on the cable, CAT6 solid is plenty rigid to withstand most pulls. There are more armoured cables if needed, but in most cases you would be fine. Any chafing against metal will be an issue, but I have never had an issue with stone, not quite 80+ cm, but never had an issue with 50 cm. Make sure you have a good bit, and a straight hole. You will also want to oversize the hole at least 20% of cable diameter, otherwise it'd be impossible to use a fish line/pull cable.

[@rorylong314]

@@DozIT Thanks for the info. I have a few bit options, plenty large enough for CAT cable, and a large Makita SDS hammer drill at my disposal. I’m in no current rush so I’ll see what else Cameron shows before I plan my next move

[@amateurwizard]

I love these videos, keep em coming 🙂

[@tramcrazy]

Really liked the new POV camera shots - it let us see a lot more of what you were doing while you actually did it which was really enjoyable. And what a mammoth undertaking - I can’t wait for the next instalments!

[@camerongray1515]

Thanks, I'll try and add more in the future. I actually bought a DJI Pocket 3 for making these videos (instead of trying to fit a massive camera rig into tight spaces) so bought a neck mount to try POV shots. There was a few more I filmed (such as installing the cable basket in the attic) but it was a bit too nauseating to watch once sped up!

[@Cablesmith]

Great job mate. Watching the video makes it look really quick and easy, but I certainly know how awkward and time consuming this sort of thing really is 😂

[@camerongray1515]

Thanks! Videos definitely make this look much easier than it is, I never considered how physically demanding it would be, especially the amount of running up and down the stairs and attic ladder!

[@Rodrigo-rq1dx]

Well done, It's amazing how little holes you left to patch

[@elminster8149]

I just used plastic guttering instead of cable baskets. Worked well.

[@mattmanslim]

This is like you’re living my life 😂. Right down to the media plate - I know exactly what you mean. My place uses a Deta branded plate and I’ve changed everything else in the house. Deta use screws top and bottom of the plate, where it appears nearly everyone else uses screws on the sides. I’ll have to swap out the back box when I get around to changing it out!

[@jasonhagen]

Yes I would love to see how you pull the cables from the garage to the office!

[@davidgekler]

Love your cabling work, cleanest attic job I have ever seen! FYI, I always run at least Four CAT cables to office locations - you can run Audio and Video through CAT. At my house I use CAT to bring HDMI signal off my Camera System NVR to a small Monitor with simple Baluns... never have enough CAT cable in my opinion! You are doing a great job!

[@camerongray1515]

I can't see it being a huge issue, the garage is reasonably well insulated aside from the metal door (which i could insulate if it became an issue) and the kit in the rack will go some way towards heating the space. The boiler is also in the garage so that'll kick out some heat into the area when the heating is running or hot water is being used.

[@rickwookie]

@35:20 cut PAST the noggin (either side, above and below) then you can more easily guide the cable(s) through it AND easily just screw the cut out piece back to the noggin (screws to the left and right of your cable hole). No need for annoying little bits of batten to patch up the hole then.

[@dwinterx]

That's a crazy setup, but each to their own. If I had enough space / need for a proper rack mounted unit, I'd definitely do it. Looks like a great job you have done anyway, will be interesting to see the next few stages and the finished product. Well done.

[@andrewboothman6363]

“Landlord Special” 😂 Also, always interested in videos on cable pulls, if you want to do one.

[@robertoperezjr.1119]

In the US, the relays that you use for connecting your AC smoke detectors tends to monitor an interconnect line. The relays tend to set off the alarm system if there is a low battery in one of the AC smokes. Its been a few years since I have installed these, but I don't imagine there has been much change.

[@alpertiryaki]

You’re awesome! I had already watched all your previous videos. Moving to a new house was great for us because it led to some fantastic new content. I live in Turkey, and with the dollar being so high, getting these products becomes really expensive. But I really enjoy watching them. Keep up the great work!

[@LUNATIC75]

You known Cameron's in his "happy space" when he making great big holes in brand new walls!

[@GregMurch]

It is great to see someone in the UK show this. I have a 1908 house with brick internal walls, so thinking carefully where to have my 6U rack.

[@alitheg]

That's interesting on the dual cat6 cables to the media plate - ours had two (and the plans also only showed a phone point), but they actually terminated the other one to an RJ45 module.

[@kevinpreece919]

Excellent content, thank you. Clearly, a lot of hard work, but worth it in the end. It would be great to see the full detailed cable run video you mentioned for the other two runs.

[@danielnewton7093]

That is absolute madness! But awesome 😅 - so glad I put CAT6 in my house!

[@adamcoffee738]

General rule of thumb for cabling, if you require one termination point, I would run atleast one spare cable for redundancy or if one of the cables gets damaged during second fix.

[@eggman9713]

It took me a bit as an American to realize that "nogging" is what we call "blocking". Now it makes more sense.

[@makkapacca]

Noggin

[@SBBUK]

Nice work - I went a bit mad on my first house but since moving several times since I've become a bit more mellow with my network installs as you can waste a lot of money even on just the materials that you may never use and certainly won't get a return on when you sell. Even though it is a fun hobby to do these kind of projects (and really that's the real reason to do it right?). Cable tray is a good shout I might do that next time. Current place I just ran 16 cat5e from a 9u wall cab into the loft and then dropped down into a few rooms where I needed them, and installed a few cameras. Got 2 spare up there still for anything I want to do in the future before undoubtedly moving again... Want to do self build next time so hopefully can avoid pulling cables and do it at first fix, thats the dream!

[@DaveOnACarpet]

Well done Cameron, fantasically over engineered, great job! 0:01 Pulling cabling always seems like it should be an easy job that should not take long but always ends in a saga. Having done similar to my house when moving in I still have un terminated CAT6 cables behind blanking plates 5 years later all over as I just could not face endless kroning the face plates 😊

[@mumihp]

Awesome build, very network envy. My new house is undergoing renovation, we are completing in 2 weeks but the house was back to barebones. My one regret was not doing enough. After work started, a month in, I remembered to add ethernet wall ports around the house, next to the tv so every room has atleast one, where living room has 3. So ordered 305m of Cat 6, the proper cable and had my builder wire it around and added a few runs for cctv camera. But I wish I did more, with running audio cable, speaker cables ect...make it poper future proof and eliminate wires. But I am just happy, got ethernet wall ports in, capable of speeds upto 10gb.

[@mrman991]

real nice work. I've done a ton of network installs and people get way too bent out of shape over zip ties. As long as it's runs that aren't going to meant to be changed regularly and they're not too tight, it doesn't matter.

[@rickwookie]

@22:07 It’s not necessarily a bad thing having the outlets low level for a wall mounted TV. Particularly for a stud wall or dot&dab, you can then mount any TV (including Samsung Frame) “no gap” to the wall, and just drop the required cable or cables down through the wall (pre-install copex or even a bit of trunking inside the wall to make it easier to run new cables in future, just chop out a length of the plasterboard and re-fit it after if you have to negotiate a noggin). It’s really tricky to get the positions of sockets and outlets behind TVs to NOT get in the way of TV brackets (or various ports on the back). Keeping all the connection down below saves all that hassle. As a bonus you can also power off the TV without having to get behind the TV or flick a breaker.

[@Graham_Shaw]

Great job so far Cameron. What an epic project, but it will all be worth it in the end for sure!👍

[@familiefossa2622]

Thank you for a in depth video on your installation. Please make a detailed video on pulling the wires!

[@glonch]

Amazing work - really looking forward to the final install

[@carlrobson5745]

The texecom premier system is a great alarm having the zone on the keypad is a great.

[@mattmanslim]

FYI, you won’t need an FCU on that bedroom socket unless that socket is already a spur on a ring.

[@camerongray1515]

I don't need it, although it means I can then maintain the zoning for the cable running up to the TV socket. If I spurred directly off the socket the cable would technically run out of zone since it's running through the hole in the noggin that the coax previously used. I also like having FCUs for wall mounted TVs as it makes it easy to turn power off, especially in a bedroom if there's any annoying standby LEDs on the TV.

[@mattmanslim]

@@camerongray1515 That’s a fair point. What I’ve ended up doing is reusing the previous antenna points as either for Ethernet, or as is the case for my kitchen TV, an HDMI input on a euro module. At the end of the day, I despise the thought of having a single or double gang blanking plate anywhere, so a functional FCU would satisfy my OCD 😁

[@kbhasi]

​​​@@camerongray1515 Yep! Great idea, especially for TVs where the red standby LED can't be disabled! (e.g. from my experience, LG TVs have the option to disable the red standby LED, but Skyworth TVs don't)

[@0wnage718]

Great work so far, don’t forget your cat 6 for your Poe cameras!

[@JoeRKsChannel]

Awesome work. I’m way overdue some tray in my loft for the various cables!

[@daibonehead]

The attention to detail is amazing. I'd hate for you to see my "network". Looks like it was installed by Barney Gumble.

[@robertsandy3794]

Hi Cameron, Well done. Would love to see one video where you install start to finish. Excellent idea of using "pre-used" CAT 6A. I am going to steal that idea. Looking forward to see how you terminate the 6A. Never thought about using a cable tray, however I see that if I wan all the cable runs in my place, I will need to use something like this or as someone else wrote, use guttering. Keep up the excellent work

[@kaw1980q]

sir, well done! thank you for sharing your home network project! i enjoy watching your step by step process of installing it. Please share how you install a network cable.

[@attainconsult]

good work, you always have to move the rack so a good snake into the rack is essential

[@stubert00001]

Yes! Every step on a wire pull video please! ❤

[@rickwookie]

@47:22 *smart home installer adopts drooling Homer Simpson voice* “Mmmmmm. Pre-existing Cat6”

[@thenullco]

Well, this puts my wall-mounted Netgear GS308 to shame. 🤩

[@giosabcsl]

Great work. Hats off to you. My new place will have cat6 pre-installed thankfully how ever only like 7 drops. I am not brave enough to be drilling into flooring and walls. I look forward to the CCTV cable runs if you film those as I fear that will be my challenge as I intend to install some CcTv myself, but the location of the cable run will be fun.. keep up the great work.

[@camerongray1515]

I forgot to mention the CCTV runs in this video but I pulled a few CAT 6 through the floor of the guest bedroom and left them coiled up for future installation. I'll show finishing off running and terminating those when I install the CCTV.

[@mrmotofy]

Walls down in to the joist space is really easy especially with a flexible bit. Always a good idea to check below but there's almost never anything there so no big deal

[@craigsmestad6952]

Extremely well done! Very neat and clean...

[@aaronletchford]

Great job Cameron well done thanks very much, somthing iv been waiting for, 2 great videos packed with valuable information, keep up the good work, and hope everything goes well 👍🏻

[@MrBosiwollig]

Hey Cameron great work! I would be interested in the video you suggested about running the whole network run to your office from the rack!

[@blackcobolt1520]

Fantastic video. It's all these nitty gritty details, with explanations as to why things are being done that way, which are missing from other videos. Can you provide links to that big in cupboard trunking and the flexible bit you use to drill holes into wooden joists for cable runs in difficult to access areas? Need one of those bits for a similar project for Cat6A and 4 core speaker wires. Scewfix? Also, were you not worried about having twin and earth power cable running parallel with all the cat6a and coaxial cable runs in terms of interference? Looking forward to seeing the videos covering the epic terminations you'll need on either end of the cables, and the rack / equipment setup and "reasons why".

[@mrmotofy]

For good draft/smoke/fire make sure the top of the plastic channel is at minimum stuffed with insulation to stop most air flow

[@jaybrooks1098]

did 6400' of cable runs in one day. two end points. 51 runs. Was really fun.

[@streaky81]

Similar project but with less points, I've installed a point-to-point-to-point OM4 fibre backbone because dual 10gbit (sfp+) uplink 2.5gbit switches are cheap as chips and so are the optics for them (I actually got a box full of brand spanking Juniper ones for super cheap which was a bonus). I don't have quite the same problem as you but I can star off the switches for any extra points I need to use. Having speakers all over my house would drive me insane, but each to their own. Anyway, the fibre goes up to a spare bedroom, two points on the wall that just have a short patch run that could be a switch, which jumps by another fibre pair to my office, and then there's another socket that runs upstairs that frankly I'll never use. The reason is I'm not going to have to touch the main backbone for 40 years - even though I'm not using it right now, it'll do 100GBASE-SR1.2 with today's tech if i ever need it and it's highly likely beyond that with future tech. Not criticising in any way, just mentioning there are options that don't involve datacentre-thick bundles of copper, and in fact fibre can be as cheap if not cheaper.

[@johnvanwinkle4351]

Nice looking install! I wish mine looked like that in my new house….😄

[@bradlovejoy5701]

Where’s your living room light from? 👀😂

[@camerongray1515]

They're these: www.lights.co.uk/p/arcchio-aleksi-led-hanging-light-o-60-cm-round-9939042.html. As standard they can be switched between warm and cool white, I'm going to try and swap the drivers out for Zigbee drivers to allow me to change the colour temperature from my smart home system.

[@aleksi.]

Did you consider using longer trunking? I thought it would’ve been nicer to run the cables higher vertically (maybe a meter or more) in the trunking and then add the same cable trays going bothways to the roof trusses. Anyways, you did a great job!

[@cybermanne]

You know you are a true nerd when you have a box of christmas decorations + hard drives in your garage. lol

[@camerongray1515]

That was the point in the packing to move process that it turned from "organise everything neatly into boxes" to "just shove things in boxes and label what's in them."

[@zxcxcsdfasdfasf]

"Will never have a car in it" Love it !

[@successisurs]

Nice project, BUT.... Potentially getting a dog... You will get a dog and then... a second dog. Speaking from experience.😅😅😅

[@darcsentor]

Dogs need an another dog as a buddy :)

[@VW_Fan]

Another great video! I am a little surprised you’re not installing CCTV.

[@camerongray1515]

I am but I forgot to mention those runs in this video - currently I've just pulled a couple of CAT 6 cables that are sitting coiled up above a hole in the floor in the guest bedroom. Once I'm actually installing the cameras I'll drill through the outside wall and feed the cables out from under the floor. As for cameras at the front of the house I'd hope to either run the cable through the attic and down inside the bedroom wall or simply through the inside of the garage in trunking or conduit.

[@VW_Fan]

@@camerongray1515 Ah! Makes sense to me. Do you have double brick? You could run them in the cavity. From the outside, drill into the brick angled upwards and then push rods into the loft.

[@michaelloving8004]

all off the 70's 80's 90's computer's nerds are salivating over those retro computers in the garage foreground lol

[@Jonbuildz]

Looks great mate, only comment is make sure you put some fire stopping sealant or foam between the sections once your completed, not sure if you mentioned it! overkill but best to be safe in the event of a fire!

[@Jon.musser]

Looking good! Congrats on the Partner and I like your tutorials so if your willing I am game...

[@tomcat7928]

thank you for great work to help us♥️

[@TheFlow2006]

1:20:05 you might get away with using foam tape to stop it from ratling around and it schould add enough friction so that it doesn´t moves in the hole, but you might have to test differnt thicknesses to get the right one

[@tristramdavies2301]

Nice work. That silver HP Pavilion pc brings back memories! What did you use to drill circular holes on the floors?

[@MagicWok]

New homes should really have this built in these days. It takes almost no effort for them building the house. Even if they just left the runs unterminated having all the cables routed in (without being stapled) it would make a massive difference

[@mrmotofy]

People don't wanna pay extra. A few are just including it but not many. Many home builders are very old school and have NO knowledge of techie things

[@ConfidentialMeerkat]

Im curious as to what the partner acceptance rating was regarding drilling what looks like 10" holes all over the place in the floor! In a brand new house nevertheless! Lol! I really think we are getting to the point with every new build there should be no less than 2 data points to each room as standard.

[@aRndBelgianGuy]

Very neat job ! It reminds me a few years back. Have you chosen what you'll use for audio / amps / streaming ?

[@M0PAX]

Great work. For the alarm panel I would take a cat 6 for the smartcom interface wired is better than wireless. I would put a keypad upstairs nothing worse than alarm going off at night and you have to fall downstairs to turn it off. All the earths (CPC) join at the same place on the distribution board , making them the same potential. If you have a noisy PSU in the house this could induce noise onto the equipment in the rack? Earthing the rack are you making a clean earth system? If you are the supply feeding it must be separated from the existing installation.

[@camerongray1515]

I'll be running a CAT 6 cable into the alarm panel although I won't be using a Smartcom, instead I'll be using a TTL to Ethernet adapter (essentially a ComIP) to integrate the alarm with Node-RED and HomeAssistant. An upstairs keypad is an interesting idea, although I can't see the alarm going off in the night being a frequent occurrence, if it's false alarming often enough for an upstairs keypad to be useful, then that would indicate a clear issue with the system. The CAT 6A cable I'm running is FTP and therefore the shield needs to be grounded, I'll be running a 10-16mm bonding conductor from the main earth terminal of the electrical installation to a busbar in the rack and then bond each patch panel to that. The bonding feeding the patch panel can't be separate from the rest of the electrical installation, otherwise you're going to introduce a ground loop the second you use a shielded patch lead to connect the structured cabling to a device that's grounded through the electrical installation such as a PC or network switch.

[@M0PAX]

@@camerongray1515 on the earthing you are running a bond from the main earth to the rack i get that, but soon as you put a electrical supply to the equipment and fix it to the rack that is metal you will all ready have an earth connection weather you like it or not, this will create parallel paths

[@camerongray1515]

What would you suggest then? Parallel paths aren't an issue if they're all at the same potential.

[@M0PAX]

@@camerongray1515 i dont know i have asked a friend who dose this for a living. i will let you know

[@impopet]

great stuff again. Well done! I video showing the whole process of a run? feck yeah please!

[@davidnorth1021]

Any plans to replace the standard issue white sockets with shiny ones? I guess we'll get a clue when we see what network sockets you fit...

[@camerongray1515]

Yeah, they're all getting changes with ones from the Click Definity range with their brushed steel finish. You can see a couple of the new light switches in this video when I talk about running CAT 6 to behind them.

[@NearCry91]

12:40 "Time to jump up in the basket" :D

[@ted-b]

Great job!

[@marksmadhousemetaphysicalm2938]

Famous last words…”it should be easy to do…”

[@r7boatguy]

Maybe your attic doesn't get cold or hot, typical smoke detectors operate between 4-38C. Heat detectors are generally used in the US in unconditioned spaces for that reason.

[@DozIT]

Is the level of lighting in your attic normal or did you do that? It is incredible. Where I live there is no requirement for a light or work platform unless there is mechanical equipment in the attic (which is never the case due to our climate.. which is very cold)

[@camerongray1515]

I added the lighting myself, it's definitely a bit over the top but I knew I'd be filming in the attic and needing to see in the far corners so I decided to go with a couple of massive LED battens so I'd never run into light issues. Nothing worse than crawling through an attic while also needing to move a work light around!

[@Tumleren]

Interesting hinges on the front door. Are they special security hinges or is the door special somehow? Haven't seen those before. Also interesting to see a new build without in-floor heating but with regular radiators, don't think many of those are built here. Also what have you done with your arms? You look like you've been fighting glass bottles or something! Looking forward to the next videos

[@camerongray1515]

It's a modern composite door and those hinges seem pretty standard for those around here, although not sure if they're anything special. Regular radiators are also pretty normal still in the UK, underfloor heating is still pretty rare. And yeah, my arms are the result of reaching through holes in OSB flooring to try and reach cables or drill joists - much blood has been shed during this project!

[@isoakfires]

You could put another sheet of drywall or plaster (whatever you call it) in your bathroom to gain you 5mm for your kitchen TV.

[@camerongray1515]

Definitely an option if I absolutely had to recess it into the wall although for this situation it would be an absolute tonne of work vs some cheap bathroom cabinets which would also give me extra bathroom storage.

[@weeally46]

HI Cameron, great content. Are you an electrician?

[@Tom_v5]

Wouldn’t maintaining the trunking to ceiling height in the loft and then letting the cables naturally fall left and right been an easier and neater solution in conjunction with the loft flooring rather than a trip hazard piece of trunking sat on top? We also power our ONT using one of those cheap TP-Link PoE splitters, means the UPS for the network gear (which is in a different location to our ONT) also powers that, saves on two UPS’

[@RupertHair]

50:54 Think I recognise that missing face plate on the G3 Mac. Did that one come via a Tardis connection too? Might have been another one I got from the KB skip, if so.

[@RupertHair]

Sorry if I missed it, but did you show how you did those cool stepped floor holes? Thanks for all the great videos!

[@camerongray1515]

Well spotted! Yep, it's probably the same machine then, good to know a bit more about its history! As for the holes in the floor, I showed them in the first video at around 1:15:58. I'm fortunate there that the floors are two layers (chipboard on top of a layer of OSB) so I used a larger holesaw to cut through the chipboard layer, remove it, then a smaller holesaw to cut through the OSB layer. Afterwards I screwed the pieces of chipboard and OSB that I cut out back together and use them to plug the holes. A lot of new builds have this style of floor, but for traditional single layers of chipboard the tool you're looking for is called a "Solid Board Cutter" - it'll cut a similar shaped hole out of a single layer of chipboard and then comes with plastic or metal plugs that can be used to fill the hole afterwards.

[@RupertHair]

Very cool. Will have a look at the other video. Thanks again, @@camerongray1515!

[@MitchellWilsonII]

Well done.

[@Kopvm833]

Great Series! Are there any issues with condensation running networking equipment / servers in an unheated garage?

[@camerongray1515]

It's not something I'm particularly worried about, the garage is reasonably insulated (except for the metal door which I could insulate if needed) and the kit in the rack will go some way towards helping heat the garage. The boiler is also in the garage so that'll also kick out some heat when the heating is running or hot water is being used.

[@meuk6929]

For bonding your rack look for tri rated green and yellow 10mm2 cable for supplementary bonding as its much more flexible than standard 7 stranded. obviously use correct lugs for terminating. I see it looks like your using Doncaster Earth Sure. to upgrade your Consumer unit to Rcbo your looking at £20 ish per rcbo.

[@camerongray1515]

That's a good shout on tri rated cable, I was just going to use cheap stuff from Screwfix but tri rated would be a lot nicer to work with! Just depends if I can get an affordable small reel of it since I don't need tonnes! And yep, using EarthSure and loving it, been such a massive timesaver for all the downlights I've installed! Definitely still want to convert the CU but for now I'll probably just stick the rack on an MCB and swap it all over at a later date. Alternatively I could install an RCBO in one of the "high integrity" ways but I'd need to get a bit of longer busbar for that since there's already an RCBO in there for the solar PV and if I'm going to that effort, I may as well just convert the whole thing!

[@bailey125]

42:00 Could you not use an angled drill to reach the top plate?

[@camerongray1515]

Unfortunately there was such little room I don't think it would have worked. The length of the drill bit I'd have needed to get through the double top plate plus the size of an angle drill would have been taller than the space in the floor I had to work with.

[@marksapollo]

Epic video. Do you plan on getting your electrics you install tested and certified by an electrician? I know I would for house insurance and to be safe. I know understand why you said you ached so much lol. But once it's done it's done.

[@camerongray1515]

My partner's dad is an electrician so I'll probably get him to take a look at everything when he's next up, although unfortunately you're very unlikely to get an electrician to sign off on work they haven't completed which is very understandable. That said, the actual electrical work I've done is relatively minor and none of it would be classed as notifiable work under Scottish building regulations.

[@marksapollo]

@@camerongray1515 Great to hear. I just think two things you need to be careful with are gas, I would never touch anything to do with that, and electricity. I did help my brother in law install lights in his garage once, although he had someone run the cable in the ground. We terminated it into an RCD in his house. They worked fine and assume still do but they moved out a while ago now.

[@camerongray1515]

Yeah, I'll do my own electrical work but only because I've read up on all the relevant regulations and I'll say within what I'm comfortable and have a decent understanding of (for example, I'm not going near the DC side of my solar PV install!). Gas I'll never go near (let alone the legal issues with DIY gas work!)

[@NearCry91]

No PoE cameras?

[@camerongray1515]

I ran some cables in but forgot to mention them, they're currently coiled up in an upstairs bedroom until I get the cameras and work out exactly where I want the cables to come through the wall. I'll be doing a dedicated video on the CCTV installation

[@DozIT]

Why not go under the attic board for the cable? Just notch the raceway so cables can take a 90 below the board

[@camerongray1515]

I want to keep the cable runs as accessible as possible for future maintenance and upgrades. I also wouldn't want the cables sitting loose under the boards compressing the insulation

[@iambueno]

Nice job. What are you using as your pull cable?

[@camerongray1515]

It's just plastic washing line, super cheap and works really well!

[@iambueno]

@@camerongray1515 Thanks. Picked some up today, it's miles better than the "builders string" that I was using.

[@jolex_nerd8132]

here 13h after release! lets see how this goes..

[@andydvsn]

Whoa whoa, I’m only a few seconds in and… is that an A305 with dual 3.5” drives?!

[@camerongray1515]

Well spotted, it's an A310 and yes, it has dual floppy drives.

[@skynetnetworks]

39:44 how do you access the holes after the carpets are put in?

[@camerongray1515]

You'd need to lift the carpet back to get to them, I'm not planning on using them regularly which is why I ran in all the cables I'd possibly need to downstairs but it's nice that they'll be there for future use if I do need them, much better than lifting up huge pieces of flooring or needing to cut into the floor in a finished room. They're also strategically placed around the edges of rooms or near doorways so that carpet can generally be pulled back without needing to move large pieces of furniture.

[@brooni]

how did you screw the velcro to the wood

[@camerongray1515]

I literally screwed a wood screw through the velcro and used a washer between the screw and the velcro to stop the screw bursting through the velcro.

[@josh7339]

Love the videos, what microphone setup are you using :)

[@camerongray1515]

I'm using a Sennheiser MKE2 lavalier. Normally I use it with a Sennheiser EW-DP wireless system but for these videos I'm using a DJI Pocket 3 camera so the mic is connected to the DJI wireless mic's 3.5mm input.