Peterman's HT 2.0

No major updates on the build but I'm getting closer to being able to start some initial setup and testing. The electrician is on site last week and this week to rough in the basement. I'll have two dedicated 20A circuits at the A/V rack, each with a quad outlet box. Our builder is cutting/framing an opening in the back of the room where I'll be able to install a rackmount system if I decide to go that route, or at least custom shelving for the AV gear. The mechanical crew put an HVAC return in the closet with the A/V rack to pull air out of that space while it's running. Can't do much beyond that until the electrical rough-in has been inspected, which should happen in the next couple days. From there I plan to start trying to finalize front stage/projector locations and seating layout so I can start framing the screen wall and 2nd row seating platform.

Until then, here's an updated picture of the outside.

Thanks Owen - we're itching to get in.

The electrician is about 2 weeks behind schedule now, and holding up inspections. I'm told this morning that he'll be done tomorrow.

Until then I'm running coax, cat6, speaker wire, etc before the 2nd story walls are insulated and closed up. I figured I'd run wiring for outdoor speakers front and back, and cat6 for security cameras down the road if we ever decide we want them. Since the main floor came already sheetrocked, additional wiring is going up through the 2nd floor or down through the basement. I also ran coax up to the attic and put up a TV antenna.

Basically just covering all the low-voltage stuff not requiring inspection that will be 100 times harder to do later once everything is sheetrocked. I can't even describe how satisfying it is to be able to run cabling properly ahead of time rather than cutting walls open and digging through insulation. I may go overkill on a few things but I'm trying to think of everything we could even potentially want to add later, and pre-wire for it now while it's easy. Wire is cheap and I've got time. I'll run all but high voltage in the basement as well, but I have more time to do that as it won't be finished immediately.

If I'm forgetting anything or anyone has suggestions based on experience, for pre-wiring a house, feel free to share. Now's the time.

OJ Bartley said:

That's definitely the way to do it. Run everything you can now, while you can do it so easily. Network drops to all the rooms, coax, camera locations is another great idea, outdoor speakers... sounds like you've hit all the main points. Maybe any potential multizone audio for a kitchen or dining room?

Click to expand...

We discussed wiring the kitchen and dining room for speakers (they occupy a connected open area) but opted not to. I may at some point put a Sonos/Heos type speaker in there but most likely our Bose bluetooth speaker (which actually gets used quite a bit) will float between that space and our master bed/bath. My wife likes simplicity and portability of it and I don't see a strong need for dedicated speakers in those spaces.

Our electrical and framing rough-in inspections are scheduled for today, so hopefully the electricians got caught up yesterday. I spent a good part of Saturday running more cat6, coax, and speaker wire throughout the house. I'm just about done with what needs to be in place before the 2nd floor and breezeway are closed up.

I'm planning to put flush mount ceiling speakers on the front porch, which will just have a perforated aluminum ceiling (like what you would typically see below the roof soffits around the outside of the house). I'm thinking I'll want individual enclosures for the speakers in this case, but I don't have time for DIY at this point, since they'll be closing up that space relatively soon. Anyone know of a good combination of flush mount speakers and pre-fab enclosures? I can add framing as needed to support the boxes. Wiring is in place.

Edit: I may be overthinking the ceiling speakers. If I can find some reasonably priced closed-back speakers, I'll just frame some plywood with cutouts and call it good.

As we should have expected (but didn't want to) the subcontractors have set us back quite a bit since the house arrived. Electricians completed rough-in for inspection (about 2 weeks late) and have not been back since, so no real progress on the HT. The exterior walls of the basement are sheetrocked now, so at least there's been some visible changes going on down there. If the electrical crew is not on the schedule soon to continue work I'll likely start doing some of it myself, so I can at least switch on some lights and power a receiver and projector to begin setup. Current lighting is just work lights on an extension cord going upstairs.

I've been continuing to run data and A/V cables throughout the house. I managed to get some porch speakers installed before the ceiling went up. I've since corrected most of the dimple effect around the edges left by sloppy trimming of the aluminum flashing. The cutouts between the speakers are can lights. If anyone is wondering the speakers are Pyle PDPC82. They're closed-back so I didn't have to rush to cobble together 4 enclosures. Should be relatively weather resistant too. They sound ok. Like they're in a plastic box. Good for casual listening though.

I'll soon be an pro at terminating cat6 and coax cables! Is it weird that I'm a little excited to build a panel for routing and connecting all of it? Comcast came over the weekend so I at least have internet now

Good thing couches will be the last thing to go in. If I can sit down productivity will drop to nothing!

Well it's much closer to being a room now. The 120v wiring is done and we have some temporary light fixtures in.


The cutout for my equipment rack is also done. Not 100% sure if I'll do a 19" rack mount style or just build some individual shelves. I'll probably do some kind of door on the front as well. It is completely accessible from behind via a closet under the stairway.

We have a projected move-in date of August 9th. At that point I'll have all of my A/V gear back to start tinkering with speaker layout and constructing the rest of the room. Still lots to do but it should speed up now that I'm not waiting on any contractors.

In the meantime I've been prepping the living room for TV and audio as well. I'd like to be done cutting holes in my new walls before we move in

We will be installing base cabinets on either side of the fireplace with shelving above all the way up. I have a 55" Sony that will be mounted over the fireplace with a 3 channel passive soundbar. The electronics will all be concealed in the cabinet on the left side. I'm thinking of doing in-wall subs on either side of the fireplace. Maybe Klipsch RW-5802-II or Paradigm PCS-82SQ. Eventually the plan is to have the A/V, lighting and fan, and fireplace all controlled by a universal remote. We'll spend a ton of time in this room.


Oh and don't worry Todd... I'll have access below this space when it comes time to upgrade my cables to HDMI 2.1