Phone and Cable Lines -- What to do?
We are reroofing our atrium Eichler in the next couple weeks with a T&G roof. After the old roof is taken off, we are doing some electrical work. We are also considering having all of the phone and cable lines re-done and run under the new roof.
One of the electricians we spoke to said instead of doing that, it's better to run it under the eaves and through the walls (the way it is currently run on our house) for more flexibility and long-term maintenance. I don't like seeing all of the lines exposed and would rather have them under the new roof.
Any thoughts? Is putting the phone and cable lines under the new roof a good idea?
This will sound crazy, but I recently replaced some of the siding. There was some electrical lines to the sprinklers and I didn't really want to drill holes into the siding to get it inside the garage. So I tried to fish it up under the siding. At the bottom of the siding where it meets the concrete foundation, there may or maynot be enough of a gap to allow the cables to slip in between the siding and the framing. For me it worked and allowed me to contain the wires along the bottom edge of the siding. Worth a try.
Nelson
I ran them under the new roof. I don't see a problem, especially with the cable. With the phone line, just make sure you have one main line that's accessable in a wall or the garage. With wireless technology being what it is, if a line goes bad you can always work around it wirelessly.
If you're really concerned, have the lines run done through an outside wall, put a small electrical box opening in the siding near where most of the lines enter the house and cover it with a solid stainless electrical plate and then paint over it.
We completely remodeled our Eichler in Palo Alto about a year and a half ago. Because of timing, we had the roof done a year earlier (too many leaks but no remodel plan at the time). We managed to replace 75% of the electrical and added cable, phone, CAT6 wiring. I would have LOVED to have done this before the roof was done. We ended up wiring through some of the walls .
Take advantage of the follwing before your roof is completed:
1. Add bathroom fans, and kitchen fans and ventilation where you want it.
2. Add Cable, phone, CAT5 or 6 computer wire and speaker wire (we have speakers built into the walls). The wire itself is not too expensive and you can wire this yourself.
3. Add smoke alarms and consider wiring them all together and powering them through your electrical panel.
4. Add new overhead light fixtures or track lighting.
5. Add grounded electrical wire where you need it.
6. Consider what you want with gas (dryer, fireplace, range) and ask your roofer how to proceed with gas lines (under or over the roof).
7. Some people have had to move domestic water on their roof. What have your neighbors done? If your neighbors have done this, your plumbing may fail next. If so, what will you do? I have protected my pipes with cathodic protection. For more discussion on this, search this forum under "Cathodic protection" or see:
http://www.eichlernetwork.com/chatterbox_lounge/viewtopic.php?t=890&high...
It's a lot to consider but without a crawl space, everything usually runs over the roof.
/Lynn
Thank you for all of your suggestions!
I will look into all of them. I think we will end up putting our phone and cable lines under the roof, ground some outlets, add ventilation fans in the bathrooms and change the light fixture location in the dining room as well as add a few ceiling mounted fixtures in other rooms.
Lynn, you got my attention on the plumbing issue you raised. I will definitely look into that.
I am in TerraLinda (San Rafael) in the area close to TL High School. I will check with my neighbors, but does anyone out there know if the houses in this neighborhood have had failed plumbing issues?
