Dealing with holes in the wall from electrical outlets/wiring

[nd33]

Ant tips or methods for this kinda stuff would be much appreciated.
So far my plan is to make the holes for the wiring as small as possible and then after feeding the cables though, caulk the shit out of it til its oozing out front and back.

What other hints and tips are you guys using?

And for surface mount things? Box them out with drywall?
I've got some auralex sheetblock available if that could be used

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[tsvisser]

hire an electrician... please...

for making holes, you want to buy a sheetrock saw... it is a medium sized tooth blade, maybe 8 to 12" long. I wouldn't worry too much about the size of the hole, make it too small and you won't be able to run the wires easily. If you make it too large, the repair is a bit more difficult, but not much. 2" wide by 4" tall usually works for me. When you cut, cut at a slight angle... so that you could in theory put the piece you cut back into the hole it came from and not push through. After you cut, hopefully neat clean cuts, and have run your wire, it is time to repair. You will want small strips of wood and some wood screws. You screw a small strip of wood across the hole, backside of the sheetrock, to the left and right of the hole. Then take the original cutout piece and screw that to the wood strip backing. you now have your hole plugged with a the original piece, firmly held in place with the screws and wood.

You should attach sheetrock repair tape around the cut and then mix some plaster and joint compound. Don't use too much plaster, some people will only use joint compound... if you were really neat, you could even skip the tape, if the holes were small. After mixing, maybe adding some water to thin it out if necessary when using a plaster mix, use a taping knife to apply the mixture... the object is to try to skim coat the area completely flat without any texture... this is sort of an art form unto itself. If you do a hack job, you then have to come back and sand it down, which creates a lot of dust and mess.

Any wires run in the wall with BX have to be terminated to a metal junction box. Any surface mount junction boxes will be connected with surface mount conduit. You should not break electrical code, not only for legal reasons, but primarily for safety reasons.

[Jules]

I had a computer cupboard built for my studio. Next to the door was a square hole for interface cables and other stuff that could not be permanently set up. (There were about 10 different cables running through there) Anyhow, the hole was just a bit bigger than the cables going through it so I jammed a piece of sponge tightly into it and that seemed to make it more "air tight" and keep all the HF computer drive noise out of my control room.

(Note: these were all low wattage cables I wouldn't advise anyone to be jamming a sponge around 240v or 110v power cables....)

[tsvisser]

yes, sometimes the sponge will work its way out, though... you should in these instances jam a fork in the crevices to make it even more solid. top it off with some hairspray for some real fixing power.

[nd33]

Cheers. Yes I have hired an electrician! But at this point we are ready to put the drywall on, so we are feeding the cables through that before the electrician comes to do the finishing.
That sounds like a really tidy way to do it, tsvisser, but also very time consuming!

Is there a reason why something like what I suggested would not work very well?
By using flexible sealant and pummelling the hole with it so that the cables (power, lighting, microphone) are kind of floating in the flexible sealant, within the holes?

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[tsvisser]

Oh I got you, you just want to put up the sheetrock and pull the cables through in their correct locations...

In these cases, it is actually better to put a real junction box onto the studs and pull the cables into them... but this is of course electricians work. Then they usually put the trimout ring on the wall (1 or 2 "gang" typically) and leave a hole in the sheetrock approximately equal to the cutout.

If the electrician plans on doing this work after the fact, it can be done. Obviously his J-boxes won't be permanently fixed to the studs, but they can usually clip them on after the fact... some extra cutting, maybe some patching in imprecise areas.

I wouldn't over think it. Just pull the BX or romex through in the correct locations and loop the wire up so that it is off the floor. If you have a bundle of low voltage cables, I usually bag it in a plastic bag and wrap it in electrical tape to protect the cables (aka "donkey d*ck").

My instructions were more for if you were trying to retrofit runs of lines, whether electrical or low-voltage, after the walls were already up.

Honestly, it sounds to me like the electrician is behind in his work if he doesn't have all the receptacles boxed out. Like I said, its not the end of the world, it can be done later, but its not really your job to do his work for him.

[Jules]

Always over spec,

Have you thought of ethernet or digital AES cables you may need in future!

More audio cables than you need in case you need more in future?

Thick speaker cable runs for guitar amp use in the control room?

Guitar / instrument cable?

Fold back amp cable

Some of these might pick up hum if all jammed together or even are nearby each other...

[nd33]

Thanks guys! And yes, I have just put in a few extra mic cables! Got ethernets and a thick power speaker gauge cable.

On a related topic, I have a bunch of balanced cable running inside the walls between the rooms - I know these are shielded, but should I apply further shielding to bunches of mic cables or is that superfluous? Any need to worry about balanced cables running near power cables? I'll try and keep them separated as best I can, but I'd still like to know if there's an ideal minimal distance to keep them apart or anything like that.

Cheers!
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[tsvisser]

Originally Posted by nd33

Thanks guys! And yes, I have just put in a few extra mic cables! Got ethernets and a thick power speaker gauge cable.

On a related topic, I have a bunch of balanced cable running inside the walls between the rooms - I know these are shielded, but should I apply further shielding to bunches of mic cables or is that superfluous? Any need to worry about balanced cables running near power cables? I'll try and keep them separated as best I can, but I'd still like to know if there's an ideal minimal distance to keep them apart or anything like that.

Cheers!
_

Theory dictates that when you have to come near AC lines with audio lines, they should cross at 90 degree angles. Practical experience says that its not a big deal, unless they run in very close proximity for a very long distance. If you have any low voltage ballasts / transformers, those do pose avery real threat to induced noise, but casual intermingling with electrical lines should be ok as long as its kept within reason.