Need some pointers on my first cabling job
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Posted by Ned on March 28, 2008, 11:57 pm
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> > Not sure what your issue is Carl, but apparently you were
>
> Carl has answered for himself, but you bring up a more general issue: > > > I have seen my share of cabling guys, usually poorly paid and
> > unskilled, pulling cable and terminating drops and basically > > doing a very sloppy job and making a mess of things, and this > > from large cabling companies. >
> Electrical or data? =A0There is a huge difference, and there > is also a huge difference in the quality of supervision. > > The same sorts of semi-skilled labor are frequently used > to keep costs down. =A0That sort of specialization has been > going on since before Henry Ford's assembly line and is > essential to improving standards of living for all. > > The important differentiator is the instructions and supervision > given to the labor. =A0With the right company/supervisor, the > guys won't over pull cable, will route and support it correctly. > Greater skillsets are needed for termination. > > The question for DIY is not whether you have better skills > than the labor you've seen. =A0The real question is whether > you know enough for the job (as much as a proper supervisor). > Maybe, and maybe not. =A0There are many gotchas. > > -- Robert The cabling job is complete. I ended up getting a quote of $300 for the job including all materials. No surface mount was needed, it was all done within the sheetrock. One person arrived with all sorts of equipment, including a neon colored fishing stick, a snake, a sheetrock saw, cable tester, and everything else someone would need. The job went smoothly until he tried to push the fishing stick down a sheetrock column that was covering a concrete column. After about 40 minutes he was finally able to get the wire through. He arrived at 6:30pm and completed the job at 11:45 which is about 5 hours. I think it would have been done much faster if he had help but I didn't care because I had work to do on the network anyway. I asked lots of questions and used the opportunity to try to learn from him. I admit, this is hard work, especially if you are alone. Not something I would want to do on my own. Anyway, thanks to everyone for your input. I have asked questions in the Windows server groups, the cisco groups, and many others for over 10 years. Those groups are what have allowed me to learn so much and become so successful. In all that time not one person ever discouraged me from learning, information was offered and some folks even gave me their phone numbers so I could call if I got stuck. I am not so sure what happened here, but I really felt as though I had somehow come accross in a way that angered some of the folks here. If I did, then I am sorry. Thanks again. | |||||||||||||||||||
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Posted by Doug McIntyre on March 25, 2008, 2:24 pm
Please log in for more thread options >I do not usually do cabling but times are tough and I have gotten
>quotes of $500-700 for this work which I can do for under $200 on my >own and still make some money on the markup to my client. I would >appreciate recommendations on the following: >Surface mount wall plates to accomodate 4 drops on a single plate.
>Quality raceway to accomodate 4 drops from ceiling to near groung >level (8 feet) >RJ45 cat 5e Connectors >Plenum cable (500') Cat5e With 500' of plenum costing $160-$190 is your time really worth $10? (Copper keeps going up and up and up. Try to price out something like 2-ought electrical cable at many dollars a foot for a single wire). As Carl said, all of this is available at Home Depot/Lowes for pretty much the same cost anybody else pays. They carry Leviton which is in wide use everywhere. Any of the brands out there in the stores are pretty good. I'd estimate your raw material costs up in the $300 range, and probably 3 hours of work depending on how well you handle fishing wire across the plenum. You'll also need J-hooks to hang the wire in the ceiling to be code in most places. Guess $500 isn't too far out of the ballpark for something like this? | |||||||||||||||||||
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Posted by Justin on March 25, 2008, 2:36 pm
Please log in for more thread options See noted below....
Ned wrote: > I do not usually do cabling but times are tough and I have gotten
Depending on your access to suppliers, if Home Depot is your only
> quotes of $500-700 for this work which I can do for under $200 on my > own and still make some money on the markup to my client. I would > appreciate recommendations on the following: > > Surface mount wall plates to accomodate 4 drops on a single plate. option, Leviton is really the only choice there. Go with that over any other brand they may have. If you have wider supplier access, my preference is Panduit. They do have a keystone option if you can find it, otherwise you're looking at their own mounting method. SO if that is a problem, again go with Leviton, which only has a keystone mounting method. Also, if you've already got existing stuff that is keystone, you may want to stick with that. > Quality raceway to accomodate 4 drops from ceiling to near groung
Again, my preference it Panduit. Based on the number of cables, you
> level (8 feet) could use the LD10 line, but may want to consider the T45 line. As for the professionalism of surface raceway, I would always try and fish the wall if possible. If not, just make sure you've got all the proper connectors and fittings, including the ceiling connector. It'll look good when done right. And don't forget the level. > RJ45 cat 5e Connectors
Again, Panduit or Leviton depending on the above.
> Plenum cable (500') Cat5e
Because it crosses the hallway, you might need to look to see if that is
a Rated Corridor. If so, there could be issues with crossing it. If it is plenum, as well as fire stopping the holes are necessary. If it's not a Corridor, I'd suggested doing both anyway. But we'd need more info. Again, depends on your supplier. If you're HD only, you might not have a lot of options. If you there is access, I like General Cable 5500, or BerkTek LanMark 350. There are others that are close, but that's where I'd start. >
Sounds like a one day job to me. Parts and labor, with out doing really
> For anyone interested in bidding on this here are the details. > I have to install 4 drops in a medical office, all drops terminate at > a single location. > The distance, with turns and bends is 92 feet from point A to point B > (not counting ceiling to floor) > The ceiling is dropped but there is a section that crosses the hallway > into a large storage closet so I am thinking that it it safer to use > plenum. > There is no drilling to do, all rooms have holes connecting them. > There is an existing patch panel with 4 free RJ45 receptacles, just > needs to be punched down. any figuring, I'm thinking that your original $700 is fairly accurate. >
> That's it. > thanks | |||||||||||||||||||
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