Installing a cable jack in underground basement

[Dirty Tleilaxu]

I require a second coaxial cable to be run into my finished underground basement (from a second signal source). I've posted a photo diagram

to illustrate what I'm working with.

As you can see, the outside wall is concrete foundation, which prevents an easy drilling solution. My guess is that the existing cable was run when the basement was being finished. Now that the wall is finished, what are my options for installing a new jack alongside my existing one? Having a jack high on the wall isn't acceptable to me for aesthetic reasons. Can it be wall-fished, or is my only option to dig alongside the foundation and drill a hole at the desired spot? If so, does drilling the foundation significantly comprimise the structural/watertight integrity of the foundation?

Thanks for any input.

DT

[SQLit]

To do the fishing your going to need a hole on the outside big enough for the cable. This bothers me some because of water and cold coming down the wall. A 1/2 hole is no biggie, sealing it will be. Drill the hole, drop some jack chain down the wall and have some one move the jack chain till you locate which cell it is in. Cut your box hole and acquire the chain. Tie on the cable pull it in.

If the wall is insulated with fiberglass with some time and a fish tape, electrical tool you will be able to locate the tape pull up a cord and then down with the cable.

If the wall is insulated with Styrofoam or hard board. It is time to slot the drywall and patch and paint.

[kevins_news]

I have no technical expertise in this area but to me it just sounds like common sence that you do NOT want a hole in your foundation wall that might let water or insects in. I doubt it would affect structural integridty of the foundation but any hole/crack below ground level will mean water leaking into the house. you don't want that.

You said you were thinking of digging down along tehe foundation and drilling at the appropriate spot. I would have thought that drilling above ground level and then just redoing all the drywall behind the tv (so you can run the cable behind the wall and down to where you want it) would actually be much easier in terms of time and hassle. You'd have to dig down about 5 feet. And make it wide enough to work in. That's a hell of a hole.

Kevin

[BeamGuy]

Depending on your application you may find that your one coaxial cable can carry both signals. What exactly are you trying to do?

[Jerry G.]

In your case, you would probably be better off to call the cable company, and let their experienced installation people do it for you. If you want to run this in yourself, and if your inside walls are paneled in a fashion where there is a space between the wall and concrete, you can run possibly the cable between, depending on how the joists are put in. In new construction the cabling is generally put in before the panels go on.

The way that it is done most of the time, is that the cable is run along the baseboard, and or through the ceiling, and comes down behind a wall panel out to an F51 connector plate. How it can go in is very dependent on the access for it to be run. If the cable feed is to be passed down on the outside of the wall to the floor level, you can also get small conduit for cable and telephone wires. These can mostly be purchased at most hardware and electronics parts supply stores. The hardware stores will mostly have the conduit for electrical wiring, but they are about the same anyways.

I would not suggest drilling through the concrete if the hole is going to be less than about 2 feet above the outside ground. If a hole is made, it should be made exactly the correct size for the cable, so there is no chance for any insects or outside air to come in. It is possible to stuff the hole with a non acid RTV or the equivalent insulation before passing the cable. You can also put some extra RTV around the outside of the entry of the cable. The remaining RTV should help to insulate the hole.

[b&k]

You could try coming through at the top of the foundation adjacent to the bulkhead on the top left of the image then running some surface mount conduit like

along the corner then along the baseboard to the tv. You could also do that on the right side along the post. You may also be able to run your surround sound wiring in that conduit. I believe it is paintable too.

Running the wire high means you might be able to drill through the sill plate (wood) as opposed to low which means digging and drilling through

10-12" concrete.

Another thought is going through the window framing then using the conduit.

[Larry Davick]

What is the big post next to the TV made from. I'd guess that it is drywall surrounding some kind of column. If the drywall is there, so is an air gap that you could fish almost anything through.