Best way to run cable/telephone/CAT6 from house into detached garage?

Onewolf · Jun 8, 2014

I would like to run RG6 (for cable TV), telephone (landline), and CAT6 cables from our house to the workshop in the detached garage we are going to have built. What's the best way to do this? Run a conduit under the slab that enters under an interior wall of the workshop?

Here's an image of the plan showing the location (red arrow) the cable/telephone enter the existing house. The 'workshop' in the detached garage will be in the center/back of the garage.

Thanks for any advice.

volleyball · Jun 8, 2014

So the supplier feed will run under your new slab? If so, have the conduit come in on the nearest wall. I'd run the wires up through the ceiling so that you have access in the future to replace the wires as needed.

Onewolf · Jun 8, 2014

volleyball said:
So the supplier feed will run under your new slab? If so, have the conduit come in on the nearest wall. I'd run the wires up through the ceiling so that you have access in the future to replace the wires as needed.

The "supply" is located at the red arrow on the exterior of the existing house. Somehow it needs to get to the 'workshop' in the detached garage. The exterior walls are concrete block (both the existing house and the soon to be built detached garage).

My first thought was to run a conduit under the slab and have it 'come up' thru the inside wall of the workshop. Or run conduit up the outside of the detached garage and run the cables across the attic the to the workshop.

rsieracki · Jun 8, 2014

Train Room???? Lionel? do tell :3gears:

volleyball · Jun 8, 2014

Run it up outside the wall, in the wall or the inside surface of the wall. Will all be fine. I would run another conduit under the slab to the other side. Maybe conduits to a couple/few places. That way you can change up what you need. Just make sure the top of conduit will be high enough to keep water out in case of storm or flooding

NUTTSGT · Jun 8, 2014

I ran my Cat5E out the back wall of the house garage, under the sidewalk/ground right up to the exterior of my garage.

Kevin54 · Jun 8, 2014

NUTTSGT said:
I ran my Cat5E out the back wall of the house garage, under the sidewalk/ground right up to the exterior of my garage.

You know you really do **** Eric!!!! :lol_hitti

I'd love to only have to go a few feet and be done with it. :bowdown:

GS-Louie · Jun 8, 2014

I would go with a cordless phone with a base station in the house. I would use a wireless router/AP to get the internet out there. For the TV I would use an ethernet adapter. Dish and DirectTV have TV everywhere services available through ethernet. Don't know what kind of TV service you have so that could change.

If you must use wire, put in a 1" conduit under the floor to where you have to go. Use underground telephone cable and be sure to ground the telephone cable and RG in the garage and use a surge suppressor for the ethernet cable.

My personal opinion is you're crazy! When I am in the train room I don't want any outside disturbances of any kind!!!

Good luck with your new project.

Lou

7echo · Jun 8, 2014

4" conduit from house, up inside the close wall to attic. Put three 1" interducts in the 4" pipe. Probably should pull Cat for phone and internet, could be more useful than pots cable. Or under slab and up into workshop. Depends on what you plan for future use. I would for sure make an area to land my cables in a network panel for distribution. Will look better and help keep things in order.

Onewolf · Jun 9, 2014

rsieracki said:
Train Room???? Lionel? do tell

HO Scale. Three level mushroom design with the center platform area being the upper level inside the 'mushroom'.

GS-Louie said:
I would go with a cordless phone with a base station in the house. I would use a wireless router/AP to get the internet out there. For the TV I would use an ethernet adapter. Dish and DirectTV have TV everywhere services available through ethernet. Don't know what kind of TV service you have so that could change.

If you must use wire, put in a 1" conduit under the floor to where you have to go. Use underground telephone cable and be sure to ground the telephone cable and RG in the garage and use a surge suppressor for the ethernet cable.

My personal opinion is you're crazy! When I am in the train room I don't want any outside disturbances of any kind!!!

Good luck with your new project.

Lou

I want to run cables just in case wireless doesn't work 100% reliable. The network/cable TV drops are for the workshop area when I'm working on models/etc or just 'escaping'.

Here's a link to my soon to be build thread showing more details:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=250473

volleyball · Jun 9, 2014

I'd also put a camera in there, maybe hooked to a dvr in the house. Run extra cat cable for an alarm system.

Bosque · Jun 9, 2014

What about a short connection outside running between the roofs? Attic to Attic access seems the easiest to me. I have no experience though

abernut · Jun 9, 2014

Have you looked into Ethernet over Power Lines.
I used a few in my old house and they worked well.

Just finished my new house. Now I have 2" conduit running from the distribution panel in my detached garage to my distribution panel in the house. All of my services enter the garage and then go underground to the house. That way the cable guy isn't drilling holes in my new house.

elav · Jun 9, 2014

Personally I would run a 2" conduit from the house to the garage so that you can run multiple coax and ethernet runs. I would have it terminate in a structured wire enclosure in the garage and run combination wire (wire bundle that has multiple coax and ethernet lines in the bundle) to multiple points in the garage so that you can reconfigure the lines as needed from the structured wire enclosure. Ideally you would have a structured wire enclosure in the house already so that you are making the run from a single point.

NUTTSGT · Jun 9, 2014

Kevin54 said:
You know you really do **** Eric!!!!

I'd love to only have to go a few feet and be done with it.

But I still had to go through about 30' feet of small attic with hunched over crawling along the rafters.

volleyball · Jun 9, 2014

NUTTSGT said:
But I still had to go through about 30' feet of small attic with hunched over crawling along the rafters.

Don't you have kids or a woman for that? That's why I keep them around.

NUTTSGT · Jun 9, 2014

volleyball said:
Don't you have kids or a woman for that? That's why I keep them around.

My daughters are grown,the wife,LOL, no way. :beer:

GS-Louie · Jun 9, 2014

Nice Layout plans! Mine is in the basement, don't wanna have to go outside to play. I am at the power stage in my new garage. Plan is I might have an LGB track around the car room. Good luck with your garage.

Lou

Trey T · Jun 10, 2014

when mounting the TV, I think the best location is up high at any location. If you want to mount it at eye-level (standing or sitting), place it on the north or south side to avoid sunlight glare.

for running wire from house to garage, conduit and bury it is the only way to do it right.

Onewolf · Jun 10, 2014

GS-Louie said:
Nice Layout plans! Mine is in the basement, don't wanna have to go outside to play. I am at the power stage in my new garage. Plan is I might have an LGB track around the car room. Good luck with your garage.

Lou

Unfortunately there are virtually no basements in central florida. I 'outgrew' my current 11x11 bedroom layout once I figured out what I really wanted layout wise. Therefore the only option was to build a detached structure to contain the 'new' layout.

signcrafter · Jun 10, 2014

Guys, the garage isn't up yet and he has the chance to run conduit for the wires, why would he look into all this other "wireless" stuff or roof to roof cables when he can run cables to where he wants? Run conduit under the slab and into the wall where you want it, just make sure you know exactly where that wall will be. Conduit is cheap and easy to do. Run an extra empty tube just in case you have to abandon one for whatever reason. Use duct tape to keep **** out of them while you're working. When ready to pull the wires tie a plastic baggy to a pull line and stick in end of conduit at one end. Then go to other end and hook up shop vac and it will pull that line threw the conduit. Then pull whatever wires you want. But always also pull an extra pull wire along with the wires so it's easy to add another wire down the road. Cables improve and needs change over the years.

Conduit under concrete is very common and the best way to accomplish what you want. I don't understand all the other suggestions of running conduit on the outside of the walls and what not.

elronin · Jun 10, 2014

I would do it like NUTSGT did, but run it from you arrow all the way to the outside corner where you have your storage room, then bring it into the garage from the out side from that spot. You could install a large 42" Leviton structured media box and have it in the storage room. You can run your alarm system, DVR, WiFi for the whole shop from in there, just add a repeater or two in the train room and garage.

That way If someone breaks in, you can have all that hidden in there, behind some boxes or maybe a false wall. I have a structured media box and a old metal alarm box in my garage, and wired my whole house with cat 6 years ago, I mean two Cat 6 next to every light switch, two Cat 6 to every room, and 2 Coax to every room. I have Uverse and it can run on either wireless, Cat 6, or Coax. But I just got there new wireless uverse box and it works great.

As far as Cat 6, I really only use less then half of the lines, Unless you are going to have a desktop in your shop, most people use I-pads or laptops. A couple of lines for you outdoor cameras at least eight some outside some inside, should be enough. Figure out where you want a TV or two, and run some RG6 or Cat 6, or both to those spots. But Wifi would be the best way to go for your computing needs, that way you can use your cell phone online too.

What ever you do, enjoy your shop it looks cool.

MN4x4 · Jun 10, 2014

I did mine years ago and finally dug up the photo's. The run is around 100' long. I used 2" PVC and buried 2 pipes in the same trench, about 30" down.

Best way to run cable/telephone/CAT6 from house into detached garage?

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