Hiding cables

[Tom Andry]

I just bought a new house (moved in over the holidays) and am planning on upgrading all of my ht equip as soon as the wife gives the nod (she's up for it we don't have the $ yet). For now, I have my old 5.1 system hooked up. I'm planning on upgrading to 6 or 7.1. I currently have the rear speaker cables on the ground (as an incentive to upgrade). Installing behind the wall will probably never happen so I was eventually going to run them up the wall and around the ceiling using some sort of protective covering.

My problem is this: my 1.5 year old is constantly getting into/tripping over the rear cables. I thought that I could run them up the wall now but the placement for the 5.1 vs. the 6 or 7.1 rear speakers is entirely different. I'm looking for a temporary (read: non-permanent and cheap) solution that I can do to keep him out of the cables. I’ve thought of getting a large rug and running underneath. Any other ideas?

 

[miklorsmith]

How about the extension-cord rubber jobbies? I bet you could find some in "putty". Or, you could tape them to the floor. Duct tape is excellent for this - I used white duct tape along my white molding and it was almost invisible. In this application, the duct tape didn't leave any sticky goo when it was removed, nor did it remove the paint. Your results may vary.

Electrician's tacks would do the job with the minimum of extraneous material, but the tacks would get stuck in your floor, molding, or wall (small holes). If your wires are very pliable and you could stick them in the wall/floor corner, blu-tack might do the trick.

That's about all I've got. Good luck!

 

[djoxygen]

Depending on how your carpet was laid and how thick the cables are, you could try something I've pulled off in a couple cases: wedging the cable down into the carpet between the tack strips and the baseboard moulding.

 

[JohnA]

Or

small pin nails and zip ties

 

[DSMCasey]

if It is your surround speakers that are giving you the trouble then you can just get in the attic, drill a small hole down into the room and attach your speakers to the wall using shelves or speaker hooks or whatever you like. make sure you plan for future system though, so decide what you are going to buy and measure and make the shelves, hooks or whatever far enough away from the wall and ceiling to fit your new speakers. I too have a brand new home (moved in 3 months ago). I ran radio shack in wall speaker cable from a junction box behind the entertainment center, through the wall, up the wall, and down into the rear corners of the room. It looks/works great. Also, in an old apt I had I used the carpet trick, you usually can easily pull up the edges of your carpet and slide cabling underneath (so long as it is not too big).

-Casey

 

[WorkerBee]

A drop or two of Hot Melt Glue in the right place and used sparingly is suprisingly strong yet easily removable on the right surfaces...including painted surfaces.

 

[3beanlimit]

If they are following a wall...like someone already mentioned, you can sometimes just wedge them between the wall and the tack strips.

You could also pull the baseboards and either slot them with a router, wide and deep enough for the wire or cut a small half inch part of the wall board at the bottom of the wall, wedge them under the wall board and put the baseboard back.

To put them into a wall an up through the ceiling, if your handy, isn't that tough a job either. Just make sure to use wire approved for installing in walls.

 

[Tom Andry]

Thanks for all the replys. I'm going to work on it this weekend. Personally I like the hot glue idea though I'm going to eventually run wires in the walls once I upgrade.

 

[Tom Andry]

A drop or two of Hot Melt Glue in the right place and used sparingly is suprisingly strong yet easily removable on the right surfaces...including painted surfaces.

I did this and it worked great. After attaching the first cable, I pulled one point off to see the damage. A little paint came off but it is hardly noticible. We'll be repainting before too long so I'm not that concerned.

Thanks again to all that responded.