NEW ROOM - wiring / crown molding

[Earfull]

I'm in the early stages of creating a dedicated 7.1 home theatre room downstairs. The walls and ceiling are all open (no drywall yet).
It is 13' x 19' with an 8' ceiling, and a projection unit will be used.

My first two questions are:

Is it ok to run the speaker wires through the same stud holes as the electrical wiring for lighting & outlets? (I will be using flush wall mounted speakers for the rear and rear sides).

And, does crown molding help with acoustics?

Any additional pointers will be appreciated.

Cheers.

 

[Audioholics]

You may NOT run audio through the same holes as electrical. Never mix high voltage and low voltage. It will fail inspection and is a generally bad idea.

Crown molding doesn't do much acoustically as far as I know unless you are talking about custom 18" tall molding with some kind of batting behind it.

Try to run your low voltage wiring separate from the electrical - separate boxes, holes, runs, etc. Be sure to seal up the holes that penetrate the top of the wall into open areas (ceilings, attics, etc) or other floors with firestop caulk (it's usually red and can be found in Home Depot, etc).

 

[Leprkon]

If there's no drywall in yet, you should run down to the nearest Lowe's or Home Depot and pick up some of the flexible plastic conduit. It goes together with snaps and plastic cement. Place electrical boxes near where you would like to be able to plug in. This will give you alot of flexibility in the future if you decide to change something and looks very professional.

If you're not using expensive wire inside, it's alot easier to pull the runs with the walls off and bundle up some extra to make a connection.

The whole effort will take you a couple of hours and maybe $ 25 in materials unless you have really really long runs. It makes your next project sooo much easier.

 

[Earfull]

Thanks fellas.

Clint: What is the reason for the firestop calk? I will be insulating all of the walls with pink fibreglass batting.......will that do what you're wanting to get from the calk?

 

[SCompRacer]

The idea is to prevent an easy path for flames to move to another level, so you seal all holes wiring or pipes go through. I've seen some building inspectors overlook near same size holes around wiring/pipes in walls, others will want them caulked.

If and when you do encounter electrical wiring with your low voltage wiring, go across it rather than parallel with it. If you must make a parallel run, keep them seperated. I like at least a foot between high and low voltage on a parallel run. Plan well, try and avoid it.

 

[Farm]

Make Sure your wire...

Make sure your wire is up to code as well. You can't just buy a spool of speaker wire and go to town. Usually you have to use wire approved for in-wall or in-ceiling installations (CL3 is what I used).

 

[JohnA]

Just FYI

On the fire caulk...ask an inspector first if you need to use it (codes vary from State to State and from city to city). I have done electrical for over 5 years and only had to use it when making a hole in a fire wall (ie. a firewall between two attached building) and that was for commercial buildings and condo/town home types. And in residential home most of the time it is not needed, but if it is regular expansion foam works fine.

All low voltage wire (speaker, control, Cat 5, etc...) must be a mim. of CL2 rating, but "most" inwall wire has a CL3 rating.

Crown Molding might not help with acoustics but it does help to run wires after the fact...just in case you forgot a wire her or there.

Hope that helps

 

[Earfull]

I'm in Canada, so I think that building codes might be different in some respects.