conduit rough in for future wiring

[myhippocket]

Hi Folks,

I am in the process of having a new house built in Canada. They are just roughing in the wiring right now. What I want to do is put in a couple of empty conduits running from the basement up to the attic to accommodate any future wiring that I may want to do. I want the ability to run phone, internet, security and coax cable through these conduits. What I am wondering is:
1) Can any of the above mentioned wires be run in the same conduit without interference? (i.e. will a phone line interfere with a satellite signal?)
2) For future HDTV from a sattellite how many RG6 wires would I need to run from the attic to the basement? How many can be run in the same conduit (or is it only limited by conduit size?)
3) Is metal or plastic conduit the better choice for any of these wire types?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Hip

[greywolf]

1. Not a problem. Low voltage wiring will not affect the wires running with it. Do not run 120V in there though and check your local building codes for variations.

2. Different services in the U.S. are starting to do multi-dish setups and adding more satellite positions. There are 6x multiswitches out there now so add an OTA for a total of 7. I don't know what services you have in Canada but cable is cheap and labor is expensive. The good thing about conduit is the ease of adding new cable. Number of cables is a size limit thing.

3. Both work fine although some like plastic for an easier run and some like grounded metal for added shielding.

[mike123abc]

Have them make the conduit as large as possible. 3/4" inch was pretty tight for me, I would have been happier with 1 inch or larger.

5 RG6 cables will fit in a 3/4" conduit (EMT) but if there are any connector parts (i.e. connect pipe to box) it will cut it down to 4 cables.

From the attic to the basement I have the equivalent of a 4" x 4" conduit, and believe it or not it is getting tight. With all the RG6, ethernet, phone, and alarm system wires, it would be better if it were larger.

As a minimum for satellite you will need an RG6 to each TV from the attic. Two is better since you can send signal back up to distribute around the house.

[bpape]

Plan for the worst. 2" will easily go inside any standard construction wall. Then there will be no issues. You'll have all the room you need. If you want to make it easy on yourself, leave a string in the conduit when it is installed so you'll have something in place to pull with. If there need to be any bends, make sure they are VERY gradual bends for easier pulling later on.

[Drew Eckhardt]

You want the biggest conduit that's practical. 2" fits in 2x4 stud walls and you can cut matching holes in 2x10 joists without violating code.

2" Carlon Resi-Gard (flexible low-voltage conduit) is a probably the best idea. I used that on my attic run since it was much easier to zig-zag between 1st and 2nd floor partitions that didn't line up, I didn't need to cut and join pieces, and was able to pull it like cable.

The 2" schedule 40 PVC conduit going to my projector was more time consuming to install.

[drisok]

I always install 2" pvc for the sleeve. I like the plastic as it is easy to install. Get a few collars/unions so that you have one on the sill of the first floor and one on the top plate in the attic and it will hold itself in place.

Schedule 40 PVC is brutal. I suggest finding a central vacuum store and buy a few lengths of pipe from them. The pvc is thinner and offers more volume to run wires through.