So, I had a big setback

Shizelbs · July 2007

When I my house was being built, I snuck in the night that insulation was installed and before drywall was put up. I drilled two holes through the floor between the studs in the walls where I would eventually run speaker cables for the surround channels for my HT setup.

So last weekend, my father in law and I finally get this project going. We get the holes drilled for the near AVR side done. We install the wall plate with the binding posts. Everything is going great. I go down into the crawlspace to look for the holes I drilled over a two years ago, and long story short, the holes are blocked and short of doing major demo/drywall/reflooring there is not going to be any surround sound in my HT for a while.

If I decide to keep my surround speakers, until we get new flooring for that room, we are going to have to keep running our thick, black speaker wire across the floor and setup the speakers each and every time we want surround sound.

I'm so bummed. I thought I was so clever to go ahead and drill those holes ahead of time. Our builder offered to do it for us, but for literally thousands of dollars to run cheap lamp cord quality wiring and drill the necessary holes.

So I am at somewhat of a crossroads. I just don't know what to do. Do I just suck it up, and run the kind of hokey looking cables all over the floor system?

One thing that I am thinking of doing is just going total 2.1. I could consolidate my HT and 2 channel systems. Sell everything, amps, all nine speakers, preamp, AVR, sub, DVD player, everything, take that money and buy a better system. The big drawbacks to that are that I really like my speakers (Caver Amazings) and they would not work in that setup (the footprint is too big for the room). The benefit is that I could have my main 2 channel system in the room that gets the most time occupied, and I could effectively stop spreading my resouces and focus on one great system, but without having surround sound.

I'm just not sure what I want to do.

Anyone have any tips or advice.

PolkThug · July 2007

snap out of it man!! I just ran mine along the border of the room, and used a screwdriver to push them under the trim piece at the bottom of the wall.

Shizelbs · July 2007

The wall the TV and AVR sit against is not attached to any other wall. Its basically an island, and as such, that is not an option.

danger boy · July 2007

yikes. man that bites.. even after you were thinking way ahead for future home theater, and now can't use the holes you drilled..

here is one solution.. and why Polk Audio is such a good forward thinking company for problem solutions, although expensive solution.

IP addressable inwall speakers. http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/products/lc265i-ip/

PolkThug · July 2007

Shizelbs wrote: »

The wall the TV and AVR sit against is not attached to any other wall. Its basically an island, and as such, that is not an option.

For the first stretch between the island and the nearest wall, you could go under the carpet. (maybe)

Systems · July 2007

If the floor is carpeted you can run some flat wire under it.http://www.parts-express.com/webpage.cfm?WebPage_ID=3&Cat_ID=56&ObjectGroup_ID=370&raid=1&rak=flat_speaker_wire

Shizelbs · July 2007

PolkThug wrote: »

For the first stretch between the island and the nearest wall, you could go under the carpet. (maybe)

In general, that approach both won't work and won't fly with my wife. It probably wouldn't work to begin with, and there is also a fireplace in the pathway too.

Shizelbs · July 2007

I'm not willing to do in wall speakers for that room. They would be one of the first things you see when you walk in the house and thats not the style we are going for. I like the idea of being able to swap out different speakers, big towers included and not being stuck with my speakers having rear in wall matches as a requirement.

PolkThug · July 2007

I give up, you're effed!

engtaz · July 2007

Can you drill the holes again? Can see where they were drilled before? What blocking you from drilling it again?

Dennis Gardner · July 2007

If they were drilled completely through the plates, they're still there, you just aren't looking in the right place, unless the contractor screwed with it. If you can't figure it out call in an HT contractor, they deal with this stuff all the time. If they are worth a flip, they will have a decent answer for you.

Early B. · July 2007

This is a blessing. Sell everything you don't need and set up a nice 2.1 channel system and forget about it. Sounds like you listen to music more often than you watch movies anyways.

hearingimpared · July 2007

How about a Surroundbar in lieu of all the HT speakers. At least you'll get the sense of some surround sound.

brijenjas · July 2007

Okay, maybe I missed something in your original post, but can't you just use a flex drill bit and drill new holes in the floor through the hole where the binding post plate will be?

Something like these.

http://www.bamanufacturing.com/fg_series.html

http://www.lashen.com/vendors/BES/Fish_Bits.asp

Shizelbs · July 2007

anonymouse wrote: »

I'm sure you could redrill the holes if you figure out exactly where they need to be. Drill from the crawlspace side.

Can't do that either. The foundation gets in the way. I could do it at an angle, but it would exit in my backyard outside.

Shizelbs · July 2007

engtaz wrote: »

Can you drill the holes again? Can see where they were drilled before? What blocking you from drilling it again?

The boards I drilled through the first time rest right on a support beam which rests on the foundation. I don't have any access to the underside of the boards that would go into the wallspace between studs.

engtaz · July 2007

Can you angle drill it if your see where the hole used to be. Drill beside the support beam at an angle into the hole you already drilled.

Systems · July 2007

GV#27 wrote: »

If the floor is carpeted you can run some flat wire under it.http://www.parts-express.com/webpage.cfm?WebPage_ID=3&Cat_ID=56&ObjectGroup_ID=370&raid=1&rak=flat_speaker_wire

So this is not an option that would work?

disneyjoe7 · July 2007

It's not the end of the world... I agree with Brijenjas you can use a Flex Drill Bit to FIX anything.

McLoki · July 2007

What I ended up doing in my house is to go downstairs and drill a 2" hole through the floor as close to the baseboard as you can. (through the subfloor, but not through the carpet) Then just cut the carpet with a carpet knife. I run all my cables through that hole and into my basement. When I move (either from the house or just my system) I will pull the cords out, push the carpet flat and you will never know there is a slice in the carpet there (or a hole under it).

Where there is a will, there is a way.

Michael

Shannon W. · July 2007

X2 for Mcloki

Just do the wall plates in the floor. Kinda like this

http://www.polkaudio.com/images/showcase/320_10_big.jpg

Just don't pay any mind to the cabled that was running across my floor. That has all been fixed now! LoL

Shannon

schwarcw · July 2007

Shizelbs wrote: »

The boards I drilled through the first time rest right on a support beam which rests on the foundation. I don't have any access to the underside of the boards that would go into the wallspace between studs.

Sorry to hear about your woes! I'm confused Shelby, if you drilled from the top down, didn't you check for daylight? I mean, the floor must of been resting on the beam already when you drilled?

Good luck!

reeltrouble1 · July 2007

simple, dynamite. How many sticks you want?

Shelby,

You really are not out anything at this point, with exception of the turn in your plan, now you need to turn again, I would highly consider the suggestion to have an HT guy stop by and give you an estimate and maybe an idea. I suspect you are just going to need a drywall contrator to patch and you can run all the wire you want.

If you have crown molding you can take it down, hide the wire behind it, if you do not you could install it and then not need the drywall contrator. Or you could build a nice soffit all along the perimeter of the room and use it for a nice wire chase.

RT1

Sherardp · July 2007

If you really want it done, and cant get to it yourself I would call in a carpenter or perhaps an audio/video installer. Another option is to run the cables along the base of the wall and then use 2 piece wire covers to hide the installation. I had to do that in the condo that I live in while in Japan. It made for a nice installation and you dont see the wires, they even come color matched. Worth a try.

Shizelbs · July 2007

All options that involve running wires along the base of the wall simply are not an option. The entertainment center sits on a wall that is not attached to any other wall. It basically just is out there in the middle of the room, essentially.

At this point I am seriously considering consolidating the two systems and going 2.1 for HT. Before I do that though, I've pretty much decided that I will go to a AV store, or have someone come over and give me a bid. It shouldn't be tooooooo bad, but it will likely involve doing things that I either don't have to skills for, or the skills to make it look presentable once its all done.

So, I had a big setback

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