Quote:
Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda
Well we have a finished basement, so it would be impossible to pull any cable to spots I'd like to install PoE cameras for instance without cutting out drywall
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Well, yes. The odds of completing such a thing without cutting drywall might be low. However, the costs to cut and patch to satisfaction is probably much cheaper than what you might expect it to be.
For my place, when I was doing the refresh, I had a 16'x12' ish hole cut on my main floor to facilitate fishing the wires upstairs and into the living room. I guess it kinda helped that it used to be a hole for an intercom system that we just made bigger to reach a stud to screw into. After it was done, it was patched it up and we repainted the entire wall. I don't even know where the hole is specifically, but I can probably guess within around 2-3 feet where it was. Most of these patch costs were built into the cost of my refresh, but even if they weren't I think the cost to patch and repaint that specific wall (rather than try and blend it) would have been less than $500.
Basically, if someone did such a project and had to cut some drywall, sure, maybe it'll cost slightly more, but again, I don't think it would cost more than a few grand ($3-4K max?) total including patching costs to do. On top of that, I feel like it would end up being a selling feature if the house were ever resold an a feature that would aid the house value as much if not more than the cost of a cable pulling project.
I also did mine piece meal which wasn't the most efficient (went from pulling 3 cables initially to requesting two more). Knowing what I know now, it would have made far more sense to pull multiple wires through an established path between the utility room and attic and then drop cables down into the rooms rather than try and snake randomly towards different rooms. An extra 20 feet per cable usage/wastage is like $5-10 bucks per cable on the higher end and it is far less than the cost to pay someone the extra hours fishing independent lines to each room (But he was cheap, whatever). Plus, I had extra cable left. If you buy a spool, your cost is your cost.
People pour a lot of money into things that are kinda meaningless in their home they do not use. Many do not pour the money into a cable pulling project because they lament the cost and inconvenience, yet wish they had it done. I'm starting to wonder if there's a wild misunderstanding on the complexity and cost relating to such a project.