I mentioned in the last post that Dean and I ran some conduit for networking. I had decided early on that even though I’m a computer guy, we use tech everywhere, and I genuinely prefer a wired connection, there wasn’t much point in running a whole patch panel home run network install. It uses a ton of wiring, it takes up more space in the basement somewhere, and everything has to go down to the basement just to come back to where it’s going.

This junction ties together the master bedroom, the back attic room, the first floor den and back of the basement, as well as connecting to another junction serving the front of the house

Instead, I wanted point to point conduit. Essentially, this means that if I need to I can connect any two rooms in the house with a cable, presumably ethernet, but anything else that the future brings that isn’t wireless like coax, fiber or even HDMI. Because this wasn’t a conventional networking setup, I didn’t have the electrician do this. With the suddenly spray foam situation we had last Thursday evening, this plan was paired down to a minimum, but since we learned they were only going to spray the first floor on that Friday, it meant that I had the rest of the weekend to put in more conduit.

I picked up ten sticks of 3/4″ EMT because there was a bulk discount, assuming I wouldn’t need all of it, but I managed to go through it, in addition to the handful that were already lying about. It’s big enough that I can run several cables in the same tube. Dean and I had run conduit in the living room to connect a TV to the basement as well as support a hidden wire wall mount. We also ran a second line from the basement to the office area in the back of the first floor and then all the way up to the attic behind the knee wall.

  • Complicated conduit bending
  • Looks better when installed
  • Adding a drop to a room
  • Post-spray foam work in progress

I ran a line from Derek’s bedroom up and over the attic bedroom and down to a junction box in the crawl space behind the knee wall on the other side of the house. From that junction it drops to a connection in Emily’s room as well as a box in that guest room.

On the other end of the house, we added a drop in our bedroom that goes up to a box in the back attic bedroom above, then jogs over to a second box in that room on the other side. I decided this made more sense than putting a junction in the knee wall crawl space, because it’s much harder to access in this part of the house. This same box also connects to the line that Dean and I ran up from the office. I started running a second line down to the other side of our bedroom, in the event we (or more likely future owners) have a non-wireless TV on the wall opposite the bed.

The spray foam installation wrapped up late Tuesday, and after I picked up some more EMT, I got the junctions on either end of the house connected together and connected the last few parts of this system. For all I know, I’ll never use this, but it’s good to have it in the event I need it. The electricians got a couple remaining items checked off the list, and the plumbers finished up the rough-in for the tubs in our bathroom and the main second floor bathroom.