Running cable under/around laminate floor

greenjelly

I am peeved to find that my beautiful living room does not have a cable outlet. But every other room, including the kitchen, has one. I would really like to have my TV in the living room, and it will take a fair length of wire to run it from the cable outlet in the kitchen. However, I don't want the ugly wires to be exposed in the living room.

Also, I am in the process of laying laminate floors in the living room. It looks like I will be able to stuff the cable along the edge of the wall, just under the trim, running around the edge of the laminate flooring. It would get covered nicely when installing the quarter round. As it is, the laminate floor lies just below the trim, and it looks like there will be enough expansion room even with the cable stuffed in.

Is this a safe thing to do? I will have to leave a gap in the quarter round at some point to expose one end of the cable for the TV - is it ok to do this? Is there a high risk of damaging the flooring and/or wiring?

The cable would have to be bent 7-8 times when running along the wall from the kitchen to the location in the living room where I want the TV. Any tips/guides on how to install it safely and securely? Any comments/tips/advice will be much appreciated!

Proby

Do you have an attic or basement/crawlspace? If so, running the cable thru there could be very easy and not interfere with your flooring.

Be aware that coaxial cable has to maintain a minimum bend radius, usually around 3" for RG-6. Tucking it in under the molding and coming around a corner will make a very tight 90 degree bend which can cause problems.

As far as the floor, I'm not sure how much expansion you will have, but if it does expand it could crush the cable or possibly cut into it.

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greenjelly

Thanks for your response!
The cross section of the house looks something like this:
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|B1|T|.B2| (Bedrooms B1,B2 and bathroom T)
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|.LR.|.K.| (Living Room and Kitchen)
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|..G.|.B.| (Garage and Basement)
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Location of TV should be left side of LR. Running wire through walls looks like too much trouble. Any other suggestions for this situation?

I didn't think of this, thanks for pointing it out. It could be a problem. Can I use right-angle connectors? how many connectors can I use before signal loss becomes significant?

There is enough play to suggest that the floor can expand without crushing the cable. I will check it again and post pictures if possible.

Proby

What about running the cable exposed along the garage ceiling and up into the living room? You can also run cable on the outside of your house if necessary, a lot of times people will tuck it under the bottom course of siding.
You can use right angle connectors, but that will be a lot to fit under the molding. Each right angle connector would also require 2 F-connectors. The signal lose will add up quickly for that many bends and each connector is a point of ingress.

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Anything fun is either illegal, immoral, or fattening.

greenjelly

I checked it again, and the corners look pretty tight for the required bend radius. I will also not be able to stuff the metal couplers in the gap. So I guess this project will be shelved for now. Running it through the garage seems like a good idea, but it requires drilling through some walls. It will have to be later. Thanks for all the tips and advice!