How to hide cable/phone lines under carpet


  #1  
Old 08-14-00, 12:49 AM
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My wife and I moved into a new house, and would like to hide a phone line and cable TV line under the carpet. How do we do this without ruining the carpet job? What do we use to pull the carpet up and how do we put it back to look like it did before we touched it? Thanks!
 
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Old 08-14-00, 01:20 AM
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Around the edges of the carpet next to the walls are tack strips that hold the carpet after it has been installed. There is a small gap between the strip and the wall. Carefully pull up the outer edge of the carpet (I use needle-nosed pliers)without pulling it loose from the tack strip, and run your wires behind it. Push the carpet edge back down with a putty knife. Viola! Good Luck!
 
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Old 08-14-00, 02:10 AM
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I sure wish I knew more about electricity but don't these lines use electricity? I question the safety of doing this. All I know is we were awakened in the early AM to the lights of fire trucks and the sound of water and breaking glass. Our neighbor's house was totally involved in fire. The fire department determined that the cause of fire was 'wiring' run under the carpet.

They said the fire was cause by abrasion of the line over a period of time. Like the fire chief said 'out of sight, out of mind'and the reason people do this is to cross traffic paths, etc. In this case the traffic path was still there and was wearing the wiring underneath but no one could see the damage until it was too late.

Could this type of wiring do the same thing? If it's safe I too have some phone line I'd like to run but have been afraid to.
 
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Old 08-14-00, 04:24 AM
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As our pal OldGuy suggested, if you run the cables around the perimiter of the room, there is little or no danger of fire with telephone and cable TV cables.

However, if you want to be 100% safe, call the phone and cable TV companies and have them move the cables. If the house is new to you, they will charge very little if anything at all for this service.

Ted
 
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Old 08-14-00, 04:44 AM
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Hi Ted and Old Guy! You two guys are the greatest.

I just checked and there is the neatest little hidey hole between the carpet and the baseboard. The phone line tucks right in out of sight and I didn't have to do anything but tuck it in there. Thanks a ton!!!

Have a great day! - Ladybug
 
  #6  
Old 08-14-00, 06:19 PM
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As the neighbor found out the hard way, NEVER run electrical wiring under a carpet or rug (this does not necessarily include low-voltage phone or tv cable wire, which I really don't think is a fire hazard, but I would not do it anyway because it will eventually fail). HOWEVER, the one time that I HAD to run tv cable across a doorway, I took my trusty skilsaw, cut a groove in the underlayment, tacked the tv cable "below grade" in the small groove where it would not get walked-on abrasion, replaced the padding and carpet...no problemo. Where there is a will, there is a way to do it safely. Of course, Sprky over in Electrical thinks that I'm just waiting to fry myself, anyway, with some of my other tricks. LOL
 
 

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