berner

I'm installing laminate flooring this weekend. I have 3/4" tongue-in-groove planks at a 30 dgree angle over the floor joists. This is covered by 3/8" plywood. I want to router a slot in the plywood at about 45 degrees to the laminate for my dish cable and rear speaker wires. The basement ceiling is drywalled and stippled so I can't run the wires through the basement. Has anybody done something like this? Or any other suggestions would be great.

Thanks

JD730

What kind of baseboard are you going to install? Depending on the room layout you could conceal them there.
I don't see a reason you can't do it they way your thinking other than its going to be there for good.

CTDPower11

I haven't, but it sounds like a very good idea to get those pesky wires out of the way! Be sure to keep us informed on how you do it!

elandon1201

That should work fine, Laminate is a floating floor, if you cut a groove in the subfloor and lay over it there should not be a problem.

Hoss

Shouldn't be a problem. I plan to do something similar when I replace the carpet in our living room with wood flooring, except I'll have to sawcut the concrete instead of plywood.

1-2-3

Sounds like a great idea. I would add a pice of tape to make sure the wire dosen't hop out of it's groove and cause a lump under the floor.

Hoss

Actually, depending on the thickness of the pad you are putting under the laminate flooring, it may not be necessary to cut into the plywood at all. Most speaker wires aren't more than 1/8" thick or so, which is also about the same thickness as the pad that goes under laminate flooring.

You could run your wires where you want them to be, duct tape them to the floor and then cut your pad to butt right up against the wire on both sides. Even if there is a slight difference in thickness you will never notice it through the laminate flooring. You probably couldn't get away with that with carpet, but you could with laminate flooring.

dan239

Shane

You should reconsider a sawcut in a concrete slab. It could invite a crack later on and then you would have other problems. Go behind trim boards if possible. or at the edge of the wood flooring.

Daniel

Chrisreyn

Hoss, the problem there might be that because the laminate " migrates" up to an 1/8 inch as the temp and humidity change, there would eventually be chafing onthe wiring, causeing a failure orshort.You'd then havetotake the floor up to replacethe wires. If the grooveis run in straight runs and he leaves an access somewhere, you could replace the wiresin it with a fish-tape.
I installedalaminatefloorin our place and the instructions fromteh manufactor talk about the floor migrating and it so they require you to leave 1/4 inch of open space on each side of the floor under the baseboards.

berner

Thanks for all the replies and tips. I can't go under the baseboards because I have an L-shaped living/dining room. I'm running the laminate through both rooms. My sat cable runs through the cold air return duct and across the dining room. I used to have lino in the dining room so I ran it in the space between the existing laminate and the lino. I'll router a slot at an angle, screw the crap out of the edge of the slot, and tape the wires down with duct tape. I'm going to run a thin strip of tape upside-down under the duct tape so I can fish the wires if need be.

The end of these home renos are in site, thank God. I gutted the kitchen 2 days after Christmas and it's been a mess in here ever since. We moved in last Aug and haven't unpacked all our stuff yet. I ripped out some trees and put up a garage last fall. I'm going to take a long break after this is done and enjoy this house a bit.

Chrisreyn

hate to be the one to tell ya, but its NEVER done......

berner

I should have said "after this phase is done". Besides, after $18K for the garage and at least $15K for the kitchen and flooring, funds are getting a little sparse.

Chrisreyn

The BOSS has me redoing bathrooms right now....keeping the oldvanity and fixtures, but doing a knock-down texture on teh walls and refinishing the vanity bases.... its NEVER done...

berner

Does she watch all those Debbie Travis shows on HGTV too? My wife has made it her hobby. Everytime I turn on the TV it's set to the HGTV channel. It's either Holmes on Homes, Debbie Travis or some "alternative lifestyle" type guys talking about some weird ideas on decorating. I'm thinking of passwording the channel on her for a joke someday and time how long it will take for my cell to start ringing. And then sleep on the couch for a couple nights.

Chrisreyn

no, but her dad and both brothers are contractors or painters etc.....
and she is bored!