Best way to wire a room for surround sound?
My living room has an open, cathedral ceiling so running wires down the wall isn’t a possibility. I’m going to be laying down a new Pergo floor, and thought about running wires under the underlayment to each wall and up, but I’m not sure if that’s such a hot idea. My wife is adamant about not seeing wires and doesn’t like speaker stands. I looked into wireless speakers (for the rear channels), but the reviews on those are mixed. Any ideas?
Answer #1: Run the wires through the walls dude. Don’t put the wires under the pergo. If you can’t run them through the wall, go with wireless, I guess.
Answer #2: Easy - There will be a 1/4 gap between the pergo and the drywall, plus the drywall should stop 1/4 inch or so above the sub floor. This is for expansion/contraction of the wood and to keep the drywall dry. It will be covered up by quarter rounds or some other small moulding. Have the Pergo installed, then run your wires through this convenient channel.
Then have the floor people install the quarter rounds which covers up the gaps at the wall, and you speaker wires. Good Luck!!
Answer #3: Don’t know what your transitions are like but if you go from pergo to another floor, there will be a transition strip you can run the wires under. If the Pergo goes to another room and you want to cross the threshold, the you might have to go into the wall. However, if there is a door, remove the door molding (which you will have to do because the molding has to run down to precisely meet the top of the pergo), and run the wires behind the molding (outside the door jam) up and around the door to the other side. If there is just a drywall opening, you’d have to fish the wires through the wall up (easy) and over top (hard) of the opening. That is not so easy.
If that is the case, I would go down into the basement, across the door area, then back up again. I have my entire house wired in this way. Of course it is best if you run them through the walls before the drywall is in, but with the drywall in, a professional is going to cost you serious money.
Answer #4:Â I also have a exterior doorway (slider to patio) and yes, run it right under. Just make sure to weatherproof it with RTV (silicone) or something equivalent. Make sure your wires are heavy enough to handle the long runs, too.