Cable Television & Telephone

Cabling for cable television and telephone should be easy. We have just one open question!

The Virgin Media cable comes into the house at the corner of the lounge and the front extension where it is "split".

Set top boxes for the television would be located in the lounge and the sitting room (with the open question around whether a cable should be put into the Master Bedroom for future use!)

The telephone cabling would route in the same direction. There is no requirement for a phone to be available in the study as all phone calls in there take place over Skype!

My guess is that my daughters will do the mobile phone thing in the near future and won't have a need for a landline in their bedrooms.

Freeview

I'm not a video expert, but my understanding of the current RF flow through the existing house is that there is an aerial, a booster in the roofspace and four cables routing to the booster. However, every room in the house currently has an RF patch point for television viewing.

This is achieved by chaining patch points from one room to another.

Maybe someone can put me right on that one?

Anyway - the diagram on the right shows how we can route the cabling from one room to another and up to the booster in the roofspace (and on out to the aerial).

There has traditionally been a problem getting signals from Divis at this location but the Divis signal is crucial for Freeview, for now.

Next up - Virgin Media television and telephone services!

Ethernet Wiring

A modern house should be wired for ethernet, right?

CAT6 cabling around the house would be an incredibly useful thing to have especially for someone who works at home a lot in the IT industry and needs superfast, reliable connections to the internet.

My plan is to bring the Virgin Media cable into the house at the corner of the Lounge and front extension. This cable will need to be split multiple ways (and put in place prior to Virgin Media turning up with their outside box).

One of the "splits" will lead into the Cable Modem (in the Lounge) which will have an ethernet cable out the back of it into a router/switch.

From here, cables will run to each room in the house that requires an ethernet patch in the wall - the bedrooms, back sitting room and study (which will get TWO wires).

Unfortunately, the wiring must all be routed back to a central location. It's not like electrical wiring which affords us the opportunity to create a "loop" around the house.

Anyway, the diagram shows the Virgin Media cable coming in, and the 7 cables leading to the various rooms around the house.

Next up - the video cabling system!

The Master Bedroom Layout

When you spend a lot of money, you want to see something special for your outlay, right?

The changes to our plans have meant that our Master Bedroom Ensuite has been reduced in size with the result that the main area of the bedroom has been "squashed" into a long thin shape. Something doesn't feel right with the layout anymore!

Our in-house designer (aka the wife) has been drawing new layouts over and over again and we finally have a layout that we both like and which gives us the luxurious feel without the weirdness in shape. At least, we think so - and that's all that matters, right?

Shifting the ensuite and walk-in wardrobe from the "slopey" side of the house to the rear of the house seems to have made all the difference and we will now be closer to the television!

The end result (right) would see the walk-in wardrobe located opposite the entrance to the bedroom. This walk-in wardrobe would lead on in to the ensuite.

I believe Jackie will take the long run of wardrobes, by the way. My suits and shirts will have to be crammed into the smallest section of the wardrobe area but I guess that is something that men all over the world have to suffer.

There will be a slope along the left-hand side of the entire room under which we will probably have nothing or a very low unit to store infrequently used "things".

The hope is that this re-orientation won't have an effect on the planning approval process and is merely a building control matter! Fingers crossed!

Happy days!

We got our amended plans approved today! Woohoo!

Thank goodness because I couldn't see any other way to do it really - well at least not without spending another big chunk of cash!

Now we're still waiting for the sale to go thru. As Stephen says - this should have been the simplest house purchase in the history of time. Unfortunately the actions of solicitors past and present (specifically past) have meant that we are now waiting for probate to agree that my father in law can own his own house before we can buy it! Unreal...

Insurance (as prev. mentioned by the other half) has now been sorted and our mortgage is available (again).

Another Hiatus

So our first set of plans haven't been approved by the planning authorities which is a major disappointment. Indeed, it's only now (2 weeks later) that it can be described as a major disappointment. When the news that the approval had been denied broke, emotions were running high!

The planners believe that the first set of plans show an extension which is just too large. The "mass" of the extension needs to be reduced and the way of achieving that is to put a slope on the north cable end. This slope means that the master bedroom/ensuite will reduce in size. Thus the disappointment.

However, necessity is the mother of invention as my wife reminds me. She has drawn out an internal plan for the master bedroom which I can only describe as stunning. A re-orientation of the ensuite and walk-in wardrobe to the end of the room opposite the door seems to make a a big difference!

House Insurance
One major hold-up just now though is the house insurance. The house has been insured for some time now, but I don't have that all important piece of paper in my hand and the bank don't seem to be too happy! I've phoned, I've pleaded and I've despaired. I shall try again tomorrow.

All I need is that fax and planning approval! How tricky can that be?