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I have ripped up some floating floorboards in a 25-year-old apartment, revealing the chipboard (particle board) underneath.

Between the chipboard panels, a groove has been cut to carry a phone wire, which then thread into the wall.

Photo of underfloor Larger version

Please ignore the 3 cables in the top right of the image.

The phone cable seems rather too near the power cable coming up from downstairs (just visible in the photo) but that is a question for another day.

I am planning on cutting a second channel for a CAT6 cable (using a router for the main length, and then a multi-tool for the last few inches too close to the wall).

I notice that the exist groove follows the line between two chipboard panels as much as possible. Is this something I should be trying to replicate? Is there a good reason for doing that?

The telephone wire is mashed in places (some is visible in the picture) and I wonder if that is because of movement between the boards. It seems like a better idea to avoid putting the groove there, but maybe I am missing something? Is it important for the structural strength of the chipboard?

Oddthinking
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2 Answers2

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I suspect the original phone cable groove was not done using a router but rather in a more crude fashion using whatever tools were available. Because of that, starting with the small gap between boards probably made the job a little bit easier than it would have been otherwise.

In my experience, the more common methods for running low-voltage cables (phone or network) are:

  • Inside the walls - This works well if you can go up inside the walls to a drop ceiling or attic or down to an unfinished basement or crawl space.
  • Along the edges of walls - Typically covering the cable with baseboards or shoe molding.

Both of those methods have the advantage of being repairable or replaceable without having to actually remove the flooring (carpet, tile, laminate, etc.).

manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact
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Between the chipboard panels, a groove has been cut to carry a phone wire, which then thread into the wall.

The subfloor was installed with the expansion slot (groove) on purpose to allow for wood expansion.

Someone forced the cable in it.

Use your router and make that existing groove twice as wide as the cable so the cable lays freely in it.

DIY75
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