Shed progress, and networking disaster

Insulation

Over the weekend I started insulating the shed. It's tough work because every joist width on the shed is different, seemingly for no good reason. That means every batt has to be cut. I bought polyester insulation to make this easier and more pleasant than cutting fibreglass or rockwool, but it's still a big job. I expect the professionals have a huge guillotine to make this a lot easier.

I've done three walls, including the fiddly bits around the doors and windows. This week I hope to get the big wall and ceiling done, in time to fit plasterboard next weekend.

Networking disaster

Had a bit of a disaster with the network. I didn't have the cable when we ran the conduit, so we ran a wire through the middle with the intention of pulling the Cat6 when we had it. We tried that yesterday and the pull wire snapped halfway through the pull. Whoops.

So I'm now looking into 802.11n at 5 GHz to make a high speed, reliable point-to-point wireless connection to make up for the lack of a wired connection. Bummer, but the wireless system should be okay.

3 responses

I've seen sparkies recover from a broken cable in buried conduit before. Essentially they use the vacuum procedure detailed at http://www.wikihow.com/Fish-Wires-Through-a-Conduit-or-Pipe, but the time I saw it done they attached a freezer bag to the end of the string so it could be sucked through more easily. Might be worth a shot given they're materials likely just laying around the house anyway.

— benalexau

@benalexau Thanks for the tip. That sounds well worth trying! The conduit should be airtight so that has some chance of success.

— Simon Rumble

@benalexau Thanks for your tip on the fishing wires through pipe with a vacuum. Just tried it and it worked a treat! Next to buy some strong nylon rope to pull through with the string, then pull the cable. Yay! Won't have to rely on wireless.