Hey WV,

I recognize that trainwreck... I did some work there back in March 2007 for the original homeowner (owner-builder) and it was a mess.

All the wiring had been done by an electrician that got in over his head and ended up walking off the job.  I corrected some of the speaker wiring, alarm wiring, straightened up the structured wiring as much as possible and assisted the home owner with the lighting (Leviton DHC with Elk).

Here's a before and after photo of the structured wiring panel (before they ripped it out).

This is how I found it a few years ago:
 

After some clean-up:



Here's a couple of the closets you have pictures of before all the switches were pulled out:
   

If I remember, most of the rooms had multi-button DHC keypads and all the loads were wired back to the switches in the closets so you'll likely have to replace with some type of lighting control to get a working lighting system system in the house.

Feel free to call, email or PM if you think I can be of any help... I'm really happy you got the call and not me!

Thanks Paul thats good info and I appreciate the help line!


LOL! If I need a lifeline you're getting a call!


On the lighting we went with a Hybrid Lutron Homework’s System. It wasn't much more in cost than Radiogram 2 except for 2 processors and it will have a much cleaner look than a closet full of dimmers. We are basically using Wall box modules to control all dimming and switching.

Today I found there are 5 zones of DA not wired back to the main location with the other 13 so that is the next riddle.

Whoever originally did this project used a form of logic that I m not familiar with so its a puzzle around every corner. Been fun so far!

There was an M&S intercom system installed in some of the rooms, so maybe you're finding some remnants of it too?

I think I remember a few zones of audio for some outdoor areas where the homeowner thought the speaker wires were up in the ceilings of the porch, patio, etc. (maybe even one zone for a future pool).

He gave me a budget that worked out to about 3 days on-site and some materials so I started on the things that were most important to him and a lot of things were left undone.

I'm emailing you a spreadsheet the homeowner provided that appears to have layout information from the original DHC lighting control.  I don't think it will be very helpful, but maybe it will answer a question or two.

I'll pullout my job folder later today and see if there is anything in my old notes that might be useful...

Cheers, 
Paul 

This is a great forum. I think it rocks that everyone is here to help. My appologies for posting negative stuff about other dealers out here earlier this year. Wont happen again.

Happy New Year everybody. Now lets dig out from a crappy 09 and have a profitable decade.

Just sent you an email with some info...

Yes, 12 room Stations, one Door Button station, 1 Patio Station and the Master.
On top of that I found 18 total VC locations (17 in the main house)
Only 13 are wired to the head end unless some wire has been yanked.


I found the pool zone wiring, (in a box with electrical). None of that reaches the head end either. Not gettng used so no worries.


This guy was a real winner. I hate people like that. It's funny that this isn't the first time this guys mess has been cleaned up. There is some really shadey electrical work in some parts of that house.


Thanks Paul, It's appreciated.

Been a while since i shared anything in this thread, i've been a bit distracted by other things. These are a couple of pics of the front wall in the Living room of a house i'm working on at the moment. The panels around the 60" pioneer were custom made in Finland for this house at a cost of about 16K i think.
I hope the kids in the house are really well behaved (around 5-8 yrs old) as the timber on these panels is only 0.2mm thick and would be ruined by pretty much any kind of impact.
The living room system basically consists of:
Pioneer 60" Kuro plasma
Cary 11A processor
Cary 5 channel power amp
Triad golds across the front (color matched to the panels)
Triad Silver in ceiling
JL Audio subs x 2
It's also worth noting that the entire ceiling in this room is one huge 1st order diffuser and although the room is a large cavernous area with lots of glass and stone floors, the acoustics are actually very good.

At this point the client has just moved in and the job is at a temporary "livable" stage until we get back there after the Christmas break.

Once completed around the end of January there will be full Crestron control of Lighting, A/V, HVAC, irrigation, security, pool pumps, etc, etc.

Distributed A/V is via HDMI over fiber (8 zones) and another 12 zones of audio via Pad-8's and Crestron Amp-X's.

Client is a very keen musician and the job includes a pretty serious recording studio as well with over 200 individual connections. The client is supplying his own equipment, we provided and tested the cabling and connections as well as 3 power circuits (one general and two technical).

Will take more pics when the job is complete.

Simon.

In pic number 1, the panels look like Sun Chips. But in a good way.
Nice looking project.

Jut curious, could you take some photos of the ceiling? We have a room with very tall ceilings, stone and glass, and I've been looking for a solution.

Very Nice.

Today I ripped off and replaced the left front fender, grille assembly, front bumper, hood, and did a bunch of sawzall surgery, and rewiring and tweaking of my son's Cherokee... He swerved to miss a cat, and nailed a tree. Talk about a major PIA!!! NOT my idea of a fun couple of days, but my son is grateful, and I'm glad both he and the cat survived. Pushed the left front end all the way into the left front tire. Had to use a "come-along" to pull the bumper off the tire and wheel. I'm mentally, physically and finacially beat!

Come on Stanley, you know he was trying to impress a girl doing donuts. I gave my father the same cat story 15 years ago hah :D..... but glad he's ok.

Dawn,
Unfortunately it doesn't photograph too well due to moire effect. But it basically looks like exactly what it is. MDF panels with slots cut into them every inch or so. The slots are just under half the depth of the panels thickness of around 20mm, so probably 8 or 9 mm deep. The back side of the panels have lots of holes in them just under half depth and and almost look like pegboard. Of course this is not visible. The overall effect looks quite good but the difference it makes to the sound of the room is extraordinary. The panels arrived with a gloss white finish on them but the owner had them painted matte white to match the walls.

Simon.

Yeah, my poor dad, god, I put him through hell with car-stuff! I bought a 39 ford coupe with high performance corvette 327 (375 HP)... Every other week it seems like I got a new speeding ticket or reckless driving or negligent driving ticket. You just tapped the gas, and the rear wheels would break loose! I could get it up to 85 - 90 in second gear!!! (I lived in the country), and, I could beat the rich kid in school who had the new Vette with a 427.

Amazing I survived that period of my life.

My son and I talked a lot today, about how much worse it could have been, if he'd hit another, car or a person... Plus if he'd hit the tree one half inch closer to the right, the radiator would have been pushed into the engine and well, it would have been truely totaled. We were so lucky and grateful... whew.

An insurance agent once told me that hitting an animal is cheaper, in the long run, than avoiding the animal and causing damage to other people's personal property. It will not result in your insurance rates to go. I also speak from experience after hitting a deer and having my vehicle written off.

Note: a replacement cat from the humane society is cheaper than the insurance deductible.