protecting/getting cables threw a stud work wall

[Rossl1985]

ok guys and girls after some advice as to what is the best way to get CAT cables threw a stud wall and have them protected against being snagged or someone putting a screw threw them.

i have all my network cables running to the back wall of my garage where i will be housing my server rack which in turn will house all my networking, TV and CCTV stuff but that back wall of the garage needs a 100mm stud work wall put in and 100mm insulation so i have the issue of needing to keep the cables safe but also need to be able to add extra cables in a later date.

this is the corner of the garage wall i will be using to place the rack and where the cables come out at the moment

there is 16 cables there at the moment to which 7 of them come from upstairs and the others are from the office but once all the bedrooms are finished upstairs there will be a total of 17 cables coming down with the possibility of adding a few extra at later date for things like wireless access points for the garden and upstairs, tv signal for kitchen. id have liked to use conduit but think its going to be rather small for that many cables and not to easy to add extra at a later date if need be, my second thought was 32mm waste pipe as it would be able to take quite a few cables due to the diameter of the pipe but would not offer much protection if someone was to put a screw in the wrong place, ill also have the same issue across the bottom of the wall although there will only be 4 or 5 cables going threw this area and two of them will be armoured CAT cables for the Garden shed

[wine~o]

32 mm conduit and fittings available here https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/cable-conduits/4892409/

Looks like it's coming down in the corner of a room which is a "permitted zone" for live electric cable so nobody should go drilling/screwing in that area without being certain there is nothing in there.

[Someone-Else]

Honestly? if it were me I would just leave a hole to get cables through.

Reasons.

Any conduit / trunking needs to be big to have enough space for the cables and any future cables.
Anything plastic will offer very little mechanical protection
Any thing metal that offers good mechanical protection will need to have stuck on grommet strip and also a way to access it at a later date (To pull more cables through.

If you just put nothing for the cables, yes they will have no mechanical protection, but if a screw gets put through, put through what? as there is nothing to put a screw through, and also if a screw gets near a cable, the cable will be pushed out of the way by said screw. That will not happen if the cables are in a conduit, as they can not "get away"
And when you want to add more cables you can put you hand in (or bent coat hanger) through the hole and pull the cable out.

If it was a long run then yes, don't do my suggestion, but as its for a corner.

Just don't insulate with polystyrene, as any PVC coming into contact with polystyrene has a chemical reaction that does neither any good.

[Rossl1985]

32 mm conduit and fittings available here https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/cable-conduits/4892409/

Looks like it's coming down in the corner of a room which is a "permitted zone" for live electric cable so nobody should go drilling/screwing in that area without being certain there is nothing in there.

yes the ones coming down from up stairs come threw right in the top left hand corner of the ceiling

the other cables from the front of the house (office) will have to go into a cable tray and run along the left hand side wall to the back of the garage, id have loved to hide them all up in the ceiling but there is an old lintel half way along the garage wall where the old front of the house used to be so the easy option is cable tray i think.

Honestly? if it were me I would just leave a hole to get cables through.

Reasons.

Any conduit / trunking needs to be big to have enough space for the cables and any future cables.
Anything plastic will offer very little mechanical protection
Any thing metal that offers good mechanical protection will need to have stuck on grommet strip and also a way to access it at a later date (To pull more cables through.

If you just put nothing for the cables, yes they will have no mechanical protection, but if a screw gets put through, put through what? as there is nothing to put a screw through, and also if a screw gets near a cable, the cable will be pushed out of the way by said screw. That will not happen if the cables are in a conduit, as they can not "get away"
And when you want to add more cables you can put you hand in (or bent coat hanger) through the hole and pull the cable out.

If it was a long run then yes, don't do my suggestion, but as its for a corner.

Just don't insulate with polystyrene, as any PVC coming into contact with polystyrene has a chemical reaction that does neither any good.

i did not just want to leave a hole above the server rack as i thought it would look untidy and a that no thought had been put into it but then thinking about i could just make or get an excess panel and put in in the top corner above so it would look tidy but still give good excess to put other cables in etc. i know its only a garage at the end of the day but id still like it to look tidy and not have holes here there and everywhere etc but i get where your coming from for easy upgrade etc so think a service/excess panel is the best of both worlds.

i wont be insulating the stud wall with polystyrene, i will be using the Knauf Earthwool loft roll as i used in the ceiling which is a glass mineral wool and guess is safe to use with cables etc. i was also told that the standard expanding foam has the same effect on cable insulation as you said polystyrene does, not sure how true it is though

[camallison]

I used an access panel like this in a similar situation:

https://www.toolstation.com/shop/p63127?table=no

Colin