c/cable-installers

I finally chose to fish a new line instead of trying to salvage the old one in a crawlspace full of rodent nests.

Spent 45 minutes wrestling with chewed-up RG6 that kept failing my meter, so I ran a fresh drop from the pole and billed for the extra 150 feet of cable, but now I'm wondering if anyone has a better method for convincing homeowners they need a full repull when the old stuff is clearly toast.

Hot take: I think we over-rely on fish tapes for tight wall runs

I was in a 1920s house in Pasadena last month, trying to get a line from the basement to the second floor through a plaster and lath wall that had settled. My fish tape got stuck solid about eight feet up, and I had to cut the drywall anyway to free it and find the old gas line blocking the path. What's your go-to method when you know a wall is a total gamble?

Just realized I've run over 500 feet of coax this week alone

It's all for a single apartment complex retrofit, and my fish tape is basically an extension of my arm now lol. Anyone else ever get surprised by the sheer volume on one job?

Had a customer in Phoenix try to pay me with a homemade coupon

Last Thursday, I was finishing a standard coax run in a backyard, and the homeowner handed me a piece of paper. It was a 'cable guy coupon' for 50% off, drawn in crayon by his kid. He was totally serious, saying his last installer took one. I just laughed and told him the company would still need the full $120. What do you even say in that moment? Has anyone else gotten a truly wild form of payment on a job?

Showerthought: I used to run coax through walls with just a fish tape and a prayer.

Now I always use a glow rod kit with a magnetic tip, especially for those tricky drops in old houses with fire blocks. The change happened about two years ago after I spent a whole afternoon on a single line in a 1920s bungalow. It just saves so much time and frustration when you can see exactly where the rod is. Anyone have a favorite brand for those magnetic kits, or a different method for tight spaces?

That new apartment complex on Elm Street has the weirdest coax outlet placement

Honestly, I was running a line in unit 4B yesterday and the wall plate was mounted a foot off the floor, right behind where the fridge goes. Ngl, I had to pull the appliance out just to make the connection. Has anyone else run into builders putting outlets in places that make our job ten times harder?

A homeowner in Austin pointed out my cable runs looked messy, so I tried a new bundling method

Question about crawl spaces in older Atlanta neighborhoods

Last month I had a job in Virginia Highland, one of those historic districts with houses from the 1920s. The crawl space was maybe 18 inches high at best, full of red clay that turned to mud. I was on my belly for two hours trying to fish a line through a floor joist, and my drill battery died halfway through. The homeowner kept asking why it was taking so long over the baby monitor they had down there. Honestly, I almost quit the trade that day. What do you guys use for light and power in those tight, wet spots where you can't even turn your head? I need a better setup before my next call in Inman Park.

A customer in Dayton told me my cable runs looked like spaghetti

They pointed out a messy bundle behind their TV and said it made their new setup feel cheap. I started carrying a pack of small velcro ties in my truck and spend the extra five minutes on each job to clean it up. It costs me about $15 a month for the ties, but the tips have gotten better. Anyone else have a simple thing that improved customer feedback?

Finally got the attic run in that old house on Elm Street done right.

Last week, the customer said the last three guys couldn't fix the drop to the living room. Used a flex bit from the closet and fished it clean on the second try. What's your go-to move for a tight corner in a finished wall?

Question about a buried line splice that turned into a two day job

Got a call for a weak signal in a house in Springfield. The drop was buried and the fault finder pointed to a spot under a concrete walkway. Dug it up and found the old splice was just wrapped in electrical tape, totally rotted. Had to cut out a six foot section, run a new line around the walk, and re-terminate everything. Took about 16 hours over two days. Anyone have a better way to handle a bad splice under concrete without a full reroute?

PSA: A customer in Denver called my cable runs 'spaghetti' last month

I started using velcro ties on every job now, even if it takes an extra five minutes. Anyone else get that kind of feedback and switch up their method?

The week I had to run 500 feet of coax through a crawlspace full of old insulation

Got a job in a 1920s house in Portland, the crawlspace was maybe 18 inches high and packed with that old, crumbly rock wool insulation. The homeowner wanted a line to the far bedroom, which meant a straight shot under the whole house. Spent three hours on my back, pushing the fish tape through clouds of dust, getting fibers in my eyes and mouth. The worst part was finding a nest of old, chewed up wires that I had to carefully move out of the way without knowing what they were for. Finished the pull, but I was itchy and coughing for two days after. Anyone have a good method for sealing up their coveralls at the wrists and neck for jobs like that?

PSA: I swapped from a standard 6-foot ladder to a 17-foot Little Giant for attic runs and it cut my time in half.

The adjustable legs and wider stance on uneven joists made the difference, so what's your go-to attic ladder brand?

Am I the only one who thinks the Klein 1010 stripper is overrated?

I was in a crawlspace in Phoenix last summer and the blade completely dulled after stripping maybe 200 feet of RG6, leaving a ragged mess. What's your go-to stripper for heavy daily use?

Shoutout to the crew that ran fiber through that old apartment building in Portland

I was doing a service call in Portland last week and saw a new fiber install in a building from the 1920s. They had to drill through solid brick walls that were over a foot thick. The main installer told me they went through three drill bits just to get one line to the third floor. Has anyone else had to deal with masonry that tough on a residential job?

Found out the average house has over 400 feet of coax hidden in the walls

I was reading an old trade magazine at a dentist's office in Cincinnati last Tuesday, flipping through while waiting. There was this tiny article from a cable company study, and it said the average single family home built after 1990 has about 420 feet of coaxial cable run through it. I almost laughed out loud. That's longer than a football field! I've been in attics and crawlspaces for 12 years and never stopped to add it all up. It makes sense when you think about all the rooms with outlets, plus the runs to the demarc, but seeing that number was wild. It's no wonder some of those old splitters are so buried you need a map. Has anyone else ever seen a stat that made you look at a routine job totally differently?

Question about the new fiber installs in the old brick buildings downtown

I was working on a job in the old warehouse district last week and saw a crew using a new type of wall plate that only has one port. They said it's the new standard for fiber to the room, but I think it's a bad idea to not have a spare port for future upgrades or a phone line. Has anyone else run into this and think it's a step backwards?

Everyone swears by the new push-fit coax connectors, but I'm sticking with crimp

I tested both on a 200-foot run in a Denver apartment building, and the crimp connection held a solid 3 dBmV better signal under load. Has anyone else actually measured the difference or are we just following the hype?

I finally found the problem in a 1970s apartment crawlspace after 3 hours of looking

The coax run was stapled directly over a main water pipe, and the constant condensation had corroded the line completely. I had to reroute everything from the tap, which added another 2 hours to what should have been a 30 minute outlet swap. What's the longest you've spent tracking down a single hidden fault?

My new fish tape snapped on the first pull through a 3/4-inch conduit

I was running a new line in a house built in the 80s, and the tape just broke about 15 feet in. I had to use my old, slightly bent tape to finish the job, which was a pain. Has anyone else had a new tool fail that fast, or did I just get a bad one?

My old boss in Phoenix swore by using a 3/8 inch drill bit for wall plates, said it was 'perfect'

I followed that for years until a job last month where I kept cracking the drywall on a big apartment complex. Another installer, Mike, told me to switch to a 5/16 bit and it was a total game changer. The holes are cleaner, the plates fit snug, and I haven't broken a single one since. Anyone else have a 'standard' tool size they changed their mind on?

Can we talk about the 500th house I ran a drop to this year

I just hit that number on a job in Oakwood yesterday and it made me realize how much of my work is just getting the line from the pole to the house clean and secure.

PSA: A new guy asked me why we still carry a tone generator in 2024.

I was showing a kid fresh out of training my truck setup in Portland, and he pointed at my old Pro3000 and said 'isn't that what the app does now?' I had to admit I haven't actually powered it on since maybe 2019. What's the oldest piece of gear you still keep in your kit just in case?

My buddy said to never trust a 'clean' crawlspace in a 1970s Phoenix ranch house

He was right, I found a nest of chewed RG-6 and had to rerun 75 feet of line. What's the weirdest thing you've found blocking a run?