Walked into an old hospital in Pittsburgh and spotted a mess of cable runs

I was doing a site survey at Allegheny General last Tuesday for a new install. The ceiling was a disaster zone with coax and Cat6 tangled together, some runs just hanging off J-hooks. It got me thinking about how much easier our residential jobs are compared to this rat's nest. Do any of you guys specialize in hospital or campus work, or do most of you stick to houses like me? How do you even plan a pull through plenum spaces with all that existing mess?

2 comments

2 Comments

ward.mason19d ago

Olivia, I gotta push back a little. I've done five hospital retrofits and tripping on loose cables is just bad practice on your end. The real issue is when you can't even see the floor because of three layers of abandoned plenum cable from the 80s. You plan those pulls by mapping every inch first with a toner and a good flashlight, not by just yanking. Hospitals are a whole different animal but they pay better and the mess is just part of the game.

olivia_wilson19d ago

Did you ever trip over a loose cable and almost pull a whole rack down with you?