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The previous owners of my flat had the TV cable (coaxial/aerial cable?) run along the wall in a way that's not very aesthetically pleasing (pic 1). I'd like to, instead, lead it along the skirting board and under the trim, which connects the kitchen and lounge floor. Kitchen floor is LVT tile and lounge is hardwood. My plan is:

  • to remove the existing brass threshold trim, if necessary cut off some of the LVT tile, lead the aerial there, and place the trim back on top (pic 2). Is that a good idea, or would it interfere with the signal in some way? How do I best remove and put back the trim?
  • then place a plastic white encasement alongside the skirting board, similar to the one that already exists on the right hand side. What are these called and how are they installed?

I'd appreciate any other ideas, or if you spot a mistake in this plan before I get going.

Pic 1: current set up current set up showing the aerial path Pic 2: plan the proposed path of the aerial cable

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  • You should at this time question your need for coax cable. Now would be a good time to consider putting effort into not needing it rather then into making it slightly less ugly.
    – jay613
    Commented Jun 9 at 18:27
  • You can buy hollow quarter round that would take you along the baseboards. At the floor transition it's trickier. Need a better pic of that area to figure something out.
    – Huesmann
    Commented Jun 10 at 12:58

1 Answer 1

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would it interfere with the signal in some way?

It will only interfere with the signal if you kink or squash the cable. If you put the cable straight through and do not press down on it, it won't be a problem. Note that it can be difficult to avoid pressing down on cable underneath something on which you walk (e.g. the threshold). I do not know if there is room underneath that threshold where the cable would fit. You might have to pull up the threshold to see.

Coaxial cable is a regular, usually solid, wire inside a hollow conductor (often called a hollow wire, it looks more like aluminum foil). The inner wire and the outer wire are separated by a dielectric (a fancy word for an electrical insulator). The two wires share the same central axis, thus coaxial.

My point is that so long as you don't kink or otherwise squash the wire, the outer conductor will continue to protect the signal on the inner wire. Squashing it can cause the two to touch or just make the dielectric too thin to be effective. This is why the things that they use to secure coaxial cable do not squash. It's also why you don't use regular staples, which do squash the cable. Avoid having the threshold push down on the wire.

The current version (that you find unsightly) is safer, because you don't walk on or over the cable. You also might consider running the cable higher. Perhaps if it were at the ceiling, you would find it less unsightly. I personally would find that less unsightly than running it in front of the "skirting board" (baseboard is a more familiar term to me).

If you have access to a basement, crawlspace, or attic, you could run through there. However, the couple times I saw the current method used, it was in a condominium or apartment building, so I'm not terribly hopeful about those options.

What are these called

When I search for any of

  • raceway
  • cable channel
  • cable management

combined with plastic or vinyl, I find those. Unfortunately, I am the wrong person to ask about removing the trim or installing the raceway. My useful experience regarding this question was from installing cable modems. For more complicated installs like you describe, I would have referred them to either an electrician or a specialist.

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