organizing cables on walls ?

kiran6680

Disciple
My home is a mess of power cables, ethernet cables, broadband fiber cables, TV cables on walls. The walls are apartment walls - not too smooth and painted with Asian Paints Premium Emulsion. Any solution I try or think of trying doesn't seem good. I don't even mind the cable being visible - if I can route it nicely along wall corners in straight lines.


1. I tried the sticky cable holders - they fall off very easily.
2. Read bad reviews of many 2 sided tape products too.
3. Nails driven with drills will be strong, but then the nails will become an eyesore, and some walls have earlier developed shallow cracks due to too many nails. Can't risk that happening again.
4. Wallpapers seem out of my budget and maintenance capability, but I am open to all suggestions.

Everything sticky on Amazon / Flipkart seems to be suited for wood / metal / plastic surface only, not emulsion walls.

On regular home walls, which reliable solution you guys are using for organizing cables without a million drill holes ? My budget is quite low - I am just surprised there is not a super cheap way to do this in the 21st century.
 
Get PVC casing. Those are the cheapest solution. I got 1" wide casing for Rs. 25/m. You can find it cheaper if you search local stores. Then you'll need some screws and a drill machine and that's it, you can put it yourself if you want to save money. Drill holes half a meter apart and use 25mm screws. That should be enough to hold it.

They can be an eyesore though. I personally don't mind them at all, they look much better than bare hanging wires and are also safer overall. I got it to run a LAN cable to my TV and also used the same casing for my home theater's surround speakers.
 
Last edited:
Get PVC casing. Those are the cheapest solution. I got 1" wide casing for Rs. 25/m. You can find it cheaper if you look search local stores. Then you'll need some screws and a drill machine and that's it, you can put it yourself if you want to save money. Drill holes half a meter apart and use 25mm screws. That should be enough to hold it.

They can be an eyesore though. I personally don't mind them at all, then look much better than bare hanging wires and are also much safer overall. I got it to run a LAN cable to my TV and also used the same casing for my home theater's surround speakers.
One electrician routed a wire using around 8 drill holes in about 18 feet of wall. Naked wire, no casing. Within weeks there were 5 cracks in the wall that are clearly visible in daylight, not so much in artificial light.

Not all walls are like that, but it is painful to find out which ones are like that.

It may still be the best solution, thanks. I'm waiting for some other ideas before doing this.
 
PVC
Get PVC casing. Those are the cheapest solution. I got 1" wide casing for Rs. 25/m. You can find it cheaper if you look search local stores. Then you'll need some screws and a drill machine and that's it, you can put it yourself if you want to save money. Drill holes half a meter apart and use 25mm screws. That should be enough to hold it.

They can be an eyesore though. I personally don't mind them at all, then look much better than bare hanging wires and are also much safer overall. I got it to run a LAN cable to my TV and also used the same casing for my home theater's surround speakers.
+1 for PVC casing.
I cannot put wires inside walls till the next repaint job - and tech has moved forward so much since the last paint :lol:

While not as neat looking as in-wall, there are ways to make it unobtrusive.
I have routed casings along the floor skirting where the floors tile rise up a few inches on the wall - this way, they are difficult to notice unless one is looking closely.
Also, because tiles are smooth, 3M double sided tape does a fine job of keeping them secure without a need to drill holes.

At one place, I have 7 pairs of speaker cables, a couple of HDMI, 4 ethernet and a few other cables running through an extra wide conduit along the skirting.
For routing on walls where needed, you will however need to drill and secure with screws.
 
One electrician routed a wire using around 8 drill holes in about 18 feet of wall. Naked wire, no casing. Within weeks there were 5 cracks in the wall that are clearly visible in daylight, not so much in artificial light.
There are a few possibilities here. Either the house you're living it is very old or very poorly constructed, or the electrician didn't drill properly, maybe he applied too much force.

In any case, if you wan to avoid drilling, you can try using 3M's double sided tape. They seem to hold really well for me. But I haven't tried on emulsion paint, so can't vouch for that.
 
On regular home walls, which reliable solution you guys are using for organizing cables without a million drill holes ?

This stuff is pretty amazing: https://www.amazon.in/3M-IA120100531-Strength-Bond-Primer/dp/B0156EYYOM/

Use it with the locally manufactured flat cable conduit or something with more capacity like this:
https://www.amazon.in/Organizer-Charger-Headphone-Cables-Lead_White/dp/B07MMZNM24/
https://www.amazon.in/House-Quirk-Management-Paintable-Concealer/dp/B08G1FB9R6/

I like the more industrial look of black round pipes my computer area, so I'm planning on using these Astral Pipes products attached below, though they require drilling into the concrete. For home entertainment center area, those wide conduits linked above are better suited.
 

Attachments

  • main_main_product_pipes_wire-guard250318-lms-(light-mechanical-stress)-black222.jpg
    main_main_product_pipes_wire-guard250318-lms-(light-mechanical-stress)-black222.jpg
    8.5 KB · Views: 102
  • main_wire_guard250310_round_u_clip.jpg
    main_wire_guard250310_round_u_clip.jpg
    19.9 KB · Views: 86
Awesome, I was wondering some liquid should solve the problem of things sticking on the paint - so logically it makes sense. Along with your recommendation, I am very hopeful this will work out.
Use it with the locally manufactured flat cable conduit or something with more capacity like this:
https://www.amazon.in/Organizer-Charger-Headphone-Cables-Lead_White/dp/B07MMZNM24/
https://www.amazon.in/House-Quirk-Management-Paintable-Concealer/dp/B08G1FB9R6/

I like the more industrial look of black round pipes my computer area, so I'm planning on using these Astral Pipes products attached below, though they require drilling into the concrete. For home entertainment center area, those wide conduits linked above are better suited.
Yes, I am a cheapskate so I'll get it locally. Though Amazon's stuff is better with individual cables separation.

There are a few possibilities here. Either the house you're living it is very old or very poorly constructed, or the electrician didn't drill properly, maybe he applied too much force.

In any case, if you wan to avoid drilling, you can try using 3M's double sided tape. They seem to hold really well for me. But I haven't tried on emulsion paint, so can't vouch for that.
Yeah, house is not great. Resting my hopes on the 3M tape now. The primer might be the antidote to emulsion, let's see.
 
I'm not sure how much of wire you've got, and how much geeky you are at heart. The wire here is organized in form of PCB trace routing. From long time it is itching me to do something of this (pic attached) sort, unfortunately I do not have wire clutter behind my TV :meh:

pic source: internet
tv-playstation-hanging-wall.jpg
 
I'm not sure how much of wire you've got, and how much geeky you are at heart. The wire here is organized in form of PCB trace routing. From long time it is itching me to do something of this (pic attached) sort, unfortunately I do not have wire clutter behind my TV :meh:

pic source: internet
Nice. How is the wire supposed to stick to the wall ? I'm a geek, but got a D grade in craft all through school. I can't do things neatly to save my life. My electronics projects in engineering college were also a mess of wires, but they worked.
 
Nice. How is the wire supposed to stick to the wall ? I'm a geek, but got a D grade in craft all through school. I can't do things neatly to save my life. My electronics projects in engineering college were also a mess of wires, but they worked.
You may have to revisit the methods you already tried, or a few suggestions in the earlier comments.

In any case, ensure the below if not already done.
  • If you are using any sticky things, do not put any wire(weight) on it for a day. Stick the clip/hanger/whatever using the double sided tape, and leave it over night so that it bonds well without other weights dragging them.
  • The lesser the weight on the clip/holder, the more the life of it sticking to the wall. If you decide go the pcb routing way, all the wires don't stay on single holder, so I suppose the wires will be easy on the holders
  • You may have to use a combination of glue or nails.

Another idea: If the place you are living is owned and the wire clutter is behind a TV, consider installing a plywood board behind to cover the major part of the wall. It will give a different look altogether, and you may have to brainstorm on the shape/size etc to get a good look. It is more like a TV cabinet, but without the cabinet. Once you have the wood board behind, either you can hide the wires behind or route it as per your liking.
 
Back
Top