Talking Heads V2 
Wire Management Door Project
As you've seen from our previous postings, we control our Christmas Lighting Display from the garage. So that means a lot
of wires are run out to the various elements of the display from our controllers. As the display expands, we need a better way to manage the wire from the
controllers in the garage all the way out to the main wiring "highway" in the display. There are many wires in this bundle, and it gets difficult to deal
with the bundle as it leaves the side of the garage when setting up or tearing down the display. Our 2008 Wire Management Door Project will help us get
the wire out of the garage easier and provide a more weatherproof and permanent wiring solution. Just what the doctor ordered!
The bundle of wires is exiting the garage in the photo above through a vent on the side of the wall (pictured below). As our
installation proceeds and more wires are added, it gets more difficult to feed them through the vent hole. We've realized for some time that an improvement
needs to be engineered for this situation. After considerable research, we chose to implement the PetSafe Aluminum Doggie Door product in the garage for our wiring.
Of course, we don't have any dogs, just a boatload of wires to get outside...
Coming up with a exit solution for our wiring has been on our "to-do" list since last Christmas. We've done some Google searching to
help brainstorm potential solutions, and happened to stumble across this PetSafe Door Solution. The product is a user-installable magnetic latching "Doggie Door" and is engineered with some great features. It
comes in three sizes, and is available on-line or locally through pet stores. We chose the "Medium" size, which provides an opening that is approximately 8" x 14".
Here's the original vent that we removed to place our wires through. It is actually a few inches wider than the PetSafe solution, so
we thought we'd make a wooden frame out of 1x4 wood to cover the opening and then mount the PetSafe door on the frame. That will also give us a nice surface to caulk up
to with the siding and the uneven surfaces.
We used a portable reciprocating saw with both wood and metal cutting blades to cut out the opening for the PetSafe door product.
There was a 2x4 right above the vent internally for support, so that took a few extra minutes to deal with.
Next, we built two wooden frames (one for inside and one for outside). Brandon and I cut the frames at a 45 degree angle for ease of assembly.
Brandon was super-excited to be able to use my nailer on the frames. He also helped me attach the frames to the house with the nailer. The PetSafe
product provides an instruction guide and a template that can be used when cutting the holes on both sides of the wall. It went without a hitch.
We repeated the same cutting process inside on the drywall, and also attached a frame there as well. After mounting the frames, I used my
favorite caulking product to fill the nailholes and fill the space between the frames and the siding and drywall. This is the greatest stuff on Earth! It is called
Big Stretch. For those of you in San Diego, Dixieline sells it. Big
Stretch tools very easily with a slight spray of water and then you use your finger to smooth it all down. It's also paintable (unlike silicone sealants). Anyways,
great stuff. Both frames were prepped for painting, and we let the Big Stretch dry for an hour or so.
Here's the internal PetSafe frame with a coat of paint. Looking good. As I tell Brandon, you have to "look good" to "feel good"!
He just wants to use the nail gun some more...
Here's what the PetSafe door looks like once it is attached to the frame. Very nice. The white frame is aluminum, and the main part
of the door is a thick sheet of rubber/plastic that is flexible. It has two magnets sealed in the bottom and they catch the bottom rail of the frame when they hang down.
So this provides a positive locking method for the door. These flexible doors are on both sides.
Here's a shot of what the door looks like from the outside. A very well-designed product...
In addition to the flexible doors on both sides, they also provide a hard plastic cover and latch that can be used to seal the door
if you don't want any "traffic". I'll use this door most of the year, and then remove it when lighting season gets close and we want to start running wires.
The final project photo, showing Brandon posing next to the internal frame and door. We're set now with a much better solution in
place to help us manage our wire requirements for the upcoming Christmas Lighting Season.
There's just something special about Brandon spending time with Dad, working on a Christmas project! And, he gets to use all
of our project tools, especially my new nail gun. Today was a great day with plenty of father/son time, and we got a lot accomplished! A few months to go, and
more decorations to get built!
After installing the first door and thinking about it, we came to the conclusion that we needed more room for wires (insert Tim Allen Arrgh Arrgh Arrgh sound here!). So we ordered another Doggie Door and added it right next to the one already installed. Now we're ready for more wires and more Christmas Lighting fun....