I was working in an old apartment building in Boston and saw a trick with zip ties

I was running a new drop for a customer on the third floor. The building is from the 1920s, so the walls are plaster and lath, and the closets are a mess of old wires. The main cable chase was totally packed. I noticed the last installer had used a bunch of small zip ties to bundle the existing coax and phone lines together really tight against the back wall. It looked clean, but it left zero room for my new line. I had to cut about fifteen of those ties just to make a path. The lesson is, when you bundle in a tight space, leave some slack or use a velcro strap instead. That way the next guy isn't fighting your work for half an hour. Has anyone else run into this kind of thing in those old Northeast buildings?

3 comments

3 Comments

ray_burns27d ago

Yeah, I've been that guy who over-ties everything. Sorry to whoever had to fix my mess last year.

white.keith27d ago

Ugh, been there. I started carrying a pack of those reusable velcro cable wraps just for that. Makes life so much easier for the next person.

sandragrant27d ago

Oh man, I've definitely been the problem before. I used to zip tie everything down so tight it looked like a robot did it. Now I feel bad for whoever had to undo my "good" work.