FlatWire: Scared Off by the Spackling

FlatWire can help remove your A/V cable clutter, provided you're capable of spackling, sanding and painting.



When I first saw the FlatWire box and advertising materials at a summer preview in NYC and later in Denver, I thought this might be the be-all-and-end-all way that gets my family off my back for the clutter of wires stretching throughout our home. My wife, who has complained on these pages about our home’s CE clutter, was also enthused to install wires that are so flat that they are virtually invisible.

And it sounded easy, so easy, in fact that maybe, just maybe this was something we (two not-in-the-least-bit handy homeowners) could do ourselves with the help of the poodle who could step on the flat pieces to keep them in place. Since FlatWire also makes hidden sconces, we thought we could dress up the room in addition to installing our component audio equipment, TiVo, six speakers and assorted Blu-ray players.

The Demo
So we sat down and watched the instructional video, which was kind of like an infomercial on late night TV. It looked pretty easy, but I’ve been burned enough times trying to do things around the house myself, that I had my doubts. So I decided to ask my niece’s husband Chip, a full-time fireman and part time DIYer with lots of contractor experience, to oversee the project. (To FlatWire’s credit there are many warnings on the packing and the video that you might need some expert help do the project of installing these components properly.)

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[Link: electronichouse.com]

One of the worst products and ideas ever. Billy Mays should be promoting that stuff. The only way to make that "system" end up looking professional is to router out the wall to the depth of the cable, then tape, joint compound, blend, texture (if need be), prime, paint....or you could just do it the right way.

Yup...if you're going to do all that work to cover it up, it's probably easier to get actual wire through the wall somehow, even if you need to chisel out the drywall and put tape over it.

I will say that I have used this product a couple of times and It works great for certain applications. I am in a City and a lot of the condos in the mid and high rise have cement ceilings. This product works great for this type of application.

This product is good for throwing in a couple of surround speakers and thats about it.

If your in a situation where you can get the client to agree to a 50 foot line of spackle + paint + texture you can probably get them to agree to patching a couple of 4X4" holes needed to fish the cable right in the first place.

Agreed



Again when you have no other choice (like having a concrete ceiling) its a great solution.

I ran it under carpet at a clients house where there was no way else to get the wire back to the surrounds. But I ran the wire inside the wall once it was back to that wall.