The week I lost 40 feet of cable in a crawlspace

Last Tuesday I was running new coax through a tight crawlspace in a house built in the 50s. I had 200 feet of cable on the spool and about halfway through I realized the end got snagged on a nail and pulled back. I spent two hours in that cramped space trying to untangle it but just made it worse. By the end I had to cut out 40 feet of ruined cable and redo the whole run from scratch. That was the worst paying job all month because of the extra time. Has anyone else had a cable turn into a total mess like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

paule532mo ago

Jumped into a crawlspace once with 150 feet of Cat5 and came out with what looked like a bird's nest. It's funny how one little snag can turn a simple run into a whole afternoon of frustration. Reminds me of how a tiny mistake in other parts of life, like skipping one step in a recipe or missing a small detail in plans, can just snowball into something way bigger than it should be. That lost 40 feet probably cost you more in time than the cable itself, but the lesson is usually worth it. Next time I'm threading through tight spots, I'm clipping the end to something solid before I start pulling.

fiona_lane2mo ago

Honestly I gotta disagree with this take. A 40 foot loss sounds like a total rookie hour mistake that should let you know it's time to hang up the cable tools for good. Clipping the end to something solid? That's just common sense 101, not some pro tip you should be proud of. Tbh if a tiny snag in a crawlspace costs you a whole afternoon, you were probably already struggling with the basics of pulling cable straight. Ngl the recipe and life plan analogies feel like a stretch too, most people don't mess up a recipe that bad because they actually pay attention the first time.