Mapping out stuff on walls and ceilings
August 4, 2020 9:52 AM   Subscribe

I'm making an escape room. It's nearly done. I'd like to document what's where, to help with future maintenance. Are there any good tools or even just approaches to documenting the locations of wires and electronics in a suite of rooms, when the stuff's not on the floor, but on/in the walls and ceiling?

Ideally I'd like to somehow visually depict stuff like “The ████ is mounted 4' up, and is driven from a breakout board on the other side of the same wall, hidden behind ████ ██ █ which has a cable behind the wainscoting about 3' up over to the microcontroller which is stuffed behind the portrait of ██████. Its cable to the control room goes along the trim, to the corner, where it goes up to the ceiling" etc.
posted by aubilenon to Computers & Internet (2 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
This is what electrical plan views do. If there's too much for a single view, you can have a sub-grade drawing, a drawing with the walls and their contents, and a reflected ceiling plan.
posted by notsnot at 10:30 AM on August 4, 2020


You could draw architectural or engineering drawings..... BUT I'd recommend taking a bunch of photos and tracing over them (in hand, in PDF) with the location of the services. Here's what Stewart Brand has to say about it in How Buildings Learn

"Anyone who buries services in the walls should adopt the practice of design/builder John Abrams in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts (who will emerge as the hero of this chapter). In all his buildings he has a ritual just before the walls close, when the services are installed but the sheetrock hasn’t been put on yet. He walks methodically through the building photographing every open wall and ceiling and keying each photo to a set of plans. He discovered that the procedure gives him a chance for close overall supervision of the job at a critical moment, but the main purpose is to record precisely where all the services are before they get hidden—every duct, pipe joint, and outlet knockout. The color photos are then assembled with the keyed plans in a ring binder, which is known as “The Book” throughout the rest of the job. The electricians, finish carpenters, and other subcontractors consult The Book as often as they do the building plans. The electricians look to see if there’s enough slack in the wiring to move a light switch; the carpenters want to know where the blocking is for nailing the trim. At the end of the job, Abrams ceremoniously turns over The Book to the owners. With the passing years it becomes ever more precious for repair and remodeling, as original memories fade and construction practices change. Eventually it becomes a major item in the resale value of the building. It costs almost nothing to make."
posted by suedehead at 10:50 AM on August 4, 2020 [9 favorites]


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