How to Hide Cables with CordMate Cable Channels
When you are building a home theater, one of the most annoying things is having cables all over the place. When I put my home theater together, I ran some of the cables through the wall, but I also wanted to hide cables around the perimeter of the room. That’s where the Legrand CordMate Cable Channels come in.
Product Links: CordMate II C210 Kit (Amazon) | CordMate C310 III Kit
Legrand makes a lot of electrical, networking, and audio-video equipment, including gang plates, outlets, switches, and covers. You’ve probably used one of their products before, such as one of their cat5e keystone connectors, which I’ve used several times, or one of their outlet covers. When a friend of mine wanted to redo their home theater setup and wall mount their TV, they wanted options for hiding their cables. I found the Legrand CordMate IIs over at Home Depot after looking up similar products online. The price was very reasonable at less than $25 for a 12-foot kit. For $50, I would be able to completely hide the cables along the baseboard and run the HDMI, power cable, and center speaker cable up the wall. Installing everything was very easy to do, so when I was setting up my home theater, I knew that’s what I was going to use.
If you are looking at the Legrand CordMate products, what you need to determine is how many cables you are trying to run in one section. The CordMate II’s that I’ll be installing are 1-inch tall and are half-an-inch deep, so they will comfortable hold 4 cables. If you need to fit more cables, you can go with the CordMate III, which are one-and-a-half inches tall & three-quarters of an inch deep, so they should support 6 cables.
The CordMate products are made out of a sturdy plastic and have a simple hinge system to hold the cable channel closed. There is a strip of strong adhesive on the back for placing the CordMate on a flat surface. The CordMate II Kit comes with (3) 4-foot pieces, (2) straight couplings, (2) flat elbows, (1) T-fitting, (1) outside elbow for going around a corner, and (1) inside elbow for going into a corner. The nice part about the CordMates is that they make it easy to make changes to your cables – all you have to do is open them up.
Installation
To install the cable channels, get a measurement of where you want to run the cables and where you want them to exit at. This will determine how many kits you will need. For my home theater setup, I bought two Cordmate II Kits, which gave me 24-feet of cable channels, and one 5-foot section.
Lay out your pieces and pencil out where you want the cuts to me made. If you have sections where you want cables to be exposed, make sure you leave enough distance between the sections so you can do that. If you are putting the cable channels along the baseboard, I would highly suggest making the opening on the top so you can swap the cables out easier.
To make the cuts, use a fine-toothed hacksaw to cut the CordMates to the right length. Use a bit of sandpaper to remove the rough edges. Make sure the surface you are applying the CordMate to is clean. Then remove the adhesive strip and place the piece on the flat surface. Repeat these steps until all the cable channels you want are applied. If you are going into a corner, make sure you leave at least half an inch so you can run the other piece. If you are going around a corner, try to run the cable channel close to the edge so the cover will snap on properly.
Once you have placed the CordMates, run your cables through them. When you are finished, snap the CordMates closed and put the covers on the connecting strips. The finished project should blend in so you don’t see any cables, which makes the setup look clean.
So there you have it. The Legrand CordMates are a fantastic way to hide cables in your home, office, or home theater. After being up for over a year at their house and six months in my home theater, the CordMates have held up very well. I did have one section that appeared to start coming off. Perhaps this was due to the change in temperature, since we both live in Florida, but I put even pressure on it and it secured back onto the wall.
