Beautiful Uncluttered Views
For years, we just took all the wires around our house for granted. Then one day I decided to take a closer look.
There were wires running from the street to our house, as well as other wires running up our shared driveway to our neighbor’s house, and to another house behind that one.
A total of 13 wires: 7 on the north side of our house and 6 on the south side. Only 4 of which were even attached to our house. After I spoke with the neighbors, I discovered that none of their wires in the driveway was active. In fact, both these neighbors had been receiving Internet service for several years via fiber optic cable coming from another street. So, of the 13 wires cluttering the view around our house, only the 2 that were attached to our home (power and Internet), 1 power line to our neighbor on the south side, and 1 Internet cable to the house on the north side were active.
That is, a whopping 70% (4 out of 13) of the wires were dead, just hanging there, looking ugly. Among these wires was a phone line that had been dead for 40 or 50 years!
I decided to get rid of all those excess wires. We cut down the 3 dead wires that ran in front of our living room windows and the 5 on the north side of our house outside our bedroom windows. Now we have only 2 wires attached to our house, not 4, and we removed 6 wires from the neighboring homes.
What a difference! The view of our house and from our house is vastly improved. It seems more peaceful, less chaotic.
And we didn’t stop there. In addition to removing the 100 feet of extra cables attached to our home, we removed 2 old plastic service boxes and a few old hooks and insulators. Our house was built in 1908, so some of this hardware dated back 80 years.
Beautifying The Seattle Skyline – One House At A Time
Our spectacular Seattle views are gradually being choked off by an oppressive tangle of ugly, black, overhead wires.
Perhaps, Seattle Magazine can use photoshop to “disappear” all of the wires out of our Seattle Skyline. Unfortunately, those of us who live here cannot simply “photoshop” all the overhead “wire pollution” out of our daily lives.
The number of wires and cables has proliferated, in step with the number of new providers and new technologies for the Internet, television, and telephones. Over time, most of our homes have had 2, 3, 4, or even 5 wires installed from the street to the house.
Giant telecom companies that were “absorbed” by even bigger, newer companies have left wires installed by the previous provider, as well as their own outdated wires hanging all over our homes and neighborhoods.
By letting us remove these unneeded wires, you are not only improving your views but your neighbor’s views. Over time, as we eliminate all these abandoned, ugly, black wires, Seattle’s skyline will no longer need photo-shopping in order to look beautiful again. Our beautiful city will look young again.
Just One Wire!
Fiber Optics is the latest technology. All the data and Internet speed most of us require can now be carried on 1 tiny (1/8” x 1/4”) wire. Yes, it is black. However, it is so thin, as to be barely visible. This means with fiber optics all of the other wires running to your home (except your electrical power supply) are unnecessary.
If you still have regular coaxial cable service (that’s what we have), you also only need 1 wire. It’s a bit thicker than fiber optic wire, but it still works. And you only need 1 wire!
Telecom Companies Don’t Remove Wires
Why should you put up with 30-year-old abandoned cables, or 70-year-old phone lines hanging around your home and neighborhood? Unfortunately, your current provider is not eager to remove old lines.
When you get a new internet service installed and ask the service person to remove the old wire and box, the answer is generally the same: “Sorry, but that isn’t our wire. It belongs to X, Y, or Z Company.”
However, if you do a bit of research, you will often find that your new service provider has recently bought, or merged with, your old service provider. So, in fact, the wire and the distribution box do belong to them, just under a different name. I have spoken with installers from the big internet companies, and they have told me that they are not allowed to remove wires. According to their companies, there is too much risk of damage to the siding the house, or to the garden to make it worthwhile for them to remove their old wires.
We have heard accounts of homeowners spending over a year trying to get their telecom company to remove wire(s) from the exterior of their home. It can feel as if you have spent a lifetime on hold before you are finally transferred to a call center in the Philippines or India (where the real waiting begins). Perhaps your telecom company may even schedule an appointment to send someone to your home to inspect the offending line(s). However, very rarely will they actually show up to remove this eyesore. We have heard of very few cases where the telecom company has removed an old line. Let’s say you are very persistent, and you finally succeed in getting your telecom company to remove their old line. What about all the other dead wires on your house and property? Whose responsibility is that? Here in the US, this is the homeowner’s job.
Not surprisingly, the telecom service providers are more focused on getting new services hooked up, rather than doing the extra work of removing old wire clutter from customers’ homes and neighborhoods.
Overhead Clutter is Stressful
Your home and your neighborhood should be a place of refuge.
There is something stressful about having all of those ugly, black wires hanging over us; It’s like a heavyweight, bearing down upon our spirit, and our peace of mind.
There is no reason to have 5 or 6 black cables running from your house to the street, hanging over your garden, when only 1 wire is in-service.
Excess Overhead Wires Are Dangerous
All those dead wires draped over your yard are dangerous. Maneuvering a ladder around your garden for tree pruning or home repairs is tricky enough without the need to avoid low-hanging wires. Plus, it’s very stressful, since most homeowners are unsure which wires are carrying electrical current, or which ones are essential to operate their home/office internet.
One customer had wanted to set up a trampoline in their back yard for their children, but could not, due to several low hanging, abandoned internet cables that were in the way.
Negatively Impacts House Painting and other maintenance tasks.
Nothing is more frustrating than to spend good money having your house prepared and painted, only to discover afterward that your painters could not reach certain areas due to extra wires obstructing access. Even more frustrating, is to pay extra for all the time required to carefully mask and paint around abandoned wires stapled to the house.
You will save money on your painting project, and get a better result when you call us to remove all of the excess cable and boxes from your house. It’s best to remove those unneeded wires before you call for a painting estimate.
Increase your Property Value
Your house will look more attractive without all those ugly, black wires hanging from it.
Anything that improves the views of your home, or from your home, has a direct, positive impact on the resale value of your home. This is why it is so important to remove all those ugly wires from your home before you sell.
Would you put your home on the market without cutting the lawn, or washing the windows? Removing all the old wires has just the same visual impact, even more. The difference is that dramatic.
Rights of ownership. Who owns your home, anyway? You are not required to allow the telecommunications industry to use your home and your neighborhood as a dump for all of their obsolete wires, boxes, and other equipment, while they go on their merry way, installing more wires and signing up new customers.
Summary
There are many reasons to remove unneeded and abandoned overhead wires from your life.
- Makes house painting less expensive and more efficient
- Safer and easier to trim trees and make full use of your yard
- Decreases ambient stress from visual pollution
- Improves your property’s value
- Beautifies your neighborhood
- Declutters your view
- Pride of ownership