Getting Wired Because practically any system you decide to go with will need wiring, and often lots of it, you should keep four things in mind: - There’s no such thing as too much wire.
- Using the wrong wire is usually the same as having no wire at all.
- We are extremely careful because wiring that’s pulled or terminated incorrectly can be ruined. RG-6 coaxial cable with kinks or poorly crimped ends can cause ghosting in video images. Improperly terminated Category 5 (Cat-5) data cable can have greatly reduced bandwidth. And speaker wire pulled too close to electrical lines can pick up hum.
- It’s MUCH cheaper to pull the wire at the construction phase than to add it later.
Our wiring meets both Underwriter Laboratories (UL) ratings and local building codes. Residential applications usually require a CL2 rating from UL, though your project might need wire rated for CL3, Plenum, or Direct Burial. Wiring to these standards will ensure that your home is ready to take advantage of any new technologies over the horizon. Sticking to a Schedule After we have decided on a system, your job will advance based on the house construction timetable. The job to progress in three main phases:
- Pre-wire. This happens right before the house’s insulation is installed, but after the electrical, heat, cooling, and plumbing systems have been completed. We will be careful to avoid the wires for other systems and will use the lighting layout as a guide for positioning in-ceiling speakers. We will to return after sheetrock has been put in to see if a wire has been cut, nailed, or otherwise compromised.
- Trim Out. After the painting has been finished, the installer will return to install in-wall speakers, volume controls, and wall plates. The structured wiring panel, which is usually located in a concealed but easily accessible spot like a closet or attic, might also be terminated at this point.
- Final Install. This is normally done after you’ve moved in, and it can take hours or days depending on the size of the system and the amount of programming and troubleshooting that needs to be done.
Completion Since it’s likely some of the electronics we agree on for the proposal will change during the year or more it can take to finish construction on your house, we make sure you know about any model changes. If there’s a price drop, for instance, you get to take advantage of it. A more serious problem occurs when a new model has different dimensions from the one it’s replacing. If you’re having custom cabinetry built around a TV or speakers, pay for those components now so that a delivery delay doesn’t mean you wind up with a potentially larger or differently proportioned model. We will work with your cabinetmaker and will even help you choose one. Selecting a house wide audio/video/ automated-control system can be daunting, we make sure it's not. We will work closely with you until the end — and beyond. And you can rely on us to take your ideas all the way from the drawing board to the touch-panel.
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