Lori ,

Yes - it is much cheaper and easier to pre wire . I did the t.v , and whole
house audio myself . I do not know what you mean by Christmas package
and outlets in lower cabinets . I had my electrician add outlets to my soffits
that run to a interior switch for my christmas lights . There should not be too
much extra expense for that because it's only a couple outlets and a switch .
I also had to add 2 outlets to my cabinets (per code) and that was also not a
big expense . As far as the tv & audio , you may want to do some research
and see if it's a job you can diy . The wire is not terribly expensive and it is
not difficult .

Christmas package - lights in soffits, each outlet under windows connected to one switch in the house for candle lights, outlets next to front door and on porch for lights too, and an outlet at bottom of stairs for lights up the banister.

The outlets placed in the back wall of cabinets are for things that are used often or for things with unsightly wires like charging cell phones.

My list is long. (blushing)

I have pulled a lot of wire and cable in my life, miles and miles of it. I can absolutely guarantee you that it is vastly easier (read vastly cheaper) to pull it when a building is going up and the walls are unfinished than it is in a finished building.

That said, there are a few choices that can be made and things that can be done to mitigate difficulties if wiring needs to be added in the future. Mainly, you need to make sure access to wiring space remains available after the house is finished.

1. Don't block vertical access to the service panel(s). If new AC circuits are to run from a service panel, they generally first have to go up to an accessible attic or down to the basement or crawlspace before they can be run to their destinations. If there is no way to pull wires either up or down, adding new circuits becomes next to impossible. The worst case is having the service panel over a slab foundation, with no accessible attic directly above it.

2. Look for or insist upon a house design with an accessible attic. Some houses do not have attic access. Avoid slab foundations. Basements with unfinished or dropped ceilings are best. Sheetrocked basement ceiling are problematic. Crawlspaces are OK.

3. Plan for and build in a wiring chase between the attic and the basement/crawlspace. A chase is a vertical space reserved for wiring. If wires need to be added in the future, the chase provides a place to run them between floors. A chase probably won't be as useful in a home with a single living level as it would be in a multistory home.

If the chase goes into the crawlspace, some means to close it off must be provided to keep critters out. A chase may also violate fire codes if it isn't sealable. This should be taken into consideration.

4. Install sub-panels. If the house is large, it often makes sense to install electrical sub panels. A sub-panel handles circuits in a particular area and saves running lots of wires a long distance. It is usually easier to run new wires from a nearby sub-panel than it is to run them to the main service panel.

5. Pre-wire telephone and data lines using the home run technique. Run them any place you even think you might need them. You can do this yourself. There are many books and articles available on how to do this.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pre-wiring Information Sources

robinson

Anything that is powered from your main electrical service - outlets, switches, and lights is best done (if you can afford it) when the house is under construction. For example, I added a "Christmas package" which turned out to be a set of outdoor outlets around the house on a 20 amp dedicated circuit that I can plug xmas lights into, that are all tied to a single switch in the garage (where I can put a timer on it) - no more long extension cords for me. Something like that is very easy to add now, very hard to add after the house is done.

Another great example of something to do now is recessed lighting. Much less cost to do it now, more cost and a big mess after house is done.

Items like wiring for phones, whole house audio, video , computer networks can be added now or later. I took the approach of only putting in wires where I knew on move in day (or shortly there after) that I would need a phone, computer, or TV. One exception was speaker wire and (even though whole house audio is at least a year away) because adding speakers later would require cutting drywall in the walls & ceilings and that was a mess I wanted to avoid.

Everywhere else where I anticipated the need for connectivity , I used conduit (plastic tubes) so that I could run the wires later. If you have an unfinished basement and will have access to the floors above, you can put these tubes into the wall (like a speaker volume control box) , install plastic gang boxes upstairs, and run the tubes from those boxes to the basement. Once the tubes are in, it is very easy to pull wires later. The conduit is relatively cheap and gives you the flexibility to pull whatever wires you need, when you need them.

For example, I have no TV, phone, or data cables in my 3 second story bedrooms. But I do have wall boxes (with blank plates on them right now) with a conduit tube (some rooms got 2 boxes and 2 tubes) that run from each bedroom all the way down to the basement. I will pull cable to those rooms down the road - no need for cables right now there.

To do all of this right you need a plan. You have to layout where you want things now and think about your needs for the future. Then you can decide to whether it makes sense to pull cable or conduit.

We ran into budget issues during our build - so I completely understand your dilema. When I got the proposed bill from the eletcrical contractor for all the adds I wanted, plus the bill for voice/data/security pre-wire, I almost fell over. I had to choose either to live without these things or find some other way to get it done.

The only way I could get around it was to do some of the electrical work and all security/voice/data/phone myself. It was a lot of work since I had no helpers. By running cables only where I needed them on move in day and conduit everywhere else, I reduced the total time and cost to install. That was the only way I could get what I wanted and keep from...

Robinson, I, too, wanted plugs in the back of my cabinets, but electrical codes would not allow it.

muddy and sniff - thank you for your very thorough responses. You've cleared up my questions. Another copy/paste for me. I've tried to educate myself in most parts of this addition/remodel process, but there's so much to know. It's quite overwhelming.

Thank goodness I have my dad, who is a retired carpenter as well as skilled in almost every trade, to guide me through this project. And of course what would I do without the kind people here at GW? This site is priceless.

teach - I won't be surprised if there's an electrical code in my township too. It stinks, but it could be worse.
By the way, I'm assuming you're a teacher, duh. A bit OT, I know. 4th grade here.

We had the builder run speaker wire to 4 rooms on the first floor. They just coil it ip and leave it buried. My plan was to cut into the drywall after the closing and wire the speakers my self. Once I saw the house finished with sheetrock, paint, trim, etc I realized that the last thing I wanted to do was go cutting holes everywhere looking for wires. So I am having the builder install the speakers - this way if he cuts in the wrong place - he's responsible for fixing it, not me. If you are going to do it yourself, be really, really, really sure where those wires are at. Otherwise what you save with the builder you'll spend with a sheetrock/painter to patch your mistakes.

For speakers - you could have your dad build boxes made out of MDF. Four sidied boxes with a hole cut in the bottom that is the diameter of the speaker you will use. Before he outs the cover on it - insulate all 6 sides of the box. These boxes will provide much better sound than installing speakers inside a ceiling cavity or wall cavity that is open behind the drywall where you will get echo's.

Put the speaker boxes inbetween the ceiling joists prior to drywall - and the drywallers will cut out the holes. Runs wires to the boxes and coil inside. Just for safety - mark a spot on the floor with orange paint so you know where the boxes are (somethimes the drywallers forget to cut the holes).

Good luck!

Just for safety - mark a spot on the floor with orange paint so you know where the boxes are (somethimes the drywallers forget to cut the holes).

Two words: Digital Camera. :-)

And a few more. Grab a piece of PVC water pipe or two, 3/4 inch works fine. Carefully and accurately mark them every foot with a wide magic marker. Don't measure from any mark for the next mark, you will get cumulative errors. Instead measure from one end for every mark.

Lay these on the floors and/or stand them against stuff when you take the pictures. These will serve as reference measurements when you want to find stuff later. Cut the PVC to a height appropriate for whatever you are building.

When you plan where you want wires, think wireless. We bought 4 wireless phones for the cost of putting in one wired phone line.
I echo taking pictures during construction. It gives you x-ray vision. Especially if you use a tape measure. Get a long tape measure, at least as long as the longest room, and include it in the picture.

Tape measures can be unreadable in photos. That's why I suggested the marked PVC pipe, although I guess not everyone has a truck to carry it around in. LOL

But, if you have a means to transport 8 to 10 foot long pieces of plastic pipe, it works well.

Great ideas everyone!

Muddy - I read about the digital camera years ago on this site, so that one is on the top of my list. However, I have never heard of the PVC and marker, but...I like it!!! I'll have to read it a few times to get it, but I like it.

This is so exciting. I'll be at the site everyday since it is a remodel and I work 30 seconds from my home. I don't want to miss taking pictures of the inside of the walls.

Thanks again!
Lori