The kitchen - be sure they are where you want them in the kitchen - not too close/far from where you will be using them. Do them under the cabs if you want them out of sight. Look at this BEFORE your walk through while looking at your kitchen plan. Shoulda coulda but didn't. My bad.

Do you want Christmas lights/mantel displays on a switch?

Do you want sensor lights in a closet or pantry-places your hands are full coming/going?

Bathroom-are they where you'll plug in at the counter vs. by the sink where you'd have to rest the item with the cord crossing the sink (if applicable). Do you want a led lit stairwell or by the toilet for night time potty breaks without having to turn the light on?

Garage light sensor for coming going in the dark (to get to the dumpster or let the dog out or whatever) when you don't need the car/garage door to open.

That's all I've got off the top of my head.

where's the computer--middle of room, on wall, or laptop. Charging stations. 4 pack for lights, radio, chargers next to bed. light switches next to doors--on anything fancy like fireplace tile or under a special picture. I blow the circuit if I plug in my electric hair curlers or curling iron while drying my hair--separate circuits. Motion detector night lights for bathroom. door activated sensor for pantry. floor outlets if furniture is in center of room. which switches handle what--a hot switch in the bedroom for instant light. Computers not on hot switches. Flood lights--switch in bedroom for emergencies? I had planned sconces but the vanity placement may not allow it--have to measure. fans on which switches, with or without lights. Large room--put cans on two circuits. Hope this helps.

We are doing stair lighting, above cabinet led tape lighting, under cabinet lef lighting, toe kick led lighting, led tape lighting in a tray ceiling (hidden with crown molding), if you want 3 way switches or dimmers that'd be good to bring up too.

Pay extra attention to what's going on in exterior walls. For interior walls, it's pretty simple for them to run new wires. Things will get much more tedious (read: expensive) if you want to change anything in the exterior walls after insulation goes in.

If you think you'll ever possibly want to install speakers, have them run the wires now. They don't cost much, and doing it now will save you a lot of headache in the future and keep more options open.

If you can, put a switch in your backsplash in your kitchen so that you don't have to reach up under your hood to turn your hood on and off.

Make sure the wall switch locations and the related door swings are free from conflict.

Make sure any ceiling cans are in a straight line if they need to be, and deployed according to the plan.

Fan boxes?

Basement-to-attic conduit for future needs?

Any floor outlet boxes that would be beneficial?

Run cable and phone lines to the same areas as the ethernet. Run two ethernet lines instead of one (allowing one for sat/cable box, and one for BD/gaming/streaming console).

Have a central area where all the data lines run (possibly a mechanical room or furnace room) and you can put your router there and a switch box to control all the ethernet lines. This makes your house completely wired and also customizable as far as data wiring. Most houses cant say they have a comm room, but you would. :) Just make sure they label all the data lines or it will be a nightmare to figure out which goes to what.

At the port locations on the wall, you can do a 4 port keystone type wall plate that accepts the two ethernet, one cable, and one phone keystone inserts. I have done 6 of these in specific locations in my house, I never have to worry about needing to run a data line again. You might need more if your house is bigger or has more rooms. If I want a TV or computer in a room the port is there and ready to use. Wireless of course is always there, but I prefer hard wiring for things that don't move.

http://www.showmecables.com/product/4-Port-Faceplate-Flush-Mount-White.aspx

http://www.showmecables.com/product/Cat5e-Keystone-Jack-Module-Vertical-Style-White.aspx

http://www.showmecables.com/product/RJ11-6P6C-Voice-Modular-Jack-Keystone-Style-White.aspx

http://www.showmecables.com/product/F-Type-Feedthrough-Modular-Connector-Nickel-Plated-Keystone-Style-White.aspx

1) Recessed outlets behind furniture -- nightstands, wall-mounted TVs, fridge

https://www.google.com/search?q=recessed+outlet&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAmoVChMIibiwo-H5xwIVlVqICh1vewte&biw=1333&bih=658

2) Adjustable depth outlets (the ones with a screw that you can tighten or unscrew to move the entire outlet box forward or back within the wall) in kitchen, bath, and anywhere else that would be relevant. After your walls/tile is finished, it is so easy to get the adjustable outlets to be flush with your tile/backsplash, but it so hard to get non-adjustable ones set to the right depth ahead of time (before any walls/tile are in place).

3) Two-way switches at the entrance and exit of every hallway, staircase (indoor and outdoor), and large room.

4) If you are getting dimmers, go handle some dimmers at a lighting store. Some of the controls are super annoying (the buttons, the slides controlled by a tiny nib) and some are a breeze (the slides with larger handles). Make sure you like what you're getting. You will handle these things every day.

5) Think about glare on the TV and try to provide for at least some lighting that avoids that. My husband hates the glare from our lighting on the TV so much that our entire living/dining/kitchen has to be dark when he is watching TV. I rarely am watching TV with him and do not want to do my activities in the dark. Many arguments have sprung from this.

1. In some large rooms or rooms with several different types of lighting (like the kitchen), you might want to break up some of the lighting into different switches. Think that through.

E.g., in the family room, maybe the table/floor lamps are on one switch and the overhead lighting is on a different switch. E.g. #2, we have seven can lights in our kitchen, and they are controlled by two switches -- the two cans over the sink on one switch, and the five others on the other switch. I don't ever really want dim light in the kitchen, but sometimes I am just getting a glass of water and all I really need is the sink illuminated, but I want that light to be bright.

7) If you do not already have your light fixtures chosen, quickly choose as many of them as possible. For example, one light over the bathroom mirror requires one box, but two lights over the bathroom mirror requires two separate boxes. You may think the former will be fine but then in practice down the road, you cannot find anything you like that is both pretty and bright enough in one fixture. Now you wish you could get two, and you're stuck. Place boxes with actual fixtures you already know of, like, and an can afford either purchased or in mind.

All I have to add is good luck! Our electrical walk through took three hours and was completely overwhelming to me. I went up today while the electricians were there and changed two things I thought of afterwards. I feel like I completely missed some things, but I won't know until we live there. Some things mentioned above are way more than what people usually do around here. Hope yours goes smoothly!

Put one adjacent to the toilet if you ever want one of those fancy bidet seats.

vith

My DH bought a Cisco switch so we will definitely have a comm room (well, it's a walk in closet 5x7). We've already got the smurf tube map. We have wifi remotes so while house sound will run from NAD amp and receiver there.

I will take a look at the plates you picked up. thanks for the links.

We did buy 500ft of in wall speaker cable, cat6, and will let the low voltage guys sell us coax.

I will take a look

@ Mama Rachel (8A + windy)

Look at Monoprice - I have used them for a lot of wiring and I love them. Best deals I have found. In fact, I pretty much use only two companies for all AV wiring - Monoprice and blue jeans cable

Keystone wallplate

keystone jack

I have always wanted to be able to reach the fan switch from the toilet. Nuff said.

We had an office meeting with the electrical team. It was a couple hours and we walked through the electrical plan room by room. A week later we met on site and they had put most of the boxes and can holders in place. We then spent a couple of hours walking through each room making changes etc.. What was great about this approach is that by having the boxes tacked up - I could hypothetically see/walk through the real experience of "when I walk in this room..." Made changes on switches, weird placement of cans or counter outlets etc.. I wanted to minimize the number of switches/outlets from line of sight. Our last build left me with placements that visually drove me crazy. This two phased approach took more time but gave my higher confidence we got it right.

beyond the call out above - unique things in our plan

1) electrical outlets in each shelf of the cubbies in the mudroom. Electronics are only increasing as my children age so they each have their own charging shelf

2) a light switch in our front closet that controls outside Christmas lights and the outlet where the Christmas tree will be plugged in inside

3) we will have an outlet strip under the sink drawers in all the bathrooms

4) art lighting.... Smaller recessed cans with "eyeballs" that can be titled to highlight art (my husband doesn't know it yet - but we are going to start enjoying art ;)

5) I don't know what they are called ... But the enabled electricity at the corners on the back of the house so when we get to the landscape and lighting plan next spring... There is an electrical source to start working with

6) bathrooms will have an outlet that has a nightlight

7) outlets next to the beds will have four outlets on each side

8) if your builder calls and says do you want outlets in your basement concrete floor - say yes! I said no without thinking of the implications... And now if we build an island/bar it won't have power :(