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Building your own home is one of the most exciting experiences and biggest investments most of us will have in our lifetime. Being able to either pick the exact layout of your dream home or design something from the ground up offers numerous advantages. You’re not buying someone else’s dream, you’re building and creating your own.
That’s why it is so important to make sure everything is the way you want it to be. While it’s exciting, it’s also simultaneously a very stressful experience with lots of ups and downs. There’s so many pieces that need to be coordinated to fit into one another over a period of months. One piece out of place can delay or completely put a stop to the process.
Delays can put people over budget, cause friction between the builder and other companies, and can make what should be a wonderful time in your life seem like a nightmare.
Now, that might sound a little dramatic, and it should sound that way. You’re investing your money, time, and your life into building a home for your family. It’s important enough to emphasize and be a little dramatic about.
We know what to do, and how to do it from the prewire to installation of components.
As experts in audio and video, we see things others don’t. Not just visually, but mentally. How wires need to be ran in a home, how many, what kind, where each one is going, where they all come together, and how the components added after construction bring the whole project to a seamless close.
We know, by performing a needs analysis, what a customer is wanting and going to expect for their in home entertainment. Whether it’s a few televisions and some surround sound or controlling their curtains with a keypad. Making sure the right wires are where they need to be, or at least in place for future use, so they can enjoy their custom home later is our job.
Our questions are designed to not only cover all the bases, but to cover things the customer may not have even thought of yet. Now we’ve prevented future issues, and possibly made their home even better. That is what we are hired to do.
Because we are the professionals in our field.
You hire a builder to plan and coordinate. You hire an electrician to run the electric. You hire a plumber to run the plumbing. You hire an HVAC specialist to run and install their equipment. You hire a landscaper to make your front yard beautiful.
Why not an A/V specialist to make sure your entertainment is taken care of?
The Samsung Q900 8K QLED television is beautiful, but not everyone wants 2019's top technology.
We know not everyone wants their entire home to be controlled from their phone. Not everyone wants a television in every room and a custom theater with seating and a 4K UHD projector. It’s awesome (of course) and we love doing it, but it’s not every customer’s cup of tea.
Most people WILL have televisions though. A nice one for the main living area, in-ceiling surround sound to enjoy it, and maybe some whole house audio. If they plan on having a covered patio, pool, firepit, or outdoor kitchen they will probably want some music to go with it.
But are they thinking about it during the stressful process of building their home?
Everyone is different, and we understand that televisions, music, surround sound, home automation, and other technology we offer isn’t the first thing on their mind. But just because it’s not the first thing doesn’t mean it won’t be the 4th, 8th, or 12th thing. The problem is by the time you get to the 12th thing..
It’s too late.
Wiring for A/V too late can delay construction and seriously increase your costs.
Just recently, we had a customer contact us. They were building a new home and needed a consultation for a few A/V needs. Electric was done, plumbing was done, HVAC was done, and they were less than a week away from blowing in insulation. Insulation (especially spray foam) can make certain routes impossible for us to get to once it’s done.
In their defense, like we’ve said, they were so caught up with everything else that goes on with building a home that they kept forgetting to call us. When they did, it was barely in time.
This customer wanted a couple of TVs on the patio with a way to control them, along with some outdoor speakers flush mounted in the ceiling of the covered patio and some soffit mounted speakers on another outdoor section. They wanted the ability to stream music or listen to the TVs on the speakers, with wireless control of switching between the two options.
Every TV location in the home, had no coax cable dropped to them. The two patio TVs would have been impossible locations to get coax to once they insulated, let alone the extra wires we needed to run for audio and control or hardwiring into the internet for smart apps. It was the same for the speakers they wanted. Impossible to run wires later or double/triple the amount of labor needed to do it if it could be done.
The closet they wanted to locate the equipment in really would have been impossible to get wires to had we been contacted later.
Even things a customer might usually notice get overlooked. It’s not their fault. When we asked whether they wanted to have TVs mounted on the wall or if they’d have furniture to set them on, which is a normal question for us, they wanted them mounted.
But the electrician had put all the power outlets at TV locations near the floor in the usual spot.
All of these issues and more would have been covered. Taken care of and coordinated by a professional so the customer would have peace of mind. That’s our job. Now, in the end, their home turned out beautiful. Coordinating with the builder and electrician (since we couldn’t get a team out there that quick) we gave them the materials and directions so we had the wires and future access we needed.
It was a close call though.
A preemptive approach to our project designs helps us cover immediate and future customer desires.
We future proof homes all the time when we wire them during construction. Meaning we wire the home using the most up to date, high quality wires, and enough of them to do whatever a customer may want in the future as technology advances. This is what the normal understanding of “future proofing” is.
But we run into a lot of people (a LOT) that go over budget. And let’s face it, there can be more important things for customers to spend their money on while constructing their dream home. So if you’re building, and adding some entertainment may put you over budget..
At least “future” proof your dream home.
Having something in place to use later is a LOT easier (and more affordable) when it comes to running wires in a home. If you want surround sound, but the speakers and equipment may put you over budget, at least get the speaker wire ran and dropped where it needs to be. You can always cut sheetrock later to install the speakers.
If you may want a TV on the patio later but don’t want to buy the TV at that moment, at least make sure power and access is in place to do it.
We can prewire for audio, video, surveillance, networking, automation, etc.. But that doesn’t mean you have to buy all the equipment right away. We’ve had customers come back a decade later finally wanting to do what we prewired for. It also saved them thousands in labor because getting wires around in a finished home can be incredibly difficult or even impossible without remodeling.
It’s our job to not just future proof your home, but “future” proof it. As professionals with a passion for our industry we know how to preemptively design the A/V in your dream home for your future needs and wants.
Some builders, unfortunately, have electricians run A/V wiring to save costs.
Our consultants prefer to be involved before construction begins. We can schedule an in-store consultation with the house plans and design the project from the ground up. This is the best way to make sure everyone is on the same page and gives us plenty of time for modifications.
If you don’t contact us before construction, then an on-site consultation will be required. We can schedule a time to meet with the customer (and builder if needed) for a walk through of the home. From there, developing a game plan after a thorough needs analysis is a priority so we can cover all the bases in your new home.
We do our wiring once electric and HVAC are finished, and before insulation/sheetrock. Being the last one in to run wires allows us to make sure everything is safely routed and secured. That window of opportunity can sometimes be less than a week. Since our technicians normally stayed booked 2 weeks out or more, it is essential you contact us as soon as possible once construction begins.
Note: Our pre-wiring normally includes all structured wiring, structure box, and the d-mark for cable. Some builders unfortunately have electricians do this. If you contact us, please make sure the builder knows we’re getting involved. We prefer to handle all low voltage wiring since our technicians know how to route everything safely together away from anything that may cause interference or premature failure.
Once sheetrock is finished we come back to trim out and install all plates/boxes for the structured wiring. The last visit after trim out will be before you move in to install and program all components of the project’s design.
Free service calls are offered up to 90 days after installation to reprogram or adjust components.
Dennis Mortis II, owner, featured next to a photo of the original storefront.
We have over 100 years of combined experience in the industry between our technicians and have been serving East Texas home owners for over 40 years.
Our passion for this industry is poured into every project we design from small to large. The end goal being that our customers receive reliable entertainment, support, and service as technology moves forward. We strive to not only stay up to date ourselves, but to keep our customer’s homes on top and ahead of the curve to handle the pace at which this industry moves.
You don’t become an expert once in this industry and move on. It’s a day to day, month to month learning experience as new products and services are constantly upgraded and released.
So don’t let your dream home fall behind the day after it’s built. Call us today and schedule a free consultation.