Electric Slide

We haven't had our "electrical" meeting yet, and I'm unsure if adding outlets later, as in, after the 30 day window, will count towards a "order" change or not. Thus resulting in the cost of the outlet and the cost of the order change.

I was looking at the electrical plans, and trying to figure out what all of the  dotted lines and dashed lines and squiggly lines meant, in terms of will we have enough outlets and what light switches will control what, etc.,

Yes, this line means, ummm...flux capacitor?

I am (or was?) hoping that we wouldn't have to decide on how many outlets, or even ceiling fan rough-ins, until the house frame was up, and we could better visualize the room layouts. And even then, I'm hoping that it'll be the case where I/we can go to the PM and say "we would like for this switch panel to control these lights and for that switch panel to control those lights", etc.,

On top of that, I wish (wonder?), that I could give them recessed outlet plates and have the electricians install them at certain places, instead of the standard ones.

This isn't the exact plate I'd like, but it's close

I know that I want to have an outlet on each side of our kitchen island.
I want an outlet in our master bedroom closet.
I want an outlet in the garage. You know, the funky looking kind for a deep freezer.

Finally, I think I'm picky on what lights can control where from what? Yes, that was probably confusing, but you know what I mean I bet!

For instance, some switches will be tied together in a common sense way *judging by the blueprint*. Meaning, the foyer light should be able to be controlled from the top of the stairs and the bottom. Same as the basement hall light, and so on. But until I'm actually in the house and can confirm with the electrician (or PM) what light panels allow me to control which lights, then I'm kind of in the dark--literally! (See what I did there?)



So, my fiance' thinks we need to sit down with our SR now, and sort these questions out. Otherwise, we'll risk being dinged for "change orders" later. So being better safe than sorry, I'll set that meeting up ASAP.

The Guardian (low-voltage wiring) appointment

Our Guardian appointment was with the HS Technology group, who are in responsible for helping you decide on the wiring for your new homes' audio, networking, cable, and security needs.
As an electrical engineer, I stem from a breed of folk who tend to be O.C.D. about, well, electricity and wiring, IT, and home networks, etc.. I'm also (no surprise) a gamer (when life allows), and to that extent, so is my youngest son.

Between us two heavy internet users, along with the world of streaming, and two plus other people in the house, let's just say I had specific ideas on how we'd set up our dream home and man cave for optimal efficiency! After reading other bloggers' posts about the Guardian appointment and their experience, I had somewhat of an idea of what to expect and what they actually could and would do.

So while I sort of was hoping for them to help me achieve something like this:

What I thought of when envisioning the Guardian appointment

At the end of the appointment, it turned out to be something more along the lines of this:

Much better idea then what I had in mind, and way more cost efficient

As mentioned, I'd be as transparent as possible with prices, and thus here's a link to the pamphlet that was sent to me: Ryan Homes: Low-voltage pricing

In an ideal world, with unlimited money, I would have had HST do a lot more. After all, they showed us a room they've done that looks like this:

It's actually more impressive in person

That's not to mention what's in store when you walk into their bathroom (also, equally impressive!!!).

Well, we went into the meeting with somewhat of a very reasonable budget and idea of what we wanted to do in each of the 4 major categories as we saw them:

1. TV placement
2. Home Audio
3. Networking
4. Home Security

After arriving at our appointment, we were greeted by Paul, who was, fantastic as a consultant. If there was a rating sheet or survey for him, he'd get a 10/10. No pushiness. Nice order and flow to helping him walk through each of the major categories. And he took the time to explain what can and can't be done, including an extended tutorial of helping Ashley visualize where the wires went when it came to TV mounting!

Ashely before meeting with Paul

When it was all said and done, due to budgetary constraints, we selected the following:

• 2 HDTV pre-wires (family room and master bedroom)
• 3  CAT6 outlets
• 6 RG6 (cable) outlets (1 for each bedroom and one for the family room)
• 1 pair of speakers in the family room
• 1 pair of speakers in the kitchen

The rationale behind our selections went something like:

• Let's get the TV mounted over the fireplace in the family room and master bedroom. In my mind, we're just paying them to hide the cords. In the other rooms, we'll just have to be clever about TV and wire placement.
• CAT6 outlets in the family room, master bedroom, and living room (which will become my study)
• Cable outlets in each room
• Since we wanted speakers (or at least the wiring) in the family room, it made sense to also get speakers in the kitchen so people (and the morning room I suppose) don't or won't have to ear hustle to hear what's going coming out of the family room speakers!
• Editors note: I think, We elected to have the router placed in the basement as a central location from which we can route the LAN cables to the family room, MBR, and office. I just can't remember if it's there in the basement, or upstairs in the living room (office)

We left the meeting under budget, and feeling good about our selections. I need to clear one or two things up (such as where exactly did I have the router placed?) and whether we get in wall/ceiling speakers. However, those are things that can be addressed at pre-drywall!