New (Big Box Builder) House Help

Will the builder let you run your own cabling and install your own conduits? My builder did, and I saved a ton of money doing it over a weekend. I pulled all my own catv, cat6, speaker wire, and ran a couple conduits to the unfinished basement.

how can they tell you no (insurance/liability?) or at least allow you toget your own licensed contractor to do it? i wouldnt go with the wireless solutions I just dont completely trust them yet.

Having dealt with new construction myself, there are a couple of things to think about. 1. You do not own or have rights to the property until you close on it. The builder owns it and bears all liability as well as the responsibility to pass all inspections. 2. Although the cost may sound high (I only paid $500 to have the HDMI, component video and 7 speaker lines run - I also supplied the 35' HDMI cable and installed my own speakers after moving in), it is still much cheaper to have it done now versus trying to do it later after the construction is done. My mistake was not having a run or tube placed where the HDMI was run - I will need to open up walls to perform any kind of HDMI or other cable upgrade now.

My builder also told me no, but I did it anyway. If you're willing to do that, just be sure and cover the boxes with blank plates until after closing.

I'd wire for more than you think you need, WAY easier to get it in now.

I had mine built in 07 I made it part of the deal up front that I was gonna do all the low voltage myself, the builder balked at it for a while saying the similar stuff about how his electrician knows all about automation/theater and if I wanted it I had to have him do it, but when he realized I was serious about this detail making or breaking the deal and I would find another builder he then reluctantly agreed and just said if any inspections failed or held up progress I would be responsible for whatever time/cost it incurred to the job.

Of course I didn't hold up the build at all, his trades held it up as they do on 99% of home builds, I was supposed to close in August, but it wasn't til December before it was done! Typical.

I came in on two different weekends and built sealed speaker enclosures for the inwall / ceiling speakers, preframed for a rackmount, hdmi and ir feeds for all the tv's in the various rooms, ran dual 2" conduits from attic to crawl for up to down low voltage runs later, and 2" conduit from electric panel to attic to add circuits to the bonus room later when I build it out into a entertainment room. Did all the phone, cable, shielded cat6 network , vc's, whole house speakers, ran interface feeds to the doorbell locations and camera wire to the porches, soffits, garage, and driveway.

I met the electricians over time during the build, cools guys but they told me they had no idea what I was doing, and they use crap-ass 18/2 alarm wire for speakers and cat5 for network, they don't do anything else, the customer has to supply the hdmi if they want it or any other cabling etc, and that they HATE doing any of it.

I ran wires everywhere, although I sold the ElanHD w/ Via system I had when I sold the my old house, and I did not have the home automation equipment nor the budget for the near future but having control wires to door bells, v/c locations, camera locations, and access to easily get wires to the attic or crawl and to the electric panels makes it for an easy thing to add in automation and various media devices in the future.

In the end the builder admitted to being impressed, and that he had no clue what I was doing, and he could not have provided any of what I did.

Long story short, the advice is to work out these details BEFORE YOU SIGN THE CONTRACT. Most builders will give in to keep the job, as long as you sound confident and make him understand that you know the local codes to what you can and can't do. (stuff like not drilling through pre-lam beams or pulling wire through the same holes electrical already go through, etc..)

GOOD LUCK on the new house OP, for the future additions you may just need to learn the ART OF FISHING, you can do alot with minimal damage if you really try.

PS to all: CONDUIT is the ONLY thing that is close to futureproof for wiring a new home.