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A customer's comment about wire placement changed my whole rough-in process | Alarm System Installers - Free To Speak

A customer's comment about wire placement changed my whole rough-in process

Last month in Columbus, a homeowner watched me zip-tie cables along the studs and asked why I wasn't running them through the center of the bays. I shrugged it off at first, but then they mentioned their last installer had a service call every year for rodent chews near the wall edge. I started drilling holes dead center on every run since then, and it only adds maybe 3 minutes per zone. Plus it keeps the drywall guys from nicking wires when they screw panels on. Has anyone else gotten useful feedback from a customer that actually stuck?

2 comments

2 Comments

pat_moore1mo ago

My cousin runs a service van in Cincinnati and he had the same lightbulb moment after a customer pointed out a chewed line behind their baseboard heater. That year he started pulling cables through the middle of the studs on every rough-in and his callback rate dropped like a rock. Sometimes the folks watching us work see stuff we're too busy to notice, and it's worth giving their ideas a real shot.

wendy8201mo ago

Wait, pulling cables through the middle of the studs is code around here, not just a good habit. If you run them along the face of the studs, you need those nail plates anyway, and even then a stray screw from drywall or baseboard can still tag a line. Your cousin's customer probably saved him from a call that would've been a real headache to fix. Chewed lines are usually mice or rats going after the insulation on the wire, not the wire itself, so running it deeper just makes it harder for them to reach. Good on him for listening, but that's less of a lightbulb moment and more of a standard practice that a lot of guys skip.