Prewire Services

Smart Home Automation Pre-Wiring

Smart Home Pre Wire

One of the most attractive aspects of living in a smart home is living in a home that’s free of clutter. All the necessary wire and hardware are hidden behind walls and in closets. The most cost effective and efficient time to wire for the systems you want now as well as the systems you may want to add down the road is during construction.

Become Future Ready

It’s true that we can’t plan for everything. We do, however, know what types of wiring will be most useful. Pre-wiring also allows homeowners a little room for growth. Perhaps you don’t want surveillance cameras, distributed video or speakers in certain rooms (right now), but with the proper wiring in place you can add them in a snap.

Increase Resale Value

Maybe you’re not interested in a fully functional smart home, but the next person buying your house could be. When buyers are making the tough decision about which house to buy, the home that gives them flexibility and options for home theater, communications and security needs will show better than non-wired comparable homes. According to a survey by Coldwell Banker Real Estate smart homes are increasingly desirable and tend to sell faster for above market value.

Hidden Wires

Pre-wiring for a smart home not only hides cables, it allows you to create a centralized hub. You can stack and store equipment, like AV receivers and amplifiers, in one place. Better yet, you can have it all conveniently located in a closet or cabinet that is out of sight.

What Should We Pre-Wire For?

Home automation is changing the way we live in our homes. If you think you’d like to make your home smarter in the future, pre-wiring is a great first step to take.

We recommend that you consider pre-wiring for networking, telephone, alarms systems, cameras, whole home audio, surround sound, utility feed, pool control, garage door, sprinkler controls, automated shades, touch control panels and video doorbells to name a few things. Our pre-design consultation will help you determine what is important to you.

Network And Wi-Fi Pre-Wiring

Your network can be set up wirelessly using a Mesh, but you will always find a stronger, more stable result through a wired system.

You won’t have a wireless limit on how much information can be transmitted. Hardwired network design multiplies the level of bandwidth capability.

Plan For Future Fiber

Unlike most cities, Houston Texas is a "High Speed" network city and we need to prepare for this during construction if we want to take advantage of these speeds.

Think About Upgrades

Think ahead by FIRST adding a conduit run from the DMARK or service location to an attic area you can reach after the home is built. THEN add a second conduit from that same attic to your Structured wiring panel.

Security Pre-Wiring

Your security system can be installed using wireless methods after the home is built, but you will always have a more reliable result through a wired security system. Wireless systems need to have all batteries replaced once a year on all devices and contacts. Pre-Wired Security systems have almost no yearly maintenance. You can pre-wire a security system while you build and wait to implement the security monitoring later. Wireless Security systems cost more than a wired security system

If reliable device connectivity is a priority in your new home, pre-wiring for data is the only way to make this happen.

100% Wifi Coverage

So many smart devices need strong WiFi signals to operate and update properly. We recommend adding a Cat6 network wire to all rooms that you want great performance in. Large homes depend on every room being wired for WiFi.

Audio Visual Pre-Wiring

Audio Visual pre-wiring is the best practice if you want to add TV and music to rooms in the future. You can pre-wire as many rooms as you want, giving you the freedom to install a new system down the road.

Now Is The Time

Building a house is expensive and we understand the urge to cut back on the little things like low voltage. BUT... Adding an additional single wire during pre-construction costs $50. So why not add that extra wifi access point to a room you think may become an office someday? It's a no brainer.

HOME AUTOMATION PREWIRE LAYOUT PACKAGES

We create layouts to help you prewire your smart home system using our many years of home automation design and prewire experience as well as industry wiring standards.

Generic Layouts $195

• Layouts on plans based on common practice
• One Revision

Send us the plans to your home and we will layout a smart home system based on our typical client wishlist and industry standards. Using our Prewire Guide for Structured Cabling you should be able to take this pre-wire to completion. It will generally include the following:

• Whole Home Audio System
• One or More Surround Sound Zones
• Allotments for In-Wall Controls
• Wireless Networking Prewire
• Control Wiring for Various Smart Features
• Cable TV & Telephone Structured Cabling
• Cellular Booster Prewire
• Service Feeds From The The Point Of Entrance To the Demarcation - Usually An Equipment Closet

Custom Layouts $349

• 1 Hour consultation prior to creation
• Customized Device Layout on Plan
• 30 Minute consultation after delivery
• 1 Revision Included

The customized layouts include everything that the generic layouts include, but it allows for a 1 hour consultation prior to marking up your plans. During this conversation we will generate a wishlist of all possible items you wish to include so that you may prepare for them. If you have special features like a front entry gate, pool or irrigation system control, or have particular devices in mind, this is the recommended package.

Custom Layouts with Support $495

• 1 Hour consultation prior to creation
• Customized Layout on Plan
• 30 Minute consultation after each delivery
• 2 Revisions Included
• Material List and Procurement Assistance
• Prewire phone support for you or your installer

The support package includes everything that the standard customized layouts package includes, but it comes with more revisions and consultation time. We will also help you procure materials by making estimates on quantities and recommendation of cables. You may also purchase cables from us at only 10% markup. Most importantly, it includes phone support for all prewire related questions.

Limitations

These packages don’t include system design. This means that we will not put together a system with a scope of work or bill of materials. This is a different service that we offer, and it is different from prewire layouts.

The prewire layouts are intended to wire your house for what you might want, leaving you flexible for many different types of actual installations.

Lighting system design and layout are also not included. This is also a separate service and another one that we would be happy to perform. In fact, we can lay everything out on the same plan.

If you are also interested in system design or lighting design it is available. Please contact us.