Building a New Home- The Electrical Contractors' Side of the Story
If you are at the stage of building a new home, you are probably one step closer to achieving your dreams. You want your new home to be beautiful, perfect, or awesome, whichever adjective you use to describe what you have dreamt of. Some of the main people who will help you achieve this standard are the electrical contractors. Beautiful homes are not just made of walls and windows. The electrical section of a home plays a huge role in the long-term home's functionality and beauty. You, therefore, want to get everything right on the electronic side of things. Here are a few ways you can help your electrician deliver this.
Planning stage
Many homeowners think of electrical planning as merely the location of switches and sockets for bulbs and appliances. This is true to an extent. If you want the best results from your electrical contractors, it is important to highlight every electrical aspect you envision for your home. You should go over your plans for each room with the contractor during this stage. Envision things like electric fans, type of lighting, built in appliances, electronic entertainment requirements, and amenities such as Jacuzzis, floor heating, and more. Having all this laid out to the contractors during the planning stage helps them design the wiring with the envisioned needs catered for. Irrespective of whether you install all these immediately or later, you will save a lot by having included them in your original plans.
Devices
Another fact that many people do not pay attention to is that you can choose the devices your electrical contractors use. The electrician should consult with you on every other device apart from light fixtures- these you can decide later based on theme and color. You can choose the particular type of switches and sockets you want, the colors of receptacles and dimmers, and even play mix and match with these devices to bring out themes. It would be sad to leave it all up to the contractor and later feel dissatisfied with the look of devices such as wall sockets or switches.
"What does this do?"
This usually comes when all the wiring has been done and tested to your exact specification. Most homeowners forget to consult the electrician once more about all the devices installed and their functions. Do a walkthrough with the contractor and have him or her explain to you what every switch does. Learn where the main panel is located; what breakers control which devices, which dimmers and fan controls are for which rooms, how to set the timers for Christmas lights, and more. It is also good to have them explain your backup generator system (if you have one) and how to operate it. Without this essential last step, many homeowners end up cursing the electrical contractors for having installed things they don't understand in their homes. Save yourself from this phase of life! Do a final walkthrough with your electrical contractors.