What to sort out before the drywall goes up

2 min read ·

First fix is the cheapest electrical work anyone ever buys. The cable is inexpensive, the walls are open, and nothing has to be broken to reach anything. Once the drywall is up, every one of those decisions costs ten times as much to change.

Walk the rooms with the furniture plan

Outlet positions look arbitrary on a floor plan and obvious once you know where the bed and the sofa go. Walk each room with the layout and mark the positions on the studs. Pay attention to the wall behind doors, which almost always ends up with an outlet nobody can reach.

Decide the lighting layers now

Ambient, task and accent lighting each need their own switch drop and cable run. You can choose the actual fittings months later; the cable has to go in now.

Adding the third lighting layer at first fix costs a few hundred dollars. Adding it after decorating means chasing a finished wall.

Run more than you need

Data to the two places a desk might go. A neutral to every switch position, so smart switches remain an option. A spare conduit from the panel to the loft. A circuit to the garage even if it is currently full of boxes. None of these are expensive while the walls are open.

Photograph everything before the boards go on

Take pictures of every wall with a tape measure in frame. In five years, when someone wants to hang a shelf or move a socket, those photographs are worth more than any drawing.

Book the inspection early

First fix has to be inspected before it is covered. Schedule it when the plasterer is booked, not after, so the trades do not end up waiting on each other.

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