The best time to wire a smart home is before drywall goes up. In-ceiling speakers, Cat6 network runs, lighting control rough-in, and security pre-wire — all done cleanly during your build for a fraction of the retrofit cost.
There’s a single window in every build when adding smart home infrastructure costs almost nothing: the rough-in phase, when walls are open and every wire just runs through open studs. Miss that window and the same wire run costs 5–10x more — walls have to be opened, patched, and repainted. Running speaker wire in an open wall takes 20 minutes. In a finished wall with insulation, it can take most of a day. We schedule around your framing timeline and get it done before drywall goes up.
We review your floor plan, discuss what systems you want now vs. in the future, and mark up a wiring diagram. We tell you every location we need an outlet rough-in, every wall we need access to, and exactly what your electrician needs to run from their panel. You bring this to your builder and electrician — they know exactly what to expect from us.
We arrive after framing is complete and before insulation or drywall. We run all low-voltage wiring: Cat6 to every room, speaker wire to every audio location, coax or HDMI conduit to TV walls, security sensor wire to every door and window, and network backbone wire to the utility room. All wires are labeled and terminated at rough-in locations. Takes 1–3 days depending on scope.
We return after the home is painted to install the finished hardware: in-ceiling speakers, wall plates, network patch panel, structured wiring panel, smart switches, and any AV equipment. Everything is terminated, tested, and configured. You get a fully functional smart home system on move-in day — not a project to tackle later.
We walk through every system with you: how to add devices, how automations work, how to access remote management. You move in with a complete, working smart home — not a list of things to figure out. We provide ongoing support and are one call away if anything needs adjustment.
A central termination point for all network, cable TV, and phone runs. Every Cat6 and coax in the house runs back to this panel in a utility room or closet. Makes future upgrades, troubleshooting, and additions simple — instead of hunting for where a cable goes. Non-negotiable for any smart home build.
At least one Cat6 run to every room, two to rooms with desks or TVs, four to the main living area and primary bedroom. Wired connections for access points, smart TVs, gaming, and desktops are faster and more reliable than WiFi. The most future-proof thing you can do in a new build. Cost during rough-in: almost nothing.
Speaker wire to living room, kitchen, primary bedroom, outdoor patio, and any other rooms you might want audio — even if you don’t install speakers at move-in. Wire is $0.20/ft. Retrofitting it later through finished walls costs hundreds per room. We can mark the ceiling locations, wire them, and leave blank plates until you’re ready.
Two-conductor wire to every exterior door and window rough-in location. Enables hardwired security sensors on every entry point — significantly more reliable than wireless sensors that need batteries. Whether you use a professional alarm company or a DIY system, the pre-wire is the same and costs almost nothing during framing.
For every TV location: a 1” conduit in the wall for HDMI and cable runs, plus an outlet behind the TV and at the floor below it. No visible cables ever. Once drywall goes up, in-wall conduit is essentially the only clean solution — surface-mounted raceways look permanent and unprofessional.
For homes planning a full lighting control system (Lutron RA2 Select, Caseta, etc.), we pre-wire for Lutron keypads and ensure neutral wires are present at switch locations. Most smart switches require a neutral wire that many builders don’t include by default. A simple specification change during rough-in avoids an expensive fix after the fact.
Speaker wire to patio, deck, pool area, and garage. Outdoor speaker wire in a finished home means drilling through walls and exterior siding — messy and expensive. During framing it’s just another wire run. Pair with outdoor landscape speakers or in-wall outdoor speakers after move-in.
For a dedicated home theater room: HDMI 2.1 conduit, speaker wire for 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos layout (ceiling and wall positions), projector conduit to screen wall, and a dedicated 20A circuit for AV equipment. A media room built during rough-in is dramatically cleaner than any retrofit.
These are build-phase costs only. Hardware (speakers, TVs, smart switches, etc.) is priced separately at trim-out.
Structured wiring panel, Cat6 to every room (2 per high-use room), coax where needed, TV wall conduit at each TV location, and outlet placement coordination. Covers the network backbone every smart home needs. Most cost-effective investment per dollar during a build.
Everything in Foundation plus: speaker wire to 4–6 rooms + patio, security sensor pre-wire at all exterior doors and windows, outdoor speaker rough-in, and neutral wire at switch locations for smart dimmer compatibility. Covers the complete smart home infrastructure.
Complete custom specification including whole-home audio rough-in, media room pre-wire for Atmos layout, Lutron lighting control wiring, dedicated network backbone, full security pre-wire, and in-wall display conduit. Includes trim-out visit for hardware installation and configuration at move-in.
Rough-in pricing covers labor and low-voltage materials (wire, boxes, conduit, patch panels). Finished hardware (speakers, smart switches, access points, displays, AV equipment) is quoted separately for the trim-out phase. All prices are for typical Lancaster County home sizes; larger or more complex builds are quoted individually.
Call us while your plans are still on paper. We’ll walk through your floor plan, tell you exactly what to wire, and give you a clear scope to bring to your builder. One conversation now saves thousands later.
Or email info@unifiedintegrationpa.com
