Prestart with Tarina: Electrical and cabling
It’s time to talk Prestart.
If you’re new to the building process you may ask ‘what is Prestart?’.
Well, it’s the appointment you’ve been waiting for. Prestart is where you choose all the colours and finishes that will make up your dream home (exciting, right?).
Prestart is where you can really imagine your home coming to life.
It’s here that you’ll choose the kitchen benchtop to prepare your favourite meals on, the bathroom tile you’ll admire in the morning as you get ready, the external colours that people will compliment as they walk past ?
Prestart is also where you’ll finalise the smaller details in your home, like the power point and lighting placements. These might seem like small decisions compared to the exciting colour choices, but trust us, these are decisions you’ll appreciate having thought about in the long run.
With this in mind, we asked our resident Interior Decorator, Tarina of oh.eight.oh.nine, who is currently building her second Homebuyers Centre home (she had so much fun the first time, she’s decided to do it again), for her best tips and tricks when it comes to Prestart. Specifically, where to spend and save money during Prestart.
Having gone through this process with her own home once before, and of course, with our Homebuyers Centre display homes, Tarina could be considered an expert, so who better to turn to for advice?
Check out Tarina’s advice of where to splurge when it comes to Electrical and Cabling, starting with power points!
You may be thinking, why would I give power point placement any thought? Well, when you’re messing around with extension cords and double adaptors, you’ll regret having dismissed the topic!
Your chosen home design comes with a pre-selected number of power points. But, like Tarina points out, for a little extra you can add GPO’s (our fancy word for power points) during Prestart.
You can also adjust heights of your GPO’s to best suit your decor and lifestyle.
E.g. Planning to mount your TV to the wall? Avoid the messy cords hanging out from behind the T.V. and raise the power point to behind the tv. Mess gone!
Tarina’s GPO suggestions and locations to think about:
Where you charge your mobile phone frequently, outside of the bedroom
Maybe it’s when you’re sitting on the couch or a hallway table?
In the corner of the living room for a floor lamp or your Christmas tree lights.
Can’t forget about the Christmas Tree
Either side of a bed in each room.
Nice to have a lamp each rather than getting out of your cosy bed to turn out the lights.
“Another handy tip is to move the fridge GPO higher to sit behind the overheads above (if you have any.) This way the fridge sits further back in the recess and doesn’t stick out as much- Check how long your fridge cord is before committing to the higher location though.”
Definitely something to think about!
Another thing to budget for… Conduits!
What are conduits you ask?
Simply put Conduits are “a channel in the wall to run (hide) the cables, cords and wires” (thanks Tarina ?). They can also be put in the ceilings for lighting.
Budgeting and installing conduits during Prestart allows you to make decisions about wall mounted TV’s, pendant lighting or speaker systems later, but at least you have the option easily and readily available.
Installing wires/cables without a conduit in a single cavity wall (internal wall) after construction is a lot more work… we don’t want to get into all the technical details, just trust us, pre-planning during Prestart avoids the headache down the track.
All of these decisions might seem overwhelming but don’t stress! Refer back to all the tips listed above and think about what suits you and your lifestyle. You don’t have to have all the answers to every power point placement, lighting placement before Prestart, because during your appointment you’ll be guided by one of our lovely Prestart Consultants. They’re the pro’s!
They will be there to help you and figure out what will suit you and your home (and hopefully avoid decision fatigue, so you can breathe out sigh of relief).
Stay tuned for other handy building tips from Tarina.
We can’t wait to see you at Prestart!
Follow Tarina’s building journey
Pre-Construction With Tarina
Come along for the ride as Tarina builds her second home with Homebuyers Centre
Join Tarina, from oh.eight.oh.nine, on her Building Journey with Homebuyers Centre!