Homeowner's one comment changed how I terminate every drop

Guy in Reno watched me punch down a wall plate and said, "You're leaving too much slack, it looks lazy." I always left a foot of loop behind the drywall. He wanted it tight, less than 4 inches. Now I cut everything to length before I even pull the cable. Slower at first, but I've reworked maybe 10 percent fewer service calls since I switched 6 months back. Anyone else get a random critique that actually stuck with you?

1 comments

1 Comment

hayden58724d ago

Man, I gotta push back on that one. Tight loops behind the wall are a nightmare if anything ever shifts or if you need to re-terminate after a drywall screw hits the wrong spot. That homeowner's not thinking about the next guy, he's just staring at the box like it's a work of art. You're setting yourself up for a bigger headache later when you can't pull enough slack to fix a bad cut or move the box out a half inch. Service calls might be down, but your frustration level on rework is probably gonna spike when you actually need that extra cable. I'd rather have a lazy looking loop and a cable that's actually usable than a pretty install that's one mistake away from a full re-pull.