Why homebuyers lose confidence in mid-level integration projects, and what builders need to do to guarantee success

Those $150,000 dedicated theater rooms and other ultra-luxury automation projects receive a lot of press. But the bread and butter of our industry are those $5000 or $10,000 installations: monitored security systems, simple lighting controls, computer networking, and basic distributed audio-video. Unfortunately, these midrange installations also tend to be the biggest disappointments for homebuyers. Too often homewoners "buy in" based on what they've been told by their builders, but wind up with something that they can't learn to use, or worse, won't do what it's supposed to do. The problem is compounded by uneducated salespeople that sell features and benefits they don't understand, poor planning, unqualified installers prewiring the projects incorrectly, and schedules that leave little or no time for buyer orientation and training. The end result is a black eye on the entire industry and consumers who are gun-shy of new technology sales pitches.

We asked several leading integrators what builders are doing wrong, and what they need to change to make sure their mid-level home technology efforts are successful.

Wiring with the end in mind

Ask any integrator to name the biggest sin a builder can commit on low-voltage systems, and the answer will be "improper prewiring." But the problem is more fundamental than just using the wrong kind of cable or installing it incorrectly. Andy Himmer, President of Audio Video Experience, Inc. and Taps Multi-Media in Salem, NH (www.tapsmultimedia.com), has made it his personal mission to educate builders and remodelers who are selling automation and networking services. Having grown up in and around the building business, Himmer, who is a CEDIA-certified designer (www.cedia.net), knows what it takes for builders to pull off midrange automation projects, and is often called in after the fact by homeowners wanting to rescue the failed installation started by their builders.

Himmer says a good prewire package has to begin with the system design. "There's no way a builder can properly prewire a project unless they've done a thorough needs analysis of the situation, with either their custom clients, or in the case of production builders, with their production and marketing departments."

According to Himmer, the prewire is just the vehicle to get the client the lifestyle they're looking for. "If they say they want to download MP3 files to their vehicle, it's up to the system designer to know what wires need to be pulled to the garage, and the devices that will need to be installed to make it happen. Most buyers don't care about the nuts and bolts, they just want it to work."

And apparently, many builders, and their installers, don't care about the nuts and bolts either. Himmer cites case after case where the installer has put in a few runs of Cat 5 and coax haphazardly, and the builder has sold the home as "network ready" or "home automation-equipped."

"We see every violation of good workmanship you can imagine," says Himmer. "Daisy-chained cable instead of home runs, screw terminals instead of punch-down blocks, low-voltage cable run through the same holes as the 110-volt wiring. And this is from installers who should know better—electricians delving into low-voltage and security installers."

Other integrators tell a similar tale. Frank DeFilippis, a managing partner in Norcross, Georgia, "Link Your House, Inc." (www.linkyourhouse.com), recalls a recent project his company was involved in. The customer [Larry Evans of Smyrna, Georgia had recently moved into, a new custom home, which had supposedly been "pre-wired" for low-voltage automation, security, and distributed audio-video systems. But when he, Mr. Evans, called the builder back in to discuss actually installing components on the system, the conversation raised more questions than it answered.

"The builder had built a very nice home, but did not understand the low-voltage systems he had sold the client," says DeFilippis. "Like many builders, he had given lip service to ‘home automation' by pulling some wire, but had no clue how to proceed beyond that. "

To finish the $6700 installation, Link Your Home had to reverse-engineer the existing prewire. "We spent a week onsite ‘ringing out' and labeling cables, pulling extra cable where it was necessary, and creating documentation that should have been part of what the builder left behind in the first place." says DeFilippis.

Gaining control

Most homeowners buying midrange systems are not technophiles, so they need things simplified to the level of other devices or appliances in their homes. "They want to be able to push a button that says ‘play' and hear music, and another button that says ‘arm' to set their security system," according to Andy Himmer. "It takes good controls to make that possible."

High-end integrators have the talent and budgets to design simplicity into very complicated systems, but Himmer finds that adequate controls are the first thing to be left behind in a midrange system. "The control issue has to be addressed on several fronts. First is the prewire. Most builders don't realize that it's not good enough to just run some speaker wire—you also have to be able to control the volume of those speakers. You may want to eventually add some A-bus components, or Internet radio distribution, and that requires Cat 5 as well."

Next is the actual selection of equipment. "A rack full of home theater and audio components, each with its own remote control, is not an integrated system. It's our job to educate builders, and their buyers, on why they need to spend $500 on a programmable wireless remote control, and another $1000 to have us do the programming. Controls are the glue that holds a system together."

In high-end systems, good controls are a given. The budget exists for whole-house servers and intuitive touchscreens such as those made by Crestron (www.crestron.com). But what about in the midrange project? Himmer relies heavily on two product lines: the Harmony Remote (www.harmonyremote.com) and the Philips Pronto Remote (www.pronto.philips.com). "Between the Harmony, which is our budget ($2–300) solution, and the Pronto ($6–800) we can give our users the integrated control they need, and duplicate the core functionality of high-end systems costing thousands of dollars more."

Dale Wojahn of ESP Automation in Sioux Falls, SD (http://www.espautomation.com www.espautomation.com]), often uses the Omni series of integrated security/lighting/HVAC products from HAI (www.homeauto.com) for midrange security/automation projects. "The blending of security and home automation in the HAI gear allows many life-enhancing features that require almost no action from the homeowner. Once they get the hang of using the security system, all of their main automation features are mastered as well.

Managing the schedule Wojahn works both directly for end users, and for homebuilders. He thinks one of the main reasons customers are dissatisfied with their installations is because their builders don't understand the impact of adding home automation and networking on the rest of their schedule.

"We'll often get a call from a builder asking us to contact one of their buyers about a complicated custom automation job, with the stipulation of 'Oh, by the way, I'm drywalling in two weeks,' " says Wojahn. "They don't leave enough time to adequately plan the job, much less complete the prewire. Buyers aren't happy when they feel rushed."

And the end of the project is even worse. "Builders need to realize that we have to come back in to set and test devices after nearly everything else is complete. We can't even start our finish work until the painting is done and cabinets are installed," says Wojahn. "Ideally, we would like to have everything in, tested, and working where we can orient the user before they close on the house, and then come back a week or two after they've moved in for a refresher course."

More often than not, the builder simply assumes that automation/networking trim out is no different than mounting cover plates or heating registers, but it's a totally different animal that requires its own slot on the schedule. If it increases a builder's costs, then that needs to be calculated into the system pricing. According to Wojahn, "it's far better to add a few dollars to the system price to cover the extra time, than to have a homeowner who is afraid to arm their security system because there wasn't time to properly orient and train them."

Relying on the experts

All the integrators emphasized one thing: It's critical that builders understand exactly what it is they're selling, but that understanding may be beyond what is practical for the builder to maintain in-house. "There's no reason a builder shouldn't be able to set up some basic systems as part of their standard offerings, but once you get into custom work, builders might want to consider partnering with integrators who are set up to maintain that highly specialized product knowledge," says Himmer.

Take the Cressey Home in Ramona, California. The buyers, Rod and Anne Cressey, were building a semi-custom retirement home. Being an employee of Sun Microsystems, Mr. Cressey was well aware of high-tech products on the market. The couple wanted their home to have shared Internet, high-definition television, and distributed audio-video. The problem was that their building site was very rural, well outside of the range of traditional services.

The builder, Evenson Construction of Ramona, CA, settled on We Wire It, Inc. (www.wewireitinc.com) because of the firm's extensive background in computer networking and information/entertainment satellite systems.

"In this case the remote location of the project and the lack of cable and broadband services required us to use our specialized knowledge to design the system." says Julie Frisno of We Wire It. "In our explanations of the system to Mr. Cressey, we were able to completely explain the advantages and disadvantages of the system we were specifying based on our experience with rural clients. This paved the way for trust, which is the most important aspect of the client relationship. Clients do not necessarily have to understand every aspect of the project, but your rationale for doing things one way over another does have to make sense, and they have to have confidence in your ability to complete the job."

The Cressey job, which totaled just under $10,000 including a prewire of $2,740, included name-brand components from Siemons (panel), Russound (distribution amps and control pads), Jamo (in-ceiling speakers), and satellite components from DirecTV/DirecPC.

The Cressey installation also required integrating home audio components provided by the owners—a practice that, given a choice, nearly all integrators would like to avoid. According to Andy Himmer, "We've all had to deal with it, but owner-provided gear can be a real problem. You can do a perfect job in all stages of planning, wiring, and integration, and have the whole thing unravel when you tell the owner they need $1,500 of specialized equipment to make their $300 ‘theatre in a box' work with the rest of the system. Builders normally aren't aware of the differences between components, so they [incorrectly] tell the homebuyers that whatever they have will work. Then we have to be the bad guys and tell them it won't, which can lead to a lot of bad feelings."

Himmer recommends that builders set up equipment packages based on items that are readily available and supported in their area. "Don't offer Bose (or any brand) unless you know for sure there is a Bose-certified supplier in your area who can take care of you. Just because a buyer saw something on television doesn't mean you'll be able to support it."

Joe Stoddard is a nationally known author, lecturer, and consultant to the building industry, who teaches contractors to "Separate the Bytes from the BS" and get the most from their technology investments. For private help, contact him by e-mail at jstoddard@mountainconsulting.com.