Can we talk about how we viewed crawl space jobs years ago?

I remember thinking crawl spaces were just a quick in and out deal. We'd zip through with coaxial, not worrying much about future access. Then I had a job where the customer wanted to add security cameras later, and our old runs were a mess. It took twice as long to fish new lines because we didn't leave pull strings or extra slack. Now I always take the time to organize and label everything down there. It saves headaches for the next guy, maybe even me. Funny how a little extra effort back then makes all the difference now.

3 comments

3 Comments

wesleyl5328d ago

That's a pretty short sighted way to look at it. Even if the next tech is from another company, a clean job makes you look good and gets you referrals. Plus, pulling new cable around a tangled mess is way harder, which the customer will notice and complain about. It's not about the cables being outdated, it's about not creating a rat's nest that blocks future work.

casey_ramirez351mo ago

Honestly, that extra effort is mostly wasted time and money. Most customers just want the cheapest install done yesterday. They aren't paying for you to future-proof their crawl space with perfect bundles and labels. Half the time, the tech who comes out next is just going to run all new stuff anyway because the old cables are outdated. I've seen brand new Cat6 runs get ripped out for fiber two years later. That "next guy" you're helping is probably working for a different company. Do the job you're paid for now and move on.

sarah_fox331mo ago

Check how many service calls come from sloppy installs. I fixed a mess last month where unlabeled cables caused a full day outage. The customer paid double for the emergency fix. If the first tech had bundled and tagged, it would have been a 30 minute job. That lost time and money hurts your company's name. Doing it right the first time keeps clients from switching to competitors.