What Your Electrician Wishes You Knew - Trade Secrets

Every renovation has an electrician - and this episode is packed full of things they wish you knew.

In the first episode of our new Trade Secrets series, we're joined by Ronan Byrne from Eleven Electrical to uncover the five biggest lessons homeowners should know before planning their electrical work. From socket positions and lighting layouts to future-proofing and avoiding costly mistakes, this episode is packed with practical advice that can save you time, money and years of frustration. 

What we cover

•  Why you need to plan furniture layouts much earlier than you think 
•  How bed positions, sofas and TVs affect socket placement 
•  What is worth spending money
•  Where you should save
•  The most common mistakes homeowners make - and how to avoid them
•  The importance of sharing updated drawings and communicating changes quickly 
•  Why electrical walkthroughs are one of the most important stages of a renovation 
•  Lighting, switching, Wi-Fi points, demister pads and all the details that are easy to overlook 

Key takeaways

•  Plan rooms around how you'll actually use them 
•  Future-proof while walls are open 
•  Communicate changes early and often 
•  Walk through every room before first fix 
•  Remember: you're the one who has to live with the decisions 

This episode is a practical guide to creating an electrical plan that works not just on paper, but in real life.

Follow the podcast on Instagram @ripitup_podcast_official, or follow us - Jenny is @workerscottage and Kate is @victorianrathmines

Transcript

# Electrician Episode

[00:00:00] 

**Jennifer:** Welcome to our new season, Trade Secrets

**Kate:** We're handing the microphone to the people who actually build, wire, plumb, and finish our homes

**Jennifer:** And we're asking them, what are the top five things that every home renovator should know?

**Kate:** The mistakes to avoid, the money worth spending, and tips to make every renovation run a little more smoothly 

**Jennifer:** Welcome back to the podcast. Hi, Kate.

**Kate:** Hi Jen

**Jennifer:** New season, uh, Trade Secrets, and we're gonna start with the electrician.

**Kate:** Mm-hmm.

**Jennifer:** trade.

**Kate:** I would say my favorite to deal with, I'm sorry to all other trades, but like I always find electricians are just a pleasure and a dream to deal with. They just cause the least amount of trouble.

**Jennifer:** Why? Yeah, I, and, and I don't know, I don't know why but I'm the same. I just, uh, always had a great experience with the electrician.

**Kate:** They always, they always feel very organized to me. I don't know. They always just come so prepared. Maybe it's because their work starts when some of the dirtier work has been finished, but, like, they always feel like they've got their shit together, in fairness to [00:01:00] them

**Jennifer:** Now, if you're listening and you're another trade, and you're fuming, and you feel

**Kate:** Sorry.

**Jennifer:** sorry. Come and state your case.

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** okay. So as we said in the intro, what

**Kate:** Mm-hmm.

**Jennifer:** with this season is we are talking to the tradespeople, um, to get their top tips to make your home renovation go as easy as possible. These are the best trades that we, uh, that we know, that we've

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** um, our renovations, and we're asking them kinda similar variations at the same five questions, right? So, uh, what should people plan

**Kate:** I didn't tell you last night, Mark and I went out to dinner

**Jennifer:** waste money? Where should you save money? Um, how do you make things go smoothly, and what are the big mistakes to avoid?

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** first up, we

**Kate:** First off is my electrician actually, Ronan. Uh, so he is, if you wanna find him on Instagram, he is 11 Electrical. And, uh, Ronan was a dream to deal with, to be honest. Um, one of the most thorough [00:02:00] trades that I had dealt with in my renovation. He just made that section of it so easy, and we're gonna ask him the questions today, get his tips

**Jennifer:** All right, so let's get into it.

**Kate:** Yeah.

Yeah

**Jennifer:** should people, uh, plan earlier than they think?

**Kate:** Hmm. So I'm gonna play, we're gonna play Ronan's answers for each one of these, and then we might kinda unpack them after. I think that's probably the easiest way to go through things. So I'm gonna play his answer, and then we'll see what you think

Plan this earlier than you think. I would say know your layout for each room. So bedrooms, you want bed positions, bed sizes. It might start out as a single bed, but then go to a double bed, and you don't want a room that might only have three sockets, the bed now covers one of them. So just things like that you need to think of.

The same with, uh, TV positions and couches. You know, you put the couch in a room, [00:03:00] next thing you see an extension lead sticking out the bottom of the couch 'cause the socket's been covered. So things like that, or just know your room layout. And can I say, Ronan made me seriously think about this in my house.

Like, I kind of... Everyone knows when you get to the, kind of that stage, there's so much happening at the house in kind of first fixed, you know. Like, there's so many trades on site, and there's so many positions and things to kind of consider, and you're thinking, the electrician is kind of thinking not just where sockets and stuff, they're thinking, like, way down the line, like where everything is placed in the room.

And I was almost dismissive on some of the stuff. I was like, "Oh, it's fine. Just, like, the socket's there and there. The bed is,

**Jennifer:** Mm-hmm.

**Kate:** know, this size." And he was like, "Yeah, but what's the bed frame like? Is the frame gonna be covering it? What are your bedside tables? What are your lamps? What..." You know, like, and he literally made me map them out and mark them relative to the bed I had.

And the bed I had in my, it sticks in my head because we were talking about the, the master bedroom. My bed's really low. It's kind of like,

**Jennifer:** very

**Kate:** very minimal, it's [00:04:00] not a big, tall kind of bed frame, and it's not chunky on the sides. So when I was telling him the height of my bed, he was, like, questioning me.

Being like, "That, that's very low. Are you sure? That's..." And I was like, "No, it is, it is." But, like, he was really questioning everything. He wasn't taking anything for granted, and as a result then I think I don't have any sockets in the house that are blocked by things or trailing el- uh, trailing whatever, extension leads, stuff like that.

I just think that's such a good tip, just planning it out and walking through how you'll use the room,

**Jennifer:** Yeah

**Kate:** you need a socket in one corner versus the other wall in that corner, and, like, the likelihood of something trailing or be- a piece of furniture being in front of it or something.

**Jennifer:** Yeah, and I think regular listen- listeners to our podcast will have heard us say variations of this before, like plan how you're gonna use the space. I think what's really important here is that, like this question was planned this earlier than you think. Like, what

**Kate:** Mm.

**Jennifer:** plan earlier than they think? for me, you [00:05:00] might be listening and going, "Yeah, of course I need to plan where my couch goes," or maybe, you know, this seems a bit obvious or, not obvious, but like, you know you need to do it.

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** it might surprise you when you're going through the process how early you actually need to do it.

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** like first fix comes in pretty quickly, right?

**Kate:** That was yeah

**Jennifer:** pretty soon, and like you don't have to have every- everything to the final millimeter planned at that stage. But you do roughly need to know where the bed is gonna go in the

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** where the couch is gonna go. Maybe not the exact height or the exact profile of the bed or the exact width, but roughly where it's gonna go. Um, by first fix, which is early, right, and you might not,

**Kate:** Earlier, yeah

**Jennifer:** easily get caught unawares and be unprepared and then end up with, you know, having to change things around. And then by second fix, you do need to know very specifically where things are gonna go.

**Kate:** Hmm

**Jennifer:** I think that's the trick of it, is a lot of detail, more detail than you may expect, earlier than you may expect, and be prepared for it, and it will pay

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Jennifer:** in dividends

**Kate:** Oh, it [00:06:00] absolutely will, because when you think about, like you said, one second fix comes and the walls are kind of closed, everything becomes so much more difficult to change. So, like, someone having a good electrician or something like that that's asking those questions early on is worth so much.

But I obviously wasn't even, like, in the position I'm in. I wa- I actually feel like I wasn't that organ- Like, I knew the size of my bed, I knew the lights and where they were going, I knew I wanted them low, and I knew, you know, things like that. But just having that walkthrough and kind of, I don't know, visualizing the space with all the furniture there, and sometimes you might not even have bought the furniture, you know, 'cause you don't wanna buy all that stuff too early, but

**Jennifer:** Yeah

**Kate:** kind of just have sizes in mind, you know?

I put the sockets, I wanted the sockets really low. Like, technically you can only have sockets 45 centimeters off the floor, I think, the, a regulation now. But, um, I wanted them lower, and he was like, "No, you can't." So we had to kind of maneuver things around and, "Where do you want your wall light switch?" And [00:07:00] I was like, "Oh, just here."

And he was like, "But it'll be kind of hidden." I was like, "Yeah, but I don't wanna see it," 'cause I had my lovely wallpaper or whatever. But

**Jennifer:** yeah

**Kate:** was just, like, h- thinking those things through for every room, and just try and visualize when you walk into that room, what's gonna be where, and why do you need a socket in that corner.

I'm not saying don't put a socket in the corner, but what purpose is it gonna serve there, so does it need to be on that wall of the corner or that wall of the corner? 'Cause that actually can make all the difference. So yeah, I think the earlier, the better

**Jennifer:** to have that conversation, I suppose, if you're s- if you're like, "I think I'm gonna have this size bed, but it might be this size," then talk that through with the

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** and they'll probably be able to say, know, the safer bet then is to make the sockets a bit wider or to put the

**Kate:** yeah.

**Jennifer:** higher, or whatever it

**Kate:** Mm-hmm

**Jennifer:** have it all-- like, be prepared to be detailed. I

**Kate:** Yeah. So,

**Jennifer:** that

**Kate:** this one. S- so we're gonna ask next spend more money on and don't waste money on, which I think are both really important. So let's go with spend more money on first and see what he said.

**Jennifer:** Okay, we're gonna have to spend more

**Kate:** [00:08:00] Spend more money on future-proofing, so car charger, solar. If your garden allows it, a garden room, and also garden lighting.

'Cause obviously you want the inside of the house to be nice, but it's important to what you're looking out at as well, and it can make a big difference.

**Jennifer:** Oh,

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Jennifer:** that is

**Kate:** Goals.

**Jennifer:** a good tip. People

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Jennifer:** so, so often. Okay, garden lighting, you can come back to it and put in solar solutions, and that's fine. But as your outdoor lighting, I- another thing I would really say is an outdoor plug,

**Kate:** Mm.

**Jennifer:** I think that's such a genius tip. Like, h- h- f- don't forget about the outside.

And I love the future-proofing, because if you're getting your house renovated, and you think at some stage you might put in solar panels, but you're not ready to do it now, or the car charger, getting that connection point installed now while the electrician is on site and the walls are open, is gonna cost you pennies

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** it would cost to get somebody back in to do that job.

**Kate:** Exactly

**Jennifer:** oh, I just think that's such a great tip

**Kate:** It's such a great tip, and we took [00:09:00] his advice on this. We have provision for solar on our garage, so we might put solar panels on the, the roof of that at some stage, and we have provision for battery storage out there if we do a lot of solar panels, and we also have, um, not getting into, like, the other trades yet, but, like, we, we did plan for things we might do out there.

And garden lighting and garden sockets is another really, really important one. Outdoor sockets, like, you know, rather than bringing out extensions and you might need to plug in specific things outside, and garden lights make such a difference. Yes, solar is good, but it's not, it's not good enough to be uplighting big gardens and plants and, yeah

**Jennifer:** s- I've got solar fairy lights and just in my tiny little garden. And while I love them, and it's kind of enough for, for what I want, You don't get enough daylight in wintertime for it. Like,

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** at about maybe 5:00 or 6:00 sometimes

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Jennifer:** of winter.

**Kate:** Which you're probably even getting the light from your doors in your house out [00:10:00] to that small outdoor space. Whereas if the garden's long, like you need light down the back of it, so like I think having the provision for that, even if you're not putting in the light system now, is totally worth it I think

**Jennifer:** Yeah. That is spending money to save money. That's a great tip.

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** so the next question is where should you not waste your, your money?

**Kate:** Yeah Don't waste money on putting decorative sockets and switches in places that won't be visible. So it comes back to knowing your room layout, 'cause I've seen people spend 50 euro a socket, and next thing it's behind a couch, a bedside locker, a unit, and it, it adds up. It could have been hundreds that could have been saved.

Yeah.

**Jennifer:** that's a good one

**Kate:** It's a great one to, yeah, to save, especially ones that are like, yeah, in, in wardrobes or, you know, maybe just in the side panel of a wardrobe or something like that, or like you said, behind a bed or behind a locker or something that you're never gonna see. Because there could be, like, you're shocked when you see the amount of switches and sockets on a list, and you're like, "Sure, how many can there be in a house?

20?" [00:11:00] And you're like, "No, there's like 150 in a standard house." You're like, "What?"

**Jennifer:** find, like, this really nice one and you're

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Jennifer:** 25 euro or 50 euro. That doesn't seem much in the grand scheme of things based on what else I'm spending."

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** then suddenly, like, twen- 20 of those later you're looking at a

**Kate:** I know

**Jennifer:** almost, and it's like, "Oh, no."

**Kate:** Yeah. So th-

**Jennifer:** really adds up

**Kate:** yeah, think of like where they're going, if they're visible, and also what surface they're going on. You know, like surfaces are different colors, so sometimes you might want a dark one on a dark wall or an light one on a light wall. Uh, that mightn't save you money. It might, but yeah

**Jennifer:** and I'm all for, like, I'm all for consistency and cohesion throughout the house, and I do like when there's kind of the same things everywhere. But if you're planning, like, fancy, you know, brass plates or whatever, like the clear acrylic plates I love

**Kate:** Mm-hmm.

**Jennifer:** your wallpaper or whatever in certain rooms, uh, y- if you don't, you, if you've got a room with a plain wall,

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Jennifer:** or a white switch plate or whatever is

**Kate:** Yeah. It's a great way to save

**Jennifer:** yeah, it is a good way to say- It's, it's, like, it's a great tip 'cause you might not realize how much of a mon- money waster it could be in the first place.

**Kate:** [00:12:00] Yeah

**Jennifer:** so again, it's all down to planning. Like, fair play to your Ronan. He is a planner.

**Kate:** He's a planner for sure. So do this to make electrical work go smoothly. I think this is so important to make your whole thing run, run smoothly, the whole job ... do this to make the build go smoothly. Just have your floor plans, any plans needed from the joinery company doing kitchen and utility, and just any changes that are being made, just communicate them as soon as possible.

So we've said this, like, I don't know how many times, communication is key. And, like, some small tweaks with the joinery company or new drawings issued or something like that, like that everything is passed along kinda as soon as possible. Because floor plans change and, like, there's a reason builders usually have, like, signed off floor plans from an architect or whatever.

**Jennifer:** Mm-hmm.

**Kate:** you may be dealing with other, you know, finishing, finishes separately, whether it's, you know, flooring and kind of [00:13:00] joinery and whatever. So, like, it's really important that anything there that might affect skirting heights, and therefore where your sockets are, whatever, stuff like that, like, that you're passing that along kind of as soon as possible

**Jennifer:** Yeah, that's so important. And it, kitchen is a really obvious one because there's so many electrical

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** points in your kitchen. You're gonna have sockets, and appliance hookups, and kill switches, and all that kind of stuff. So

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** like, it, it's the difference between having your, your, you know, a big ugly socket at the wrong point, like

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** backsplash, or like maybe being able to hide your kill switches, you know, around the corner of a cupboard or something like that, or like, just having things like work much ne- more, much more neatly.

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** the other place that's important is wardrobes, 'cause a lot of people now will have, you know, wardrobes maybe covering a plug.

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** for maybe extra depth wardrobes or something and forget that actually gonna cover now where the plug is supposed to go. Half the socket might be gone.

Or maybe you want to [00:14:00] wire it up for lighting,

**Kate:** Mm.

**Jennifer:** you forget, you ha- you have this gre- great idea for like lovely wardrobes that light up when you open the doors, and those are so handy, and it's really easy to do. But if you forget to tell your electrician early by first fix, or if you change the position or anything, um, then it can just mess up the whole plan for what is a really expensive installation. Um, so

**Kate:** Well, we-

**Jennifer:** And like when we talk about communication, like it's I think these things come up, and then people are maybe not sure, or they're like, "Oh yeah, I better say that now." But the difference between saying it now and saying it on Friday or, you know, waiting two or three days could be the difference between the walls being closed up,

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** to cut more holes in the plaster, or having to order more s- whatever it might be. So I think like early, clear communication, verify something. Is this the latest version? You know, oh, just super, super clear, direct, early communication. It's

**Kate:** Is this the latest version? Even if, like, if you find you're very [00:15:00] hands-on and you might be managing a lot of stuff, or you're directly the project manager, having some sort of physical sign-off on a set of drawings is so worth it. Like, because an architect will typically do that with a builder or something, but if you're managing a lot of stuff and you're managing the kitchen stuff directly yourself and stuff like that, it's really important that they're working off the same-- we're all singing from the same hymn sheet.

And just don't take that for granted that, like, you're like, "Oh, well, I brought new drawings here," but did everyone get those new drawings communicated to them? Did everyone see that you now want the hob on the fucking kitchen island and it wasn't there before?

**Jennifer:** yeah,

**Kate:** you know, you might be like, "Well, we can fit the hob in the kitchen island."

"Yeah, but we still have to wire it," you know? So

**Jennifer:** know that it's

**Kate:** exactly, yeah, yeah.

**Jennifer:** in the wall for an overhead extractor or

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** a- another thing I think as well is that, like, I definitely fell foul of this, and I'm sure loads of people do, because I have a desk job, so I'm sitting at my computer, and if I see something new coming in and I, as an organized person, I'm on top of what the latest change is. But

**Kate:** Yes

**Jennifer:** tradespeople on site, [00:16:00] through natural human behavior, are ... They're gonna be getting emails from you, emails from the kitchen company, another ... a text from the electrician, a phone

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** else. And to be honest, like, when you've got a very hands-on job and you're not looking at the screen all day, and you're not even looking at your phone that often because you've got a hammer and nails in one hand and you're trying not to saw off your fingers, it, it's much easier, of course, to lose track of what came in latest, or was there

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** or whatever. So yes, of course, people should be keeping on top of everything and of course, you know, that's the job. But it's just an easy point for mistakes to happen through just natural human error, you know. Um, so keep on top of it and make sure, if you're not sure, don't assume that just because you said something or somebody made a phone call that everyone is completely up to date.

Just check. Don't be

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Jennifer:** but

**Kate:** check, yeah.

**Jennifer:** triple-check

**Kate:** You just agree some sort of formal process for changes or whatever, and just remember, you're not nagging at this [00:17:00] stage by saying all those little things. You're making it easier for them now rather than changes down the line where they have to be cutting out plasterboard sheets, or even worse, if they have to dig out and chase newly plastered walls or something.

So like, you know, the earlier the better. Even if you think it's gonna slightly annoy them, it'll annoy them tenfold if you leave it go further down the line

**Jennifer:** Yeah. Like I'd rather have them like roll their eyes at me because I'm nagging them, being like, "Are you sure now you have the latest?

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** the latest one." I'd rather them be like, "For God's sake, yeah, you told me five times." Like it is, I'd rather that than, you know, them just being so busy that they missed one email coming in, which again, you know, okay, it shouldn't happen, but you can see how it would.

It's an easy thing to happen. So

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** give everyone the best shot to make it as easy as possible.

**Kate:** The biggest mistake that homeowners make. So like the last question, the biggest mistake that homeowners make. I thought this is a big one, and I also, I thought it would be kinda like, um, a short answer, like, or, you know, a one thing, but, like, was [00:18:00] very deep and expansive, I would say, his answer. Not expensive, expen- Like, there was a lot to it, I think.

So let's play the answer for this one, and then we'll discuss it.

**Jennifer:** Okay

**Kate:** The biggest mistake people make is not having enough input in the walkthrough with the electrician. So a lot of times the architect is there, and the architect has a drawing, and it could be a good drawing, but it just could be months old, and things could have changed by the time it comes to rewiring, and a lot of people are overwhelmed, and they feel like they can't deviate from the drawing.

But you have to remember that you're the one who knows the day-to-day living of the house. You know what you need more than a drawing though, so don't be afraid to speak up and move things around rather than doing it at the end when it's gonna be costly

**Jennifer:** Yeah. Got

**Kate:** If there was a mic now, I'd drop it for this one. Well done, Ronan. Because, like, I, I couldn't agree with the statement more. And, like, you're probably one that was very involved in your electrical planning because you had, you know, [00:19:00] intricate enough lighting and things like that, right? But I think the amount of people I've seen come to me been like, "Oh, they have, uh, four to seven spotlights in."

Like, that, that was just what was in the plan, right? So I'm like, "Why is there that?" Like, "Did you walk through this?" And they're like, "Well, I don't know. That's just what's in the plans." Like, you have input into this electrical part. And sometimes, not all the time, some architects are fantastic and do amazing lighting plans, but sometimes there's not an awful lot of thought given to lighting plans because they don't know the furniture you're gonna put in.

They don't know exactly the layout of every room and what you're gonna be doing in that room and things like that. So I think that walkthrough is so important. And even do the walkthrough as a household, as a family first before you even involve the trades. Like, look at the architect's drawings. Mark on, like, where you think you'd want sockets, where you think you'd want downlights, where you think you want, like, atmospheric wall lights or whatever.

And think of those and then be ready for the walkthrough with your colored pens to mark all these. Like, I just love doing [00:20:00] colored dots in different colors for different fittings and sockets and switches and whatever. And the same goes for, like, switching. You know, the one-way switching, two-way switching.

Where are you gonna switch on a light? Oh, now you're upstairs. I need to be able to switch it off up there or else I'd have to trek back downstairs. All those

**Jennifer:** have to get out of bed to turn off your main light?

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** able to see when you come in the door? Are you able to turn it off at... Yeah, when you're going to bed at the top of the stairs, do you have to run back and then go

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** cross over a dark room to leave the room?

Like, is the switch, you know, easily at the entrance point?

**Kate:** Yeah. I, I couldn't... I, sorry, I,

**Jennifer:** so...

**Kate:** sorry. I was gonna say I couldn't, I couldn't agree with that kinda statement of like, the architect's drawings might be months old, 'cause the architect is looking at the building, right? And the, the architect is looking at very basic kinda level furnishings maybe at this stage, unless you have an architect that's heavily involved in all the finishes and everything like that.

But like,

**Jennifer:** Yeah

**Kate:** think you're the person that has to live in that house. You're the person that's gonna be pissed off if you have to walk back [00:21:00] downstairs to switch a light off every time you go up to bed and someone's forgotten it, or you know. So like, that, that's just a key point of that statement or that answer that Ronan sent I think is, you're the person that has to live with it, you know?

**Jennifer:** Yeah, and it's your ... Everyone's life is different because you're gonna make assumptions and be like, "Well, of course I want it done that way," or, "Of course there's

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** over there because that's where X goes." But that's not true for everyone.

**Kate:** No

**Jennifer:** things in different places, so it is up to you to tweak it. Um, we go into th- this in a lot of detail in episode 50, so if you haven't listened to previous episodes, go back and listen to episode 50 of this podcast, and we go through your electrical plan in detail. 'Cause there's lighting, which is really important, and maybe you have an architect or, and an interior designer, but lighting is often a different discipline.

Like, it has

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** you know, interior design, interior architecture, architecture track. It's its own separate discipline on construction sites, you know, on, on bigger sites. So it's a big, complex area, and they might not be specialist in it. So it's ... And it's personal to you. There's lighting. There's where the sockets goes.

[00:22:00] There where the switches go. There is Wi-Fi points, especially if

**Kate:** Mm.

**Jennifer:** house and thick walls. Think about that. Where you're gonna be working, you know, if you're upstairs, like, is, is the Wi-Fi gonna be able to get there? like automatic timers on your in your bathrooms or, you know, motion sensors outside or demister pads on your, uh, on your, your, your mirror in your bathroom, underfloor heating if it's an electric pad, speakers in your walls.

Like, there's, there's a huge amount to think about,

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** If you do it right and do it early and do it in a detailed way, your life is gonna be so much easier. It's a big one

**Kate:** Yeah, it is a big one. It's just your life's gonna be easier, and just the, the house will be a nicer house to live in when it functions like you want. And, like, going back to, like, was it Ronan's first answer with the trailing elec- uh, extension lead. Like, besides, I mean, idea- in an ideal world, you don't need an extension lead in your house, as in, like

**Jennifer:** Yeah

**Kate:** know you've planned it really well then.

I know there's exceptions to that rule when you haven't rewired, but if you're [00:23:00] rewiring your house, it should be laid out as you need, you know? So, like, I just think that walkthrough, I can't overstate how important it is and how shocked I am by the lack of involvement with a lot of people renovating.

They just think, "That's just not my part. Like, I'm decorating the house. I don't have to care about the electrical plan." You absolutely do. It's how your house is gonna work

**Jennifer:** Yeah. So do it yourself with your plans or sit down with your

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** else in the house, walk- do like a mental walkthrough of the plan. We're going in this door, we're turning the

**Kate:** Mm.

**Jennifer:** blah, blah. And then come prepared with those notes, I would say, to the walkthrough with your electrician. And assuming you have a good electrician, which we think most of them are great, assuming you have a good one, then they will give you, like, details and steer and whatever else it may, you know, they can do. Um, like ask you the right questions or challenge you appropriately or whatever during that walkthrough.

**Kate:** Mm-hmm.

**Jennifer:** use them, use their expertise and their

**Kate:** Use your expertise. Yeah, and [00:24:00] one thing, like even on my walkthrough with Ronan, he was talking about the wall lights. You know, I had a lot of wall lights this time, and I didn't in the last house, so I was like, "I want a wall light here, here." And, and like the heights of wall lights, things like that are actually really important to mark because at the first fix stage they won't have seen the type of wall light you have, right?

And certain wall lights might be like exposed lights, and they'll be in your eye line, so you might want them higher. Whereas other ones might be just the cup ones and just like, you know, the, the up-lighting the wall, and then you might want them at more or less eye height for decoration purposes or something.

So like things like that, you even have to look at like the heights you want, like fitting that and things like that. Are you gonna put a mirror there? Is that wall light gonna interfere with it? And yeah,

**Jennifer:** Mm-hmm.

**Kate:** there's some information that only you know that that's why I think the walkthrough makes it so important.

**Jennifer:** Yeah.

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Jennifer:** Okay, a lot of takeaways from this

**Kate:** Yeah

**Jennifer:** let us know what you think of this format and, um, if you learned something, and [00:25:00] we will be back next week with our next Trade Secrets.

**Kate:** Yeah. See you then. If you enjoyed that episode, likes, shares, and subscribes really help us out. So if you can, please do. Thank you