Am I the only one who thinks running all the wire inside the wall is sometimes a bad call?
I keep seeing installs where every single sensor wire is fished through finished drywall, and people act like that's the only 'professional' way. I did a retrofit in a 1920s brick house last month, and the owner wanted everything hidden. We spent two full days just trying to fish one line to a second-floor door contact, and we still had to patch three holes. For that job, a surface-mount raceway along the baseboard would have been faster, cheaper, and just as reliable. The customer cared more about the system working than a totally invisible wire they'd never see again. I know it looks cleaner inside the wall, but the extra labor cost and wall damage isn't always worth it. Has anyone else had a client who actually preferred the faster, less invasive option once you explained the trade-off?