A client's offhand comment about their old system made me rethink my whole approach

I was finishing up a panel swap last week and the homeowner said, 'You know, the last guy who worked on this just shoved all the wires in and slammed the door. I could never find anything.' That simple line stuck with me. I realized I'd been rushing my own clean-up to get to the next job. So now, for the last 30 minutes of every install, I just focus on making the panel look perfect, even if it means running a little late. It takes more time, but the look on their face when they see it is worth it. Has anyone else had a small moment like that change how you do a routine part of the job?

3 comments

3 Comments

webb.blake1mo ago

My last panel looked like a bird's nest, honestly.

the_nathan1mo ago

Yeah, "bird's nest" is the perfect way to put it. My buddy had a panel that was so bad, squirrels actually started hiding nuts in the loose wire bundles. He found a whole walnut stash when he finally opened it up. Took him a whole weekend just to trace one circuit back to the breaker.

sageellis14d ago

Yeah I'm with @webb.blake on this, is a messy panel really that big of a deal?