Customer told me my wire runs looked like spaghetti, so I changed my whole approach

I had this one job in a big office building in Denver where the homeowner walked in, looked at my panel, and said 'dude, this looks like a bowl of spaghetti.' lol I was kinda annoyed at first but he was right. So I started using those little adhesive wire clips to keep everything straight and use a label maker for every single zone wire. Now I leave the panel looking clean enough that customers actually take pictures of it lol. Has anyone else had a client call them out on messy work like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

olivia_murphy1mo ago

Totally get that feeling. Had a client walk in my panel once and just go "whoa" in a bad way. Stung but they were right. Started doing the same thing with the cable management and labeling everything before I even close the lid. Now I take pictures for my own records too, just in case someone says something again. Feels way better walking away knowing it looks clean.

victor_carr251mo ago

Those little adhesive clips and a decent label maker changed my whole workflow too. I actually buy the clips in bulk packs now because I go through so many on a single job. Have you tried the ones that let you bundle multiple wires together with one clip?

jamiekim26d ago

oh man that first picture moment is brutal but honestly the best thing that could happen. I had a commercial client once who didn't say anything but just stood there staring at my panel with this look on his face. I knew exactly what he was thinking. Started using those same adhesive clips and actually went overboard with zip ties for a while before settling on the clips. Now I spend like an extra 15 minutes just on wire management before I close the lid. The label maker is a game changer too because I used to think I'd remember what everything was but after a month even I couldn't tell which wire was which. I even do it for my own home system now because it just looks so much better and makes troubleshooting way easier.