Well - we had our
Guardian appointment. This meeting was for selections concerning low voltage wiring: structured wiring, phone/cable outlets as well as our home security, networking and intercom systems.
I thoroughly enjoyed this meeting and I think our SR was fantastic. Like everything else with this process, we went in prepared, knowing roughly what we needed and an idea of what we wanted. We had previously used a copy of our floor plan from a brochure to mark out where and what we wanted in each room.
He started out with offering a few rough numbers in our wiring counts. That was extremely helpful in deciding exactly how many jacks of what we needed. The items offered were: cable, phone, network/data. We, then, covered what "extras" were offered and we selected the additional Flat Panel Pre-Wire. This will put the wiring/cabling inside the wall for our large family room TV. Woot - no need to see those unsightly tangled wires anymore!!!
We talked about some other items that
Guardian offered, but I think we made it clear we weren't open to those types of options. The central vacuum seemed cool enough but we're not going to have carpeting on one entire floor and it seemed to be an extravagance that we didn't really need. The Intercom System doesn't seem necessary. I have quite a voice and can shout just as easily as pushing a button. :) The Home Audio System seems neat but no where near being in our budget.
We then covered the Home Security System. Initially, when we started this process 2 weeks ago, we weren't going to select any security system. But, I dug in for researching one and learned a few things. Installing a system isn't cheap. Monitoring a system also isn't cheap. There are other companies besides Guardian, but since they don't work directly with Ryan Homes there are no discounts. My decision was to go in with the attitude if we could be offered some sort of incentive we would elect to have Guardian install and monitor the system. Luckily for us, Bret, the SR was friendly and sensed we needed some urging. Ok - maybe he didn't 'sense' it - maybe he saw/read my notes. LOL! Silly me, I was sitting right next to him with my little notepad open. But, it turned out very well in the end with a little free monitoring.
Here's the thing. After getting home and spending a night researching even more I came to realize that there are some grey areas for me. I'm going to e-mail our SR for Guardian and see if we can have another consultation. It could possibly be too late, as we've signed some paperwork. Fingers crossed we can work it out.
