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I'm actually amazed that we're expected to damage and then repair the walls and ceilings just to move switches, lights and outlets around. Or connect the lights

I'm actually amazed that we're expected to damage and then repair the walls and ceilings just to move switches, lights and outlets around. Or connect the lights to a 4-wire RGB controller where they were previously connected with just 2 wires. Or run ethernet cables. Some of this is solved in commercial spaces using modular dropped ceilings, but I never saw that in residential spaces and never anywhere for walls.

calamari4065 3y ago
I mean, no matter what your walls are made of, you have to physically cut a hole for the switch or outlet to sit in. Then it becomes buying a whole new wall panel instead of just patching the drywall. Beyond that, you have the problem of insulation. If your wall isn't a contiguous piece of plaster, it will leak air. Then you have to contend with your insulation material releasing fiberglass fragments or whatever into the room. You also have to deal with some way of fixturing the wall panels to the support structure, or they'll all rattle any time you open a door. You also have to just hope that someone is still making the exact same panels decades after the fact. Most rework is done in houses that are several decades old. I don't think that many building materials suppliers that built my house in the 1920s still exist. Any sort of modular system will always be more expensive than drywall and plaster. If you want to address all of the problems and make it as good as drywall, no one could afford it. The electrical system is just as integral to the structure as plumbing or ventilation is. You are not going to be replacing things often, and the effort of patching drywall every decade or so is not that much. If, for some reason, you want to move your outlets every six months, we already have solutions for that. You can put conduit and boxes on the outside of the wall. All in all, it's an awful lot of trouble and expense to make it very slightly easier to do work you only do every decade or so.
- balfirevic 3y ago
  > I mean, no matter what your walls are made of, you have to physically cut a hole for the switch or outlet to sit in. I don't think so - just have some spare panels with pre-made holes (perhaps off center, so the holes can be positioned more precisely by rotating the panel). > Then you have to contend with your insulation material releasing fiberglass fragments or whatever into the room. Hm.. Ok, where I live it's usually going to be concrete on the other side, not insulation material. > You are not going to be replacing things often I think the popularity of wirelessly controlled lights and speakers says otherwise. Not to mention various decorations (especially if they require electricity - wall hanged bookshelf with decorative lights, paintings with a light above it, or maybe you simply want to move TV to the other wall). And this would allow renters to customize their apartments much more easily. It might be that you (possibly also most people?) just change their mind about these kinds of stuff less often. I grant you that it might end up being pretty expensive because of the mounting structure.

calamari4065 3y ago

I mean, no matter what your walls are made of, you have to physically cut a hole for the switch or outlet to sit in. Then it becomes buying a whole new wall panel instead of just patching the drywall. Beyond that, you have the problem of insulation. If your wall isn't a contiguous piece of plaster, it will leak air. Then you have to contend with your insulation material releasing fiberglass fragments or whatever into the room. You also have to deal with some way of fixturing the wall panels to the support structure, or they'll all rattle any time you open a door. You also have to just hope that someone is still making the exact same panels decades after the fact. Most rework is done in houses that are several decades old. I don't think that many building materials suppliers that built my house in the 1920s still exist. Any sort of modular system will always be more expensive than drywall and plaster. If you want to address all of the problems and make it as good as drywall, no one could afford it. The electrical system is just as integral to the structure as plumbing or ventilation is. You are not going to be replacing things often, and the effort of patching drywall every decade or so is not that much. If, for some reason, you want to move your outlets every six months, we already have solutions for that. You can put conduit and boxes on the outside of the wall. All in all, it's an awful lot of trouble and expense to make it very slightly easier to do work you only do every decade or so.

balfirevic 3y ago
> I mean, no matter what your walls are made of, you have to physically cut a hole for the switch or outlet to sit in. I don't think so - just have some spare panels with pre-made holes (perhaps off center, so the holes can be positioned more precisely by rotating the panel). > Then you have to contend with your insulation material releasing fiberglass fragments or whatever into the room. Hm.. Ok, where I live it's usually going to be concrete on the other side, not insulation material. > You are not going to be replacing things often I think the popularity of wirelessly controlled lights and speakers says otherwise. Not to mention various decorations (especially if they require electricity - wall hanged bookshelf with decorative lights, paintings with a light above it, or maybe you simply want to move TV to the other wall). And this would allow renters to customize their apartments much more easily. It might be that you (possibly also most people?) just change their mind about these kinds of stuff less often. I grant you that it might end up being pretty expensive because of the mounting structure.