Panel upgrades on two-story houses: simple route through attic or drill and patch drywall? A 3-year argument finally boiled over last Tuesday

We had a job in Tacoma last week, 1980s split level, replacing a dying DSC panel. Homeowner wanted the new panel in the same closet. Fine, but running the wires from the second floor sensors down to that closet meant either fishing through the attic and dropping a wall, or cutting a channel in the drywall and patching it after. My partner swears by the attic drop, says it's cleaner and less mess for the customer. I say unless the attic is fully boarded, you're crawling over insulation for an hour, fighting trusses, and still might miss the top plate. He did it in 45 minutes, no patch needed. I've had jobs where that exact route took me 3 hours and I ended up punching a hole anyway. So which is it for you guys, do you go through the attic every time, or do you just cut and patch and charge for drywall repair? Trying to settle this before we bid another split level next month.

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webb.stella6h ago

You ever spend a whole morning up there in the blown insulation and then realize the wall you dropped into is 2 feet off from where you measured? Drives me nuts. I'm with your partner on the attic route when it works, but every house is different and that's the thing, you can't just pick one way and stick with it. I had a job in Federal Way last month, same setup, attic looked perfect from the hatch, then I hit a fire block and a nest of old knob and tube wiring that had been disconnected but not removed. Ended up cutting a hole anyway and patching it, took me an extra hour and a half. Honestly, I think the real answer is just bid it with enough time for both options and don't argue about it on site, that's when you make dumb mistakes.