Pendant Lights over Kitchen Island

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Bama_Electrical

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Location
Alabama
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Electrician
How do y’all typically handle placement of kitchen lights over a kitchen island when you don’t know exactly where center will be until the cabinets show up? I have 3 lights going over an island and the GC let me know that the final size of the island had not been decided and that it could move a few inches one way or the other. I dropped the wire in the attic above where the lights will be before the sheetrock went in. I am also thinking that a ceiling joist is going to be in the way of one them and not sure a pancake will work due to 2 #12’s. All single pole circuits got wired in #12 per owner request.
 
Bama_Electrical said:
How do y’all typically handle placement of kitchen lights over a kitchen island when you don’t know exactly where center will be until the cabinets show up? I have 3 lights going over an island and the GC let me know that the final size of the island had not been decided and that it could move a few inches one way or the other. I dropped the wire in the attic above where the lights will be before the sheetrock went in. I am also thinking that a ceiling joist is going to be in the way of one them and not sure a pancake will work due to 2 #12’s. All single pole circuits got wired in #12 per owner request.
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I always do as you said, leave a loop of wire above so the lights can be added after the cabinet/island is installed. Seems something always changes, such as location, size of cabinet, etc. I also explain to the customer that exact desired placement may not be possible due to framing obstacles. This can be overcome with recessed LED disc lights, but pendant lights can be a problem due to joists, trusses, etc.
 
James L said:
I keep harping on that, too.
I tell 'em if they'll give me exact drawings, I'll put those fixtures on a laser line no sweat. It just ain't that hard to make design decisions before the work gets done
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Drawings are worthless if they do them like the last house I did. I went by the drawings but they failed to tell me they had changed them. Only good out of that was change orders!
 
Little Bill said:
Drawings are worthless if they do them like the last house I did. I went by the drawings but they failed to tell me they had changed them. Only good out of that was change orders!
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I went through that on a house I wired last November. After 4 weeks of refusing to wire the kitchen from rough drawings like the builder wanted, I gave up and did it. Then I got "final" cabinet drawings the second week of January so I went back and made some changes.

Showed up in July to start the finish and saw about 8 more major changes to them. It was ridiculous
 
James L said:
I went through that on a house I wired last November. After 4 weeks of refusing to wire the kitchen from rough drawings like the builder wanted, I gave up and did it. Then I got "final" cabinet drawings the second week of January so I went back and made some changes.

Showed up in July to start the finish and saw about 8 more major changes to them. It was ridiculous
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I think a lot of this issue is flaky customers who change the plan every time they see something new in the store or online. I recall a few projects where "we're still deciding" was the standard answer.
 
jmellc said:
I think a lot of this issue is flaky customers who change the plan every time they see something new in the store or online. I recall a few projects where "we're still deciding" was the standard answer.
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Over the past year and a half, still deciding has become the norm in new construction. All these dysfunctional contractors who think it's normal to expect an electrical bid to include 30-50 hours making unnecessary changes
 
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