There is a window during construction when wire is nearly free. After it closes, the same run means opening walls.
Every build and most remodels have a stretch where the framing is open and nothing is covering it. That is the AV rough-in window. Running cable through open framing is fast and cheap. Running the same cable after drywall means cutting, fishing past fire blocking you cannot see, patching, matching texture and repainting — and the patch is often the most expensive part.
The marginal cost of extra wire during rough-in is small, and the cost of adding it later is not. Runs to the likely display wall, to the ceiling where surrounds or overheads might go, to the patio, and to any room that might eventually want music are all worth doing even if nothing gets connected for years.
Standards change and equipment changes. A conduit sleeve from the equipment location to the display wall means the cable you cannot anticipate today can be pulled in later without opening anything. It is one of the cheapest decisions available during construction.
Label both ends of every run and photograph the open walls before the drywall goes on. When someone needs to find that cable in five years, a photograph of the framing is worth more than any drawing.
You are not out of options, just out of the cheap ones. Surface raceway, routing through an unfinished space below or above, and wireless where the compromise is acceptable all still work. They just are not what you would have chosen with the walls open.
Tell us about the room and the stage the project is at, and we will match you with an installer who works this way.
Get Matched With an InstallerA rough description is enough — we will follow up to size the job and set a walkthrough.