The candidates that earn the open wall
Protection upgrades lead on merit: bathrooms concentrate the exact conditions modern protective devices exist for, and a remodel is the natural moment to bring the room's circuits and devices to current expectations, with wet and damp locations getting fixtures rated for their zones. This is the least glamorous line in the project and the one whose value nobody debates.
Capacity and circuits come next: heat tools at two stations, floor warming, and a ventilation system with runtime controls add real load, and circuits sized in the plan beat breakers discovered at peak morning. Inside the walls, the wiring era matters as plumbing's does, older methods and materials found during demolition deserve assessment on evidence, and the panel conversation, capacity and condition, belongs early when new loads are meaningful.
The livability layer finishes it: lighting circuits separated and switched by layer, ambient, face, night, so the design's scenes actually operate; an outlet roughed where the bidet seat might go, costing pennies now; the fan's controls given their timer or humidity logic; and everything labeled at the panel in plain language before the drywall hides the story. Testing and inspection close the loop, devices exercised, protections tripped and reset, and the paperwork filed.
