An installation in a remote location awards both challenges and success for Custom LA.

Some luxury projects are years in the making. Custom LA, located in Southern California, knows this well. The installation company recently completed two years of work on a $10-million home in the region. It’s a three-story house consisting of 10 rooms, and a large pool area on the second floor. The company was actively involved with the design, making sure they were a team player on the A-list group of contractors.

“We first asked Ellen Christophe (the designer) what she
wanted to see from us, or not see,” says Mark Schafer of Custom LA. “We are very interested in details. For us, there are so many options with equipment that there’s no excuse [for it] to get in the way [of the design]. We take pride in our ability to get along great with all of the trades. We make them look good and they do the same for us.”

The project was demanding. The integrators were asked to install Carlon conduit for every TV in the system for technology changes and upgrades.; wires can be re-routed in any location back to the control rooms. “It took us about twice the amount of time as normal to get the house prewired,” says Schafer. He also said that the house is located in a remote area (the homeowners asked that the location not be revealed), so getting equipment and installers to the jobsite took a lot of coordination between Schafer’s team and the contractor. “We spent many weeks away from home to complete this project,” notes Schafer. “In total, the project has taken nearly four years. We have been working (on and off) on the project for more than two years and it is just now being finished.”

The client was very involved in the design process, which added to timeline and complexity of the project. “We traveled back and forth many times to the jobsite and [the client’s] other residence to go over many different revisions and changes,” Schafer explains. “One reason the project took so long is that the customer made a lot of changes to the entire house. But we couldn’t have asked for a nicer client.”

Throughout the home, Custom LA installed a number of high-end components, including flat-screen TV displays and DirecTV receivers, an 8x12 switcher, speakers, Blu-ray players, and 400-disc Sony DVD and CD players. In addition, the residence features an Escient media server with universal iPod dock, a Marantz receiver, and a Lutron Homeworks system for lighting and shades.

To control everything in the home, the company went with RTI products, using RTI’s two-way control processors, as well as handheld and in-wall controllers, and transceiver modules for ZigBee wireless communication and control. To program everything, Custom LA used the Integration Designer RTI offers with its products.

To plan the project, Custom LA first was shown all the potential locations for TVs. Next, Schafer and his design team devised three separate system proposals with different abilities and budgets, and presented each plan to the client.

They decided to go with a system that had an 8x12 Key Digital Matrix Switcher as the foundation. “With this, we were able to distribute two Blu-ray players, an Escient DVDM100 controller, an Escient FP-1 docking station (for streaming music and Internet radio), a DirectTV satellite receiver (XM music), and a Parasound AM/FM Tuner to all 10 TV locations in the house,” Shafer explains. “We also have integration with the Lutron Homeworks system (lights and Sevoia blinds), the Camera DVR (K4 touchpanel and TV viewing) with entry gate control, and finally the Jandy Pool and Spa control.”

Custom LA received this job through a referral from a general contractor, Golenberg and Company Construction. “They liked the work we did for them on another project,” says Schafer. “We know that these relationships are based on professionalism, but they also rely on genuine communication between all trades.”

Though this is not Custom LA’s first high-end installation, the project was a learning experience in many ways.

“We’ve traveled to install systems before, but this one took the cake,” Schafer says. “After this job, we will surely budget better for travel and expenses.”