> I’m trying to understand how removing an entire sheet of gypsum
This is a fixed task. Required if you install the conduit or not. You have to cut the wall to make the port. If you have the port you can just use a slightly longer conduit, brace it where you can reach, and oh no you need an extra 2" of cable?
> Raceways are unnecessary in stick built houses
Your mental model is too naïve. Have you done this before? Have you then replaced it or added additional lines?
The conduit makes all that easier, and provides the additional protection that I discussed. By having a conduit you're far less likely to get snagged on something while fishing the lines. You can stop hard corners that strip your cables while pulling on them. It's also a million times easier to see while you're chasing those cables. Sure, your house is a framing with wood but you still have insulation and who likes icy hands?
Really, think about it. What is the cost now compared to the future?
Is an additional 10 or let's even say a crazy 50% additional work now really that costly when you have to do the whole thing again in the future? And multiple times? It's a no brainier lol. Definition of chasing pennies with pounds. Just be nice to your future self. Be lazy long term, not lazy short term because lazy short term requires more work
> Your mental model is too naïve. Have you done this before? Have you then replaced it or added additional lines?
I sell and run electrical work for a living (including low-voltage cabling), I have thought about how cables get pulled into existing walls in virtually any scenario you can contrive. Block, steel stud, brick, wood stud, precast tip-up; both drop ceiling and hardlid.
Cutting open walls to install low-voltage raceway is very uncommon because it’s substantially more expensive (or just way more work) than cutting two small holes (or using an attic/basement for access) and using a fish tape.
Non-professionals overestimate how many cables they’ll pull into existing low-voltage raceways in the future. Pull in an extra cable the first time and you’re future proofed.
The conduit makes all that easier, and provides the additional protection that I discussed. By having a conduit you're far less likely to get snagged on something while fishing the lines. You can stop hard corners that strip your cables while pulling on them. It's also a million times easier to see while you're chasing those cables. Sure, your house is a framing with wood but you still have insulation and who likes icy hands?
Really, think about it. What is the cost now compared to the future?
Is an additional 10 or let's even say a crazy 50% additional work now really that costly when you have to do the whole thing again in the future? And multiple times? It's a no brainier lol. Definition of chasing pennies with pounds. Just be nice to your future self. Be lazy long term, not lazy short term because lazy short term requires more work