On the ground
What we find behind the walls in Mueller & East Austin
Mueller is the redeveloped airport site east of I-35, and its houses, rowhomes, and condos were all built from the mid-2000s onward to a consistent standard: 16 inch stud framing, drywall, and plenty of pre-wired outlets. The catch is the shared walls in the rowhouses and the yard homes. A party wall is often double-framed with a fire-rated assembly between units, and drilling or fishing into it is something we avoid; we mount on the interior partitions instead and plan the cabling accordingly.
Step outside Mueller into the surrounding East Austin neighborhoods, from Cherrywood down through East Cesar Chavez and Holly, and the housing is a century of everything. 1920s bungalows with shiplap and pier-and-beam foundations, 1950s ranches with brick fireplaces, and new two-story builds that replaced a neighbor last year. The same block can have all three. We ask for a photo and a rough build year before we quote wire concealment, because a 1925 wall and a 2022 wall are different jobs. Street parking is generally easy here outside of event days at Mueller Lake Park.