Carl's right, the water never lies. @the_richard, we've pulled the plug on jobs too when the current just won't quit.

Actually, that kind of thing is probably just a weird coincidence. Wallets get old and the material warps from body heat or being sat on. It's way more likely to be simple wear and tear than some supernatural force bending your cards. People just notice it after hearing the story and connect dots that aren't really there.

But how much faster are we talking? I've seen plenty of old fences with posts set in concrete that held up for decades. It seems like one of those things that's technically true but maybe not a big deal in real life. If the wood is pressure treated and the concrete is above grade so water can drain, the risk seems pretty low. Sometimes these warnings make a small problem sound like a sure thing.

Honestly, the biggest time-saver for me was a simple mental shift. I stopped thinking about the panel as the last step and started planning the wire paths from the very first cable I pulled. For example, if I know circuits 1 and 2 are for the kitchen, I'll run those two cables together from the start and leave enough length to land them next to each other. It adds zero time to the job, because you're just bundling as you go instead of trying to sort a tangled mess at the end. That old inspector was onto something with grouping by circuit.

Ugh, hard disagree. Grids just make everything look the same, like a boring template. I feel like they kill any chance for something to actually look interesting or unique.