You bought the house. Nobody explained the house.
There's a rack in a closet, keypads on the walls, and an app you can't log into. The previous owner is gone and the installer's number doesn't work. We start by telling you what you actually own.
Before anything else: don't unplug it
The single most expensive mistake a new owner makes is tidying the rack. Pulling a controller out, resetting something to "start fresh", or letting an internet installer swap the router can throw away programming that took days to write and that nobody has a copy of.
A smart home isn't the boxes. It's a project file — a written description of every keypad, scene, room and schedule in your house — and it lives on the controller. If that controller is wiped, the boxes still power on and the house stops behaving. Rebuilding from nothing is the most expensive job in this trade.
So the correct first move is not a purchase. It's a backup. We can take one remotely, and if it turns out you need nothing else, that's a fine outcome.
What we can work out without you knowing anything
What the equipment is
Model numbers off the front of the boxes tell us the generation, what software it can run, and whether it is still supported. Most owners have no idea whether their rack is worth keeping — usually it is.
What the house was programmed to do
The project file lists every room, keypad button, scene and schedule the previous owner had set up. Reading it is how you find out that the button by the back door was doing something useful.
Whether anything is already broken
Systems that sat through a sale often have a device or two offline — a failed dimmer, a thermostat that lost its network. That shows up in the project long before you notice it in the house.
Whether it is still registered to someone
Hardware is tied to a dealer account and often to the previous owner's email. That is the single most common reason the app will not let you in, and it is a fixable administrative problem, not a broken system.
Photograph the front of every box in the rack and send them. That is genuinely enough for us to start.
The awkward questions, answered plainly
The app asks for an email I don't have
Normal, and expected. The account belongs to the previous owner. It does not mean they can still watch your house — but it does mean the system needs to be moved to you properly rather than left in their name. That transfer is routine work.
I have no idea what half of these buttons do
Neither does anyone until the project file is read. Once we have it, you get a plain list of what every keypad button is currently programmed to do, and you decide which ones are worth keeping.
The seller said "it all works" and it doesn't
Usually true at the time they said it. A system that has not been touched in years drifts: an app update, a new router, an expired account. Most of what looks like failure is disconnection.
I don't want any of it — can I just rip it out?
You can, and sometimes that is the right answer. But find out what it does first: keypads that already control every light in the house are hard and expensive to replace with ordinary switches, and the wiring behind them was designed for this system.
What it costs
Backup + report
from $49
A complete copy of your project, plus a plain-English list of what your house is programmed to do. The correct first purchase.
OS upgrade
$129
Bring an inherited system up to a current, supported version so the app works and new devices are possible.
Programming
from $49
Re-map a keypad, rebuild a scene, get the app back on the phone. Priced per item, no truck charge.
What new owners ask
I bought a house with a Control4 system. Where do I even start?+
Photograph the front of every box in the equipment closet and send us the pictures. That tells us the generation and capability of what you own. Then we take a backup — before any changes — and give you a plain list of what the house is currently programmed to do. Only after that is it worth talking about money.
The previous owner's email is on the app. Can they still control my house?+
They should not be able to once the system is properly transferred, and transferring it is normal administrative work. Until then, treat it the way you would treat not having changed the locks: not an emergency, but do it soon.
Nobody gave me any passwords or documentation. Is the system usable?+
Almost always, yes. Passwords are a dealer-account problem, not a hardware problem. The programming that makes your house work is on the controller and is readable by any dealer with proper access — it is not locked to the person who installed it.
How do I know if the system is too old to bother with?+
Model number and current software version answer that in a minute. There is a real ceiling on older controllers, and if yours is past it we will tell you plainly — including when the honest answer is that the hardware is fine and only the software is behind.
Do I have to use the company that installed it?+
No. You own the equipment in your house. If the original installer is responsive and fair, using them is a good option. If their number is disconnected — which is why most people find this page — you are free to bring in anyone.
Can any of this be done without someone coming out?+
Identification, backup, software upgrades, programming changes and app re-linking are all remote. Anything involving a physically dead device, wiring or mounting needs a person in the room, and we say so rather than pretending otherwise.
What if it turns out I need almost nothing?+
Then we tell you that and you pay for the backup. A large share of inherited systems need a software refresh and an account transfer, not new equipment. Selling you a rack you do not need would be the easiest sale in this business and it is the one we decline.
Is it the same story with Lutron?+
Yes. HomeWorks and RadioRA systems are inherited the same way and hit the same account wall. Lutron is where our 25 years started — dealer since 1999.
Send us photos of the closet.
Tell us what the house does and what it stopped doing. We'll tell you what the equipment is, what it's capable of, and what it would cost to have it working — before you spend anything.
Free: check what OS your controller can get · Installer out of business?