Since I am about to reside my house I have a dillema with my overhead utilities. One…I don’t want to work near overhead lines and two I would like to covert them to underground.
My utilities run from the street to a pole mounted in my yard about halfway to the house. I was planning on having the conduit run from there to the house. Now I am assuming I will need a new meter box that will accept the wires etc. from the bottom and not the top.
My problem is, I don’t want to waste the time of an electrician coming out to give me an estimate if it isn’t realistically in the budget. So before I get an electrician out I was wondering if someone could ballpark the price for me…..are we talking a couple hundred bucks or a grand?
The pole is about 50-75′ away from the house (I would dig the trench to the house). The electrician would then install and connect whatever needs to be done.
Thanks for any and all help.
SJ
Replies
outside Boston
100 amp to 200 amp service (new panel-15 ckt breakers)
new meter box
move service from over roof to side and down
2 new crkts
new ground rods (and new connection to water on opposite side of house)
permit
2 electricians for 7 hours
$1500
your digging the trench will save $ be sure you know what they want.
bobl Volo Non Voleo Joe's cheat sheet
Bobl,
Your electrician must be a very good friend of yours. That sounds extremely reasonable.
I priced a very similar scope in the past few months and settled on $2,200.
I suspect the bids will vary greatly within the group of electricians you bid it to. Don't worry about wasting their time. Estimating is part of their profession and it is added into their quotes.
Good Lukk
DL
To All = Thanks
Bobl - also outside Boston (or Providence) in Attleboro.
I'm not changing the location of the incoming power or my interior box...I currently have a 200amp service. I just want then utilities buried instead of coming in on an overhead line then down the side of my house.
Are all the items you mentioned necessary?
Thanks....this and plumbing I leave alone....I know where to draw the line.
SJ
Know a little about alot and alot about little.
Around here, the power company does everything
up to the meter. You own the meter box but not
the meter. My guess would be the same out there.
Call your power company first. Might need a new meter
box and that would be installed by your electrician.
Everything else handled by the power co, but paid
for by you. Figure 2 grand if they are not generous.
No conduit except for the first and last couple
feet. They usually use cable rated for direct burial.
(at least around here). Power company pulls the permits.
Steve,
Call your utility company first and see what they allow/require.Where I live the utility company considers everything up to the point of attachment on the structure as their property.They take it personally if you even touch their stuff.Last year we were hired to install a 1200 amp service for a cell phone tower in a neighboring state, the contract calling for us to install 3 4" conduits 400' long w/ 600MCM (very big and expensive)conductors from the utility pole mounted transformer to the tower disconnect.Just as we were finishing terminating ,the line foreman showed up and thanked us for doing their work,saying it would have been provided to the customer at no cost.The general contractor paid the bill but learned a lesson about hiring out work w/o knowing local utility practices.
If they say the service lateral is your responsibility you have a day's work for two guys.I'd use PVC conduit (schedule 80 for exposed) run up the pole with a weatherhead to connect to the overhead drop.Yes you should replace the meter base.I don't estimate,just install ,but you're closer to the grand than the couple of hundred you're guessing about.
Barry & Bob - Thanks. It sounds like it is more involved than I originally figured. I was figuring that since I was doing the siding over it might be best to have this done as well. I will have to see how the budget is by the time I get to that side of the house. I'll do it last and see what is left in pot.
If not I will see if the MA Electric will throw some of those insulated blanket like gismos over the line so I don't kill myself.
Can't wait to manually unload my 4500 linear feet of siding tomorrow. The guy at Yellow Freight says...."yeah we got a 2035lb crate of siding for you....do you have a fork-lift?" Yeah, right next to lawn mower in the shed behind the weedwacker. Only forklift I got are the two arms God gave me.
SJ
Know a little about alot and alot about little.
Converting 100 amp service to 200 amp....$1200. includes getting everything ready for underground and once things are ready making the final connection.
Power company buring things underground up to the meter, 128 feet (very narrow access, $6.50 a foot instead of $2.50 a foot if I had room for their eight foot wide machine) $1300.00
Hiring a lawyer to get the neighbor who shared the pole in my yard to put his underground and had an easement across my yard $700.00 paying for neighbors wiring $1500. court costs etc. $850.00
Waiting an additional 10 weeks to get all this done.... Priceless!
Steve,
Just trying to give you an idea of what was done for the $1500.
Depending on what the code says you may or may not need new grounds. my system was 40 years old. he may have to run a new line from the meter box to the panel, why? murphy!
The electrician had to connect to the electric comapny (mass electric) line on the power co side of the meter. had to run about 30' of line. moved the connection from the gable peak to the side so wouldn't go over the roof.
BTW never met the guy till he came out to give me a price. my wife did get his name from a GC
Oh Yea, why weren't u at reckOfest?
bobl Volo Non Voleo Joe's cheat sheet
Edited 6/27/2002 12:52:00 PM ET by bobl
I was probably working on finishing my porch !!!!! lol
I'll have to make plans for the next 'fest'.
I appreciate the detail you gave me and the heads up. The house was built in 1980 and I have a 200amp service currently (pun intended). The location of all the lines will remain the same in relation to the house. The box location is perfect....just want the damn lines off my house and underground. I think I will have some one come take a look. But I don't have a referral from anyone.....my neighbor's gets all his electrical done by his father (retired RI electrical inspector) but he warned me not to go there....his father is real slow these days. He is still wiring the neighbors summer house in NH.....it's been three months of weekends.
This and plumbing......I'm ready for an out-house and portable generator !!!
SJ
P.S. Anyone want to bet on how long it will take my fiance and myself to unload that 4500 linear feet of cedar siding tomorrow morning? I can hear it now...."Honey if you stop to pull another splinter the driver is going to kill you". :-DKnow a little about alot and alot about little.
45 seconds to unload. Its banded and won't break (much).
Tie a chain to the skid. Hook the end to your hitch.
Step on the gas. Use ramps if you're faint-of-heart.
The driver will be really mad if you intend to unload
one stick at a time. All they do is drive, not unload,
and they don't like to wait. Just hope there isn't ####skid of anvils or something you have to move first.
Bob - Took 20-30 minutes....driver was great.....we took apart the crate in about 30 seconds then he pulled the siding out we put it in the yard.....he refused a tip...just took a nice cold soda (what a guy).
Of course then we spent the next hour or so stacking it according to size.....but it's done.
Can't wait to hear my settlement amount on my Masonite claim !!!.
SJ
Know a little about alot and alot about little.
Every so often you run across a nice guy.
I usually end up with a delivery by ####tired grumpy guy who just spent 6 hours
in traffic. Except for one time when my back
was out and I got a 1000 pound machinery crate.
I was just going to drag it down a ramp.
The driver got it off the truck and even loaded
it on my pickup for me. Doesn't quite make up
for the 97% of the time when people act like
barnyard animals, but its nice to see when it happens.
If you're simply going for cable burial, the power company usually does this for minimal charge. It would be around $300 in our area.
They dig the trench and bury the cable in conduit (probably 2") and drop the old line after switching over.
Other option is to check with the power company to see if they will let you dig the trench and lay the conduit, which is what they let me do and it didn't cost me a penny.
They even dropped off the conduits and a new can of glue !
For a 100 to 200 amp upgrade, a meter panel is supplied as well.
For $300 I would have let the power company do everything but I had to dig a 100' trench around the house for the service entrance, so the DitchWitch rental was already in the plans.
The $300 savings help offset the DitchWitch rental, new main disconnct box and a 40 circuit breaker panel.
Since your project involves only cable burial and I am assuming the meter is already rated for 200-amps, it would be worth the $300 to let the power company do the job.
Obviously there would be a permit involved and the power company may take care of that as well.
Should go without saying, but call your utility locating service first. And don't be surprised if they don't find everything.
My neighbor did exactly what you're proposing last weekend and hit an unmarked water line.
Sorry I can't help with the $$$$ part.