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My 200amp electric service box is leaning 2 inches out from the house wall at the top. The electric service box is screwed into the ½ inch siding and over the past 5 years the screw holes have enlarged to a degree where the top portion of the box is not attached to the house. The screws are about 2 inches long.
The concern I have is that if I attempt to reattach the box to the siding that I may drive screws into the wiring behind the siding. The question is do I (an electrician and I) remove the box to determine the exact damage to the house and siding? I know I may need to get the electrical utility involved. Then remove the siding and install a nailer behind the siding, which will hold the box securely and protect the wiring from the screws.
Comments??
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If you are talking about your meter pan box, here we have a tamper tag on the box so you cant get inside the box without the utility being there. Also, the utility doesnt want to do anything other than turn off or on the power, so if you wanted to check out the siding and make repairs you wouldnt have power for days. The utility would disconnect your incoming lines, leave, and come back another day after you were done with your work. I would just get some larger lag bolts the same length, have the utility show up to open the box, put in the new lags, and close it up with a new anti tamper tag. You shouldnt need an electrician; you and the utility worker should be able to take care of it yourself, at least thats from my experience dealing with them.
Dave
*An electrician will have a pretty good idea of where the wire goes once it leaves the box. The utility may have to open the box for you. Once it's opened, you (or your electrician) can pull the box, look behind, fix what needs fixing (well maybe not your electrician) and screw it into something more solid.If you're a do it yourselfer and you feel you can handle this...call the utility and be careful. If you're gonna call an electrician, just do that right off the bat and let the experts do their thing.
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My 200amp electric service box is leaning 2 inches out from the house wall at the top. The electric service box is screwed into the ½ inch siding and over the past 5 years the screw holes have enlarged to a degree where the top portion of the box is not attached to the house. The screws are about 2 inches long.
The concern I have is that if I attempt to reattach the box to the siding that I may drive screws into the wiring behind the siding. The question is do I (an electrician and I) remove the box to determine the exact damage to the house and siding? I know I may need to get the electrical utility involved. Then remove the siding and install a nailer behind the siding, which will hold the box securely and protect the wiring from the screws.
Comments??