I'm in the process of buying a foreclosure that had the main circuit breaker (disconnect) stolen. The main panel is located in the house and is fine. I've got some electricians coming out to give me some estimates but was wondering how much this has cost you.
Probably going to replace with a 200 amp service. The wire that feeds the main panel was also cut, so will need a new run from disconnect to main panel (20 feet').
Ryan Richard and John H., I'm going through this now in MA. I've have about 1300 total in parts and labor. Local utility will connect from pole after inspections. I will be paying extra because I'm actually changing the pole the service is being fed from (need to actually confirm this). The cost included from new weather head to new 100 amp, socket, panel, breakers and also included running some new lines inside. Last one I had done was in the same ballpark, also with additional lines for baseboard heat. I think in both cases the additional lines only added about 200 max.
I got a quote a few weeks ago, 15 feet of wire down from weather head to a new 100amp disconnect. He said $1000. I asked about 200 amp, he said a few hundred more. Seemed high to me. We are in MA and that was doing it legit with pulling a permit.
If it's just wiring from the service head to the disconnect (and adding a new disconnect), I would think you're looking somewhere in the $400-600 range. Of course, there are lots of variables, so get some quotes, but that's my best guess.
Ryan Richard and John H., I'm going through this now in MA. I've have about 1300 total in parts and labor. Local utility will connect from pole after inspections. I will be paying extra because I'm actually changing the pole the service is being fed from (need to actually confirm this). The cost included from new weather head to new 100 amp, socket, panel, breakers and also included running some new lines inside. Last one I had done was in the same ballpark, also with additional lines for baseboard heat. I think in both cases the additional lines only added about 200 max.
You should call your power company and wind your way through their service reps and ask where the demarcation point is. Typically, that is just outside the weather head. You have to get your lines up through the weather head and then they will connect their lines to yours.
To me, $1000 for the lines from the weather head, to the disconnect (and meter base?) then to the service panel in the house seems high. OTOH, these lines are expensive themselves. The 3/0 wire you need is about $3 a foot, and you would need three of these. So, 35' of that would be about $300, plus the disconnect and meter base, plus the grounding wire and other parts.
Thanks Jon Holdman.
This is what it looks like. The weather head is bent over at a 45 degree angle with cut wires hanging out of it. Obviously the house has no power. The main disconnect is missing, stolen I assume. The meter is long gone and the main 3/0 wires you speak of are cut in the garage. So basically, I need power from the pole all the way to the service panel located in the house.
The sad part about this is that my uncle is a journeyman electrician with 30 years of experience but never had the desire to get his masters license. He gave me an idea of what I need but he doesn't have any idea on costs because he never got into that side of the business. He also doesn't want to jeopardize his license by doing work he isn't licensed to do.
The good news is that I found an electrician on Craigslist that advertised he is looking for side-work and will beat anybody's prices by 35%. He is a soldier stationed on Ft. Hood and has his masters license/osha license etc. He sounds legit. Gave me his license numbers. I'm going to have him look at it asap.
New 100A main breaker should cost you 3 and half in parts plus labor (very easy and quick install especially since the service has been cut). Replacing the cut 4/0 SEU aluminum cable should be another 150 or so plus labor.
A 200A service change out to will cost you anywhere from 1400-8000. Depends on the electrical contractor.
Most EDC's claim 12" past the goose neck (service head). So, the "licensed" electrical contractor will run service cable from the meter base up the house and leave approximately 12" of cable for the EDC to bug too. From there down is homeowner's responsibility. Some EDC's require the service be sleeved in conduit. Another expense to consider or inquiry about.
Don't hold me to all the above. But I'm fairly certain.
Also, the house has gas. Water heater is gas and stove is gas. The dryer and AC are going to be the major loads here I assume. I was told that 100 amp may be fine but I typically like to upgrade things if cost is minimal. What do you say?
Cost is cost. You should determine if the additional cost to upgrade to the 200A service in addition to the other needed repairs will yield you a return.
The only reason I would switch out a 100A for a 200A is if I was increasing the loads ie. installing a pool or hot tub.
If you are keeping the same appliances or even upgrading them (more efficient models these days) I would say keep the 100A service.
This is what it looks like. The weather head is bent over at a 45 degree angle with cut wires hanging out of it. Obviously the house has no power. The main disconnect is missing, stolen I assume. The meter is long gone and the main 3/0 wires you speak of are cut in the garage. So basically, I need power from the pole all the way to the service panel located in the house.
The sad part about this is that my uncle is a journeyman electrician with 30 years of experience but never had the desire to get his masters license. He gave me an idea of what I need but he doesn't have any idea on costs because he never got into that side of the business. He also doesn't want to jeopardize his license by doing work he isn't licensed to do.
The good news is that I found an electrician on Craigslist that advertised he is looking for side-work and will beat anybody's prices by 35%. He is a soldier stationed on Ft. Hood and has his masters license/osha license etc. He sounds legit. Gave me his license numbers. I'm going to have him look at it asap.
Craigslist, 35% cheaper and stationed at Ft. Hood. This should be interesting. Anybody I've found or talked to on Craigslist is a flake, most gross profit is 35% and anybody I've ever tried to use from that area is worthless. And I've tried to hire a few guys up there to take care of handyman issues on a business I used to own. I've got a customer that had several rentals up there and I hated driving there from Round Rock to handle piddly stuff so tried to find somebody up there. It was pointless. They wouldn't show up, would do a horrible job at anything I had them do or over half of them needed gas money before they could do look at or do job. The minute they were done with the job, which as I mentioned before was usually done as well as my 4 year old could do, they wanted me to rush up no matter what time of day it was and pay them immediately. I had one guy who threatened to go back and undo what he did (painting) if I didn't get him the money within 2 hours. At that point, I said screw it and just started going up there myself. If you use the guy, just done give him any money for anything until he is completed. I would just personally pay a reputable contractor to go and do the job correctly and move on.
Brian, so you're suggesting that everybody in this area is worthless? Maybe I should hire an electrician out of Austin and pay him a premium; because Nobody around here is worth their salt........
I can understand your frustration with the Ft. Hood area though, they receive a lot of low-educated, questionable characters who join the ARMY to get out of trouble or because they have no other options. I've lived in this area all my life so I'm no amateur to these types of people.
Perhaps this guy is legit. His license is legit. He said he has no problem pulling permits. Between material and labor mark-up, I don't think his claim of beating anybody's bid by 35% is that far of a stretch. I'll find out soon.
I can understand your frustration with the Ft. Hood area though, they receive a lot of low-educated, questionable characters who join the ARMY to get out of trouble or because they have no other options. I've lived in this area all my life so I'm no amateur to these types of people.
Perhaps this guy is legit. His license is legit. He said he has no problem pulling permits. Between material and labor mark-up, I don't think his claim of beating anybody's bid by 35% is that far of a stretch. I'll find out soon.
I'd say about half out of the area are worthless, same as here. Whereas, my weak point is real estate investing, hence coming on to BP. My strong point is contractors and contractor relations, I know the trades pretty well. My point being that first of all Craigslist is probably one of the worst ways to hire a contractor or anything semi-skilled. The only thing worse is hiring a day laborer from in front of Home Depot. It barely qualifies as a viable way to give away free stuff, even that they want you to deliver it half the time. The next thing is that anybody who offers to do something for 35% less than everybody else is what I refer to as a "hack" or a crook. There is realistically no way for him to make money short of $50. I don't know anybody who has any skill in the trades that will work for that amount of money. I was actually having this conversation with a builder I work with today about this. The ones who do it for significantly less are usually the ones who will screw something up. If you want to risk the liability, that is your business and your money. Hiring somebody from Austin, does not guarantee anything, I know several electricians that would do a great job for you, but you wouldn't want to pay them what they are worth and most likely wouldn't travel to Killeen. So that point is mute. I'm simply saying to hire an actual company with insurance and legitimate, not some Army side jobber. I'd dig a little deeper. It really leaves me wondering why a master electrician with licensing and insurance is in the Army. But as I said previously it's your business and your money. Just keep us informed how it turns out.
I'm going to take a wild guess that the ARMY trains people to become electricians. I doubt that master electricians get their license and then enlist. It's probably more like the ARMY has alot of need for electricians so they train their own from within. The other alternative is that the ARMY has no electricians.
I'll update when I meet this guy but I'm not going to just assume he's a hack becuase he's from Ft. Hood and claims to not be a BS'r and not charge what a standard company would charge.
I used to install home theater systems when I was in college as a side job while I worked at Circuit City. And I can tell you that the "legit" companies around town would charge a ridicuous amount of money for simpe jobs. And believe it or not, they often did POOR work. This business of rehabbing is about finding as many ways to save money as possible. If I can get quality work for a few hundred dollars less than the guy in the phone book, you better believe I'm going to do it.
We had a weather head taken out by a tree that fell on the line. I installed a new mast and pulled the old wires through it. The utility company never asked any thing about permits and re-hooked it from their pole.
On the flip side, I cut the tree down and it fell the wrong way. Haha
Had $25 into it.
I once purchased a house where the meter box cover had been stolen. The meter was there, but the regtangular pice of metal with the hole in the center that fits over the meter was gone. Anyone could have stuck their hand inside and gotten electricuted.
I thought I could just go to HD and buy the meter can and use just the cover to replace. It turns out that the box was obsolete. I called the power company and several electrical supply places. They all said I would need to have an electrician replace the entire meter can.
The meter box had a label with all of the model numbers on it. I took a picture of everything and listed all of the model numbers on CL under the "wanted" section. Within about twelve hours, an electrician called me and said he had the exact cover that I needed. He gave it to me and wouldn't accept any cash.
Don't be afraid to post a pic of the disconnect that you need on CL. someone who saves stuff might have what you need and save you a bunch of $.
If you plan on replacing anyway, it's hard to give a price without seeing it. I'm having a service upgrade done this coming week. Nothing outside needs to be replaced, but the inside panel will be new and it needs to be grounded to the water meter and two ground rods to the outside. $550 plus the permit cost. Usually skip the permit, but have to get one on this job.
the guy who posts there's nothing but morons on CL is a fool. I've gotten plenty of workers off of there with very impressive results.
I even needed brake pads done on my car this week. I went to the local "bend over" car repair company for an estimate. Said, "just need rear pads & it's $200 + sales tax."
I had a couple guys picke up the pads, give me a copy of the receipt ($30) & they charged me $60. Turns out they own a body shop & go to people's homes to get some side work. Great idea on their part.
I love CL.
I'll update when I meet this guy but I'm not going to just assume he's a hack becuase he's from Ft. Hood and claims to not be a BS'r and not charge what a standard company would charge.
I used to install home theater systems when I was in college as a side job while I worked at Circuit City. And I can tell you that the "legit" companies around town would charge a ridicuous amount of money for simpe jobs. And believe it or not, they often did POOR work. This business of rehabbing is about finding as many ways to save money as possible. If I can get quality work for a few hundred dollars less than the guy in the phone book, you better believe I'm going to do it.
The licensing is done through the state, not the Army. Texas has the Texas Department of licensing and regulation. It doesn't matter if he's the best electrician in the army and has every accrediation there is. Unless he's licensed by the state of Texas, it means nothing. If he burns down your house and you knowlingly hire an unlicensed by the state electrician. Your insurance will not cover the damage. I don't care what you do or how you do it, that's what's great about the US of A. Its a free country for now.
I even needed brake pads done on my car this week. I went to the local "bend over" car repair company for an estimate. Said, "just need rear pads & it's $200 + sales tax."
I had a couple guys picke up the pads, give me a copy of the receipt ($30) & they charged me $60. Turns out they own a body shop & go to people's homes to get some side work. Great idea on their part.
I love CL.
I'm the fool. Maybe in your area it works. Around central Texas its serves no purpose other than for pure entertainment. I tried to hire people in the past off of it. It's been 2 years. Its the same story. Can't show up for ???? Car broke down. Need gas money to come to job. Did a bad job and need money now. The only decent person I've found on CL is this old guy who I call when I have scrap metal I don't want to haul to the scrap yard. He comes by and gets it and hauls if off to supplement his retirement income.
I'm not sure about the Army but the military in general will pay for state licenses often times. It's so that you can perform work on base facilities for the Army and just because sometimes it's cheaper to do it that way than run their own education program. Also even if they don't pay for it directly most of the classes or certifications will be legit with the state so you can go apply using your active duty education. I know that for my buddy had his CDL paid for by the Navy because they needed him to drive, and he can also apply for something else (liquids endorsement or haz waste) based on his active duty education.
Not saying this guy is, just saying that it is possible that he did something like this.
This is exactly what he told me about his license. " it's an OSHA/MSHA licence through the federal government, so Texas won't show it, but they do recognise it, because of the higher standards required for it."
He told me that he pulls permits so obviously Texas recognizes his license. This thread is ridiculous with all the speculation. Either he has his license, is legit, and can pull the permit, or he is full of crap and I'll tell him to scram.
The fact is, there are good and bad electricians and some of them advertise on craigslist and some of them work for local companies. To say that all electricians on craigslist are worthless, is a bit naive. Just as saying that all electricians who work for local companies do good work.
I'm not sure about the Army but the military in general will pay for state licenses often times. It's so that you can perform work on base facilities for the Army and just because sometimes it's cheaper to do it that way than run their own education program. Also even if they don't pay for it directly most of the classes or certifications will be legit with the state so you can go apply using your active duty education. I know that for my buddy had his CDL paid for by the Navy because they needed him to drive, and he can also apply for something else (liquids endorsement or haz waste) based on his active duty education.
Not saying this guy is, just saying that it is possible that he did something like this.
Texas is weird about their licensing. You have to watch out with them. They don't take ignorance as an excuse. They have authorized education providers and stick with them. Lots of politics involved. I do know the electrical requires a master and contractors license to sell to public. I have a state hvac license and I only have to have contractors license, not master, it doesn't even exist. Run by same state department with 2 different sets of rules. I had a friend years ago that worked on fighter jets in the military. Top of the line stuff I would think. He couldn't get a job washing planes when he got out.
Being a current military member the air force offers up to 9000 for a one time certification. As well as other testing/certification programs in conjuctiin with the state. So its possible this guy is legit. Also a problem with working fighter jets ( I worked f-16s) is that us airways doesnt have any so with out an a&p license outside work is harder to find than you would think.
That's the problem, you never know where the line is between federal and state licensing and certifications. Some states will reciprocate with Texas on their licensing. A little side story on how weird the state is. I have this website now, ranked page 1 of Google for my hvac company. I got for free from this guy. Apparently he likes to build websites for the fun of it and see how high he can get them on rankings. He built a website for hvac. He doesn't do any work, doesn't claim too and basically wouldn't do anything with it, but try to get it higher ranked. The state got wind of it and told him to cease and desist. So he calls me, asks me if I want it for free while he continues to work on it and I can have any calls that come in. I've gotten a few off of it, nothing earth shattering, but I've made a few hundred. That's how weird the state is.