Electrical service drop - rubbing on garage shingles

[bochnak]

My electrical service drop is rubbing on my garage shingles. Garage is located between pole and house. I'd like to raise this up 6-12" since I'm getting a new roof soon.

I plan to call my power company, just thought I's like to hear what you guys think. Years ago they came out and raised the line at pole, it's about as high as it can go on the pole.

So here are some options?

1. Raise point on house roof. Shallow pitch, not much to gain.
2. Post or other device on garage to support it
3. Have them raise it more on pole?

Thanks,
Matt

 

[Falcon67]

Call the power company - I had a drop that had to run across the yard to service a neighbor house and it ran just over the garage peak. AEP came and move it up for about 16" of clearance.

 

[bochnak]

Call the power company - I had a drop that had to run across the yard to service a neighbor house and it ran just over the garage peak. AEP came and move it up for about 16" of clearance.

Plan to call them today. If they can raise it on pole that would be the best option. There is no slack in wires for it to go higher, so maybe years ago when they raised it up, he was to lazy to splice in longer lines.

 

[driftpin]

I believe the service to your weatherhead is the power company's responsibility. Seems like it should be shorter to pull the service cable off the roof. I had my weatherhead replaced recently, and the lineman who did it was 30+ years in the field and she wasted no time.It performs great, I had no issues like yours, but it's a complete replacement of an early 1960's Federal Pacific so I feel much safer now.

 

[ddawg16]

Your weatherhead looks to be about the right height.

In my neck of the woods.....running the line above the garage like that would not be allowed. When I was doing my addition, there were a lot of rules I had to follow regarding load center placement.

If you are redoing your roof, you might want to consider a different meter and weatherhead location. If it was me, I'd be moving it to the corner of the house.

Hard to tell from the pics, but, they might be able to do what I would call a mid-line drop....this is how some of the house near me are done....they run the 240Vac feed down the line about half way then run it over to your house. This lets them put the drop where it avoids buildings.

Neighbor behind me complained because the drop to his neighbor was running across his yard. They did the mid-line drop to fix it.

 

[bochnak]

Your weatherhead looks to be about the right height.

In my neck of the woods.....running the line above the garage like that would not be allowed. When I was doing my addition, there were a lot of rules I had to follow regarding load center placement.

If you are redoing your roof, you might want to consider a different meter and weatherhead location. If it was me, I'd be moving it to the corner of the house.

Hard to tell from the pics, but, they might be able to do what I would call a mid-line drop....this is how some of the house near me are done....they run the 240Vac feed down the line about half way then run it over to your house. This lets them put the drop where it avoids buildings.

Neighbor behind me complained because the drop to his neighbor was running across his yard. They did the mid-line drop to fix it.

The drop is actually attached to the sheathing, not the mast.

Moving meter/weatherhead is a costly option...definitely don't want to do that.

Mid line drop was considered years ago, however the drop would be lower and run smack in the middle of yard where I play baseball and football with my boys.

 

[sberry]

Is the clamp on the drop near the top? I guess it is. A little would depend on the condition, how long I intended to keep it so to speak and if the improvement would pay.
That looks like it could be a 100A meter base or did you say that? A little on what I intended to do. I agree it doesn't have to be attached there and as an upgrade might actually go to a new 200 and go underground. Here the cost was 3 a horizontal foot on your property if you had it piped and ready or 6 if they direct bury the wire.
That distance is short. A 200 8 space feed thru lugs is abou 2oo$ as is a 2 space disconnect cost the same, a guy can do outsid3e buildings if that is important, a well and disconnect the house from there or,,,,, we assume the service is in the basement now, put a new 200 there beside the old one would work for me too.
Leave the old service in place, install new beside it, after upgrade inspection rig it up to change over, when the poco comes they install new and remove old in one shot. You move priorities to new panel or feed old from new.
On an old service the actual wires may be rather limited. I didn't even bother on a recent buds service. The power was off about 10 minutes.
After the inspector left the day before installed a j box for 1 circuit, routed another wire or 2 in installed half a dozen breakers, had connectors in the box. I had put the new in better spot and most old wires reached the new, they turned off the old service and I disconnected the wires and had most back on including the lights I was using in about 5 minutes, as long as it took them to clip the old and hook to the new on the pole.
The original was overhead. Permit went to 150$ here now, used to be a steal at 50. As a diy scheme depending on location might be able to get out of it for 600 in materials and fees. Maybe up to 750 but never have to flash around it again, get a new base with new wire, never have it pulled down or damaged from your property.

 

[bochnak]

Is the clamp on the drop near the top? I guess it is. A little would depend on the condition, how long I intended to keep it so to speak and if the improvement would pay.
That looks like it could be a 100A meter base or did you say that?

Drop and meter is good to 200A, I have a 100A panel.

I need to get a better pic of how and where it attaches to house.

I called the power company and told them I need it raised at the pole. Told them to come prepared to lengthen the lines.

We shall see...

 

[sberry]

At that rate and distance would let them do the digging for the fee considering the potential for other wiring etc at the easement and even on your own property.
The poco should go for this, its a simple down the pole like others already there it looks like.
Am I looking correct in pic 3 that yours is the olny overhead and there are some go underground to the neighbors? No,,, it looks like they go overhead from there.
My poco is pretty good. They don't fuk around avoiding but work it out pretty good and fast. If there was even a remote chance that new service would be needed would be saying, geeze, had to replace the old, hook me back up, underground,,, ha

I need to get a better pic of how and where it attaches to house.

Is it anchored to the building? If the mast is rigid pipe it might need another clamp but can have the wire clamped under the weatherhead on the mast for that length drop.

 

[GrayFlattop]

ComEd should come out to fix the situation - assuming that your garage has been existing for awhile. The biggest challenge will be to actually get in touch with someone that will listen and do something. They have the absolute worst customer service for things like this. Even for new industrial service, I've had to call dozens of times - across weeks - to get any response. I hope that you have better luck.

They may have to move the service drop from the pole to what they call a "mid-span" drop. Last time I had ComEd do this on a job, they charged a modest amount for the change, but the change in the drop was needed because I was building a garage was nothing existed before - and that spot was the only place for a garage on the lot.

 

[sberry]

I agree some utilities are a challenge, I have been willing to pay the fees and still not get them to agree to a change that would benefit them. Last one I did at home they sent a field engineer who used to be a lineman and we agreed on the design and even lobbied for improved wire size.
He even asked me a couple load calc questions and I said,,, why yes, going to put 3 new large motors on for cooling etc and it was the magic number for reduced fee from a new load calculation.

 

[kursplat]

i doubt they can raise the service, it looks like it's already at the bottom of the transformer. pole might be coming over, but the service looks pretty tight. if your w/h is ridged pipe they can attach to it and raise the service that way. if it's thin wall, you can change it out without too much work. OR you can add a Point Of Attachment to the garage roof. if you do, use PT lumber. 2"x6" lagged into the rafters and smear henry's roof sealer under the whole thing. then have the utility come back and install a POA on the 2"x6" with a makeup. they might be able to move you serv out mid-span, but hard to tell from the pics

good luck

 

[bochnak]

At that rate and distance would let them do the digging for the fee considering the potential for other wiring etc at the easement and even on your own property.
The poco should go for this, its a simple down the pole like others already there it looks like.
Am I looking correct in pic 3 that yours is the olny overhead and there are some go underground to the neighbors? No,,, it looks like they go overhead from there.
My poco is pretty good. They don't fuk around avoiding but work it out pretty good and fast. If there was even a remote chance that new service would be needed would be saying, geeze, had to replace the old, hook me back up, underground,,, ha
Is it anchored to the building? If the mast is rigid pipe it might need another clamp but can have the wire clamped under the weatherhead on the mast for that length drop.

One neighbor has underground since he has a pool. Neighbors behind me are all underground since homes were built later on and that became a standard.

I put in a new concrete patio not shown in pics so underground would be difficult.

 

[bochnak]

ComEd should come out to fix the situation - assuming that your garage has been existing for awhile. The biggest challenge will be to actually get in touch with someone that will listen and do something. They have the absolute worst customer service for things like this. Even for new industrial service, I've had to call dozens of times - across weeks - to get any response. I hope that you have better luck.

They may have to move the service drop from the pole to what they call a "mid-span" drop. Last time I had ComEd do this on a job, they charged a modest amount for the change, but the change in the drop was needed because I was building a garage was nothing existed before - and that spot was the only place for a garage on the lot.

I called com ed and have opened a ticket. No timeframe was given.

Mid span drop would not be ideal as it will be lower and run right in middle of my yard. I play ball with my kids, so we would hit it.

 

[bochnak]

i doubt they can raise the service, it looks like it's already at the bottom of the transformer. pole might be coming over, but the service looks pretty tight. if your w/h is ridged pipe they can attach to it and raise the service that way. if it's thin wall, you can change it out without too much work. OR you can add a Point Of Attachment to the garage roof. if you do, use PT lumber. 2"x6" lagged into the rafters and smear henry's roof sealer under the whole thing. then have the utility come back and install a POA on the 2"x6" with a makeup. they might be able to move you serv out mid-span, but hard to tell from the pics

good luck

That's what I'm worried about. They might say there are rules on how high up the pole it can be???

The weather head seems to me to weak to attach to. I'd have to up the pipe or add some more anchoring.

As far as the garage point of attachment, I'd like something that I can put flashing around. I've been smearing henry for years on my crappy fake chimney and part of the reason I'm going with a new roof.

 

[fast one]

Comed will not raise the loop on the pole, it is as high as it can go to maintain clearances on the pole now. Unless you want to pay to have a taller pole put in.

Its hard to tell if you loop is attached to the service mast, if not that is what you need to do. That looks like that could gain 2-3' easily. On my service truck at work I carry the clamps needed to do that, it is no big deal. If you do not have one, it is just a matter of putting one in and being inspected.

The loop looks tight already, they will not take more slack out. You do not want it that tight either. It will pull the attachment point out of the house and cause the pole to start to lean. It is amazing how much damage can be caused when the attachment point is ripped off by a tree. I have seen it rip gutters, siding and even the plywood underneath off.

 

[kursplat]

That's what I'm worried about. They might say there are rules on how high up the pole it can be???

The weather head seems to me to weak to attach to. I'd have to up the pipe or add some more anchoring.

ya, they're not going to go any higher on the pole. since your doing the roof, perfect time to add a riser pipe to the house to attach the service to. 2" ridgid extending 2 1/2' to 3' above the roof line. attached to the outside of the wall with unistrut lagged into the studs. they're only supposed to go 30" max from the weatherhead so run it a couple inches from the meter panel to get max height over the garage

 

[JDMopar]

They can't raise it on the pole any more than it already is. It could be raised at the house, by adding a pipe clamp bracket right up under the weather head. The service is already pretty tight, and the pole is leaning towards you already. Raising it up at the house will get you a little more clearance over the garage. I've worked at the power company for 40 years, and have done what you need hundreds of times. If you weren't so far away.....I'd come do it for you! Good luck, they can help you some if they just will.

 

[bochnak]

I've attached a better pic of house attachment.

 

[GrayFlattop]

That's what I'm worried about. They might say there are rules on how high up the pole it can be???

The weather head seems to me to weak to attach to. I'd have to up the pipe or add some more anchoring.

As far as the garage point of attachment, I'd like something that I can put flashing around. I've been smearing henry for years on my crappy fake chimney and part of the reason I'm going with a new roof.

Complete specifications on what ComEd is looking for in a residential installation may be found here: https://www.comed.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/MyAccount/MyService/redbook101007_inorder1.pdf

 

[dave89iroc]

Complete specifications on what ComEd is looking for in a residential installation may be found here: https://www.comed.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/MyAccount/MyService/redbook101007_inorder1.pdf

look at page 22

 

[laser3kw]

In my neck of the woods.....running the line above the garage like that would not be allowed.

same around here. A person I know built a garage and ComED would not run a line because it would cross over a structure. They ended up running the service to the garage and made the house a sub - panel off the garage.

 

[kursplat]

Complete specifications on what ComEd is looking for in a residential installation may be found here: https://www.comed.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/MyAccount/MyService/redbook101007_inorder1.pdf

so pg. 24. ask them if you can have a separate #4 (Rigid steel conduit) that doesn't have the wire running through it. just used for landing the service. that way you don't need to install new entrance wires from the weather head to the meter socket.

did they ever show up?

 

[bochnak]

so pg. 24. ask them if you can have a separate #4 (Rigid steel conduit) that doesn't have the wire running through it. just used for landing the service. that way you don't need to install new entrance wires from the weather head to the meter socket.

did they ever show up?

Gothcha. They have not showed up yet. Had a pretty good storm last night so that means I move down on the list again.

 

[katmat]

Usually, In this area if you are attaching the service drop to the riser, you need a 2" rmc for 100 amp service & 2-1/2" rmc for a 200 amp service. I would put a taller service riser in & then you could add a riser support cable to the upper roof.

 

[GrayFlattop]

Gothcha. They have not showed up yet. Had a pretty good storm last night so that means I move down on the list again.

I continue to wish you the best of luck with ComEd. The best advise I can give you with respect to customer service and timely response would be to lower your expectations...

 

[ard]

Putting your requests in writing, and alluding to 'possible safety concerns' would likely result in your moving up the list. Just FYI.

 

[kursplat]

Gothcha. They have not showed up yet. Had a pretty good storm last night so that means I move down on the list again.

ya, that happens here. i hate doing that to people but when a storm comes through here all the rat killer jobs get bumped way down the line

 

[bochnak]

Power company came out and the easiest option is to add a middle support on garage. No permit or city involvement required for them to hang drop on middle support.

So I'm thinking of using a 3" GRC pipe and bolt a spool to the cap:

https://www.platt.com/platt-electri...e/PPC-Insulators/4172/product.aspx?zpid=50517

I'll get some nice flashing. Also plan on using pipe straps and add some blocking to the rafters. Power company worker said there would be only a 20lb. load or so.

Also noticed a neighbor down the street had a similiar setup on garage, except a 4x4 wood post. I'd rather have a GRC pipe with proper flashing.

 

[kbs2244]

Don't be afraid to have some extra length below the fastening point.
(I am guessing near the eve.)
Think of your post as a lever.
You want the low part to be under low stress.
The extra few feet of pipe will be cheap insurance.

 

[Tracs]

Power company came out and the easiest option is to add a middle support on garage. No permit or city involvement required for them to hang drop on middle support.

So I'm thinking of using a 3" GRC pipe and bolt a spool to the cap:

https://www.platt.com/platt-electri...e/PPC-Insulators/4172/product.aspx?zpid=50517

I'll get some nice flashing. Also plan on using pipe straps and add some blocking to the rafters. Power company worker said there would be only a 20lb. load or so.

Also noticed a neighbor down the street had a similiar setup on garage, except a 4x4 wood post. I'd rather have a GRC pipe with proper flashing.

Sounds like the guy who looked at it was lazy. I would not be doing this myself nor paying for it. Make the power company fix it. What's going to happen when something on the line needs fixed and the next technician that comes out, and blames your homemade support? You touch it now, you will be liable later.

 

[katmat]

Make sure the Power Company will allow steel for the post. They may require it to wood.

 

[SidewayStang]

Change the mast to rigid sch40 pipe and attach wire to the mast and do it right. Putting a prop under the wire it is a half *** attempt. Alternatively you could move the wire down to the eve and have the weatherhead under the eve if you can get proper ground clearance (10' I believe). That probably won't work because the service drop looks to go over your shed so back to changing the mast out. This is your responsibility not the POCO.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

I'm not surprised the POCO didn't want to do anything at the house. Around here they are very adamant that they are only responsible to service the conductor and support wire from the pole to the WH. The WH, conductors from the WH to the meter pan and support cable mounts are all on the building owner...

Tommy

 

[bochnak]

Change the mast to rigid sch40 pipe and attach wire to the mast and do it right. Putting a prop under the wire it is a half *** attempt. Alternatively you could move the wire down to the eve and have the weatherhead under the eve if you can get proper ground clearance (10' I believe). That probably won't work because the service drop looks to go over your shed so back to changing the mast out. This is your responsibility not the POCO.

I'm not surprised the POCO didn't want to do anything at the house. Around here they are very adamant that they are only responsible to service the conductor and support wire from the pole to the WH. The WH, conductors from the WH to the meter pan and support cable mounts are all on the building owner...

Tommy

Per the handbook for my POCO, I would have to upgrade the mast to 3" pipe, and wire can be 4'2" max above eave. Not much gain considering the expense involved.

 

[bochnak]

Installed a 4x4 post with insulated spool over the weekend. Post is anchored to attic floor and joist. Com Ed came out today to hang the drop.

New roof goes on in a month or so and they will add flashing. I'll stain it and put a post cap on it.

 

[laser3kw]

thanks for the update!
I'm sure others will find the information useful

 

[bochnak]

thanks for the update!
I'm sure others will find the information useful

No prob.

The POCO has to come out and cinch the line, forgot to mention that.

 

[kbs2244]

So we ended up with a pole through the garage roof?

 

[bochnak]

So we ended up with a pole through the garage roof?

Yes.