General Costs for Electrical Work in southern NJ?

[Jawgarage]

I'm just trying to guestimate the cost if I was to hire a local Licensed Electrician in Millville, NJ to do the most basic wiring/fixture work in my 2 car garage addition. It's an addition to an existing 2 car detached garage that already has electric in it from it's own subpanel so the work is simply taping into one of the two circuits already there and running like 8 standard ceiling fixtures, 10 double outlets, and like 5 3-way switches. I can do this myself but am thinking from an inspection/code perspective it may just be wiser to have this work done by someone licensed.

Thanks for any input as to rough costs......

Jeff

 

[CJ7VFR]

What else do you have that requires electricity in the existing part of the garage?

You mentioned only having two circuits. That is not a lot for a garage, especially if you are going to add all the things you mentioned to the new addition, plus whatever you already have in the existing part of the garage.

Is there room in your existing sub-panel to install a few new breakers for you additional electrical needs?

What size main breaker is in the sub-panel and the double pole breaker in panel in the house that feeds the sub-panel in the garage?

If you follow current NED codes, and use GFCI protection for your new wiring and electrical items (receptacles), you would be code compliant and you would not have to worry about inspections or code violations in the future.

You could even do the work yourself and have it inspected by a licensed electrician to see what they say, and if anything needed to be changed. That would save you some money.

Also, not all licensed electricians do good work, or comply with all the NEC codes! Just do a search of this site and you can read all kinds of posts where people posted pictures of some really terrible hack jobs licensed electricians did to their homes.

If you do want to go the electrician route, ask around your town to see if anyone has had any recent electrical work done and who did it, and see if they are happy with it. Then you can call that guy and have him come and give you an estimate on what you want done.

Jim

 

[Jawgarage]

Great questions. The current garage literally has 4 light fixtures (2 inside and 2 outside), three 2-way switches, 2 duplex outlets, and a garage door opener. It's a 60amp subpanel with two 15 amp breakers inside and room for I think 4 more. No GFCI's.

The new garage (combined) will only have the most basic of lighting for a while, but in the future will need a 240 circuit and additional breakers for workbenches etc. I think when that time comes I will also be needing to pull new feeder cable from my main panel in the house about 50 feet away.

I like the idea of doing this basic work myself and then having it inspected. I know a lot about the codes and tend to go way overboard anyway with what is the bare minimum.

Jeff

 

[matt_i]

I would start with making some sketches about where power is coming from and how the 3 way travellers will be wired. Just to get the thought process started. Its enticing to start stapling up wires but time and material can be saved by some planning up front.

Quick guide for drilling: don't drill trusses anywhere. Drill studs and joists (bottom chord of a truss is not a joist) in the center if at all possible.

Quick guide for stapling: every 4-1/2' and within 12" of junction box.

Land all ground wires before having rough electrical inspection.

 

[CJ7VFR]

...Drill studs and joists (bottom chord of a truss is not a joist) in the center if at all possible.....

I wish the "Licensed" electrician that wired some of my house before I bought it would have followed this simple rule.

This jackhammer, who was hired by the previous owner of my house, installed almost all the wiring by drilling the holes in the floor joists about an inch and a half up from the bottom edge of the joists.

In some locations he drilled 5 or 6 holes, all right next to each other in a row, at the same inch and a half up from the bottom of the joists, to pass a ton of wiring thru.

I can't even imagine what was going thru his mind when he did that. That is why I say some homeowners will do a better job than some "Pro's" who were able to pass a test, but can't for the life of them apply that education to real world situations.

Jim

 

[Jawgarage]

Great questions. The current garage literally has 4 light fixtures (2 inside and 2 outside), three 2-way switches, 2 duplex outlets, and a garage door opener. It's a 60amp subpanel with two 15 amp breakers inside and room for I think 4 more. No GFCI's.

The new garage (combined) will only have the most basic of lighting for a while, but in the future will need a 240 circuit and additional breakers for workbenches etc. I think when that time comes I will also be needing to pull new feeder cable from my main panel in the house about 50 feet away.

I like the idea of doing this basic work myself and then having it inspected. I know a lot about the codes and tend to go way overboard anyway with what is the bare minimum.

Jeff

So I did some better examination today of the current panel....it's actually fed by a 100amp breaker off the main panel in the house. The subpanel itself has only 3 breakers installed ( two 20amp, one 15 amp) but there are another 5 empty slots. The subpanel does NOT have it's own Main which I thought is very odd. It is fed from a flat cable embossed 10/3 w/ground. I see no bare copper( or any wire) running out of the subpanel to a grounding rod anywhere. The garage was built and passed all inspections back in 1985.

So...........recommendations? I will be needing a few 240v circuits sooner than later. My gut tells me that this particular subpanel is not sufficient. Is the feeder cable OK? I think I have to install a grounding rod and ground too. Is that correct?

Thanks guys........Jeff

 

[matt_i]

I think if a 100A breaker is feeding #10 awg to a subpanel then that's a recipe for some problems.

 

[Jawgarage]

That's what I was thinking. In looking at the area that needs to be excavated for the new foundation and slab, and where I THINK this feeder is running underground, I know that a good portion of this feeder is going to have to be moved anyway. It may be simply better to remove it all put in a new panel in the new addition (which will be only 50' from the main house and main panel) and run a new underground feeder back to the house underground inside a 4" pipe as conduit in case I ever need anything else running back to the house (cable? CCTV?). What do you think? What size feeder cable would be best? 6awg?

 

[Jack D]

Low voltage, telephone, ethernet, cable, TV or CCTV feeds should not be run in same conduit for safety reasons and as such is against NEC. Moisture in the conduit could transfer power to the low voltage cables if there is insulation breakdown and put power where it is unexpected and be a fire and/or shock hazard. Also any noise generated on the power lines will effect reliability of signal in the communications wires. If you are trenching put in another conduit for low voltage 6 to 12 inches away. When I did mine the electrician said to size the panel you need and then if you want expansion capabilities use a conduit sized for twice the panel for expansion or ease of pulling the cable.

 

[toplessHO]

its cheaper to upsize initially

 

[rwilner]

NEC table 310.15b says that you need 2 GA for 100a rating, if using aluminum xhhw-2 wire. If you go copper you can get away with 3 GA. 6 GA copper would get you 75a. The 10ga copper you have installed is good for 40 a.

I would replace that 100a breaker with a 40a immediately.