Above 1200 Sq/FT Project not an eyesore

[jcarapet]

Hi All,

Been a loyal fan since I was living in an apartment and borrowing space in a friends garage to weld. About 3 years ago I bought a house with the intention of building a shop long term. After putting 3 years of work on the inside of the house (and finding a wife in the meantime) it turned out that this house was great for me, but not a good house for us longterm.

So end of last year we decided to pull the trigger on a larger house on a larger lot. She wanted a pool, I wanted a shop, we both wanted no HOA. Thankfully our months long morning routine of coffee and looking at new listings paid off. Moved in last December and been trying to coordinate both our goals since.

The Goal

• The biggest shop possible. Like TV's, the second you buy one you realize you should have gone bigger. I didn't want to regret the shop size not being big enough, only the lot size not being big enough for max shop.f
• Pool and shop have to feel part of the cohesive space. We are no HOA, but a fantastic neighborhood where everybody clearly cares about the space. Being a good citizen goes a long way.
• Plumbing and option for a loft apartment long term. If in-laws are staying for a while, they need their own space.
• Work and play. Need to feel comfortable working on a project for hours, and hanging out with a beer for hours after.
• Power to grow. Don't want to worry about having enough juice to run tools or a separate loft apartment.

The Reality

• Settled on shop dimensions of 33'x 60'. 14' wall height with a 4:12 pitch on a gabled roof. Adding a 12'x60' porch along side next to pool
• Pool is 19' x 39'. Hot tub and wading ledge for sitting and soaking by the wife. Deep end on one side.
• Flower bed along part of perimeter. Will run lights and a garden sound system long term.
• Putting the shop and pool on their own separate meter. Goal is to max out the amps from the provider.
• Shop will have downstairs plumbing for a half bath for pool. Will have a capped system for eventual upstairs loft and shop on it's own small septic system.

The Struggle

• Materials supply. Nobody here is surprised on this based on, you know, everything going on... For example, lead time on a 320 meter socket in my area is a year. 6 months for a bolt up shop. List goes on...
• Finding contractors. Everybody is busy. Everybody is charging a premium. I have had bad luck in getting people to call me back, much less getting a bid. At this point it's almost like the good ones are the ones who call me back but can't get me a bid because they are busy.
• Managing two projects. We selected a pool builder and they seem to know what they are doing. If I can get a shop GC lined up, the effort of getting two teams coordinated is going to be a full time job.

I'm listing all this as part cryparty, part diary, part information session. Hopefully someone learns from this i guess.

More to come, look forward to sharing.

oh yeah, renderings from the pool people with the design.

 

[eastmtn]

Welcome to the struggle. You've got the making's of a watering hole that's worth the journey. Time is an adversary that can be an ally if you use it wisely. I contacted people early expecting them to be late but like you, I was glad at least to get the ball rolling. You know what you want. Now examine it again and again and again tweaking the design until you're confident that you've arrived at the point where perception meets reality. And then accept the challenge when time offers you a window to move up the timeline. Because you took the time to prepare, opportunity will knock having seen the sign in the window that time created.

 

[Juiced06GTO]

The elusive 320A Dual Meter Main......I found someplace online that had one for sale, they wanted over $3k for it......I've been waiting for that

I like the rendering! I was going to do similar for my build originally, but decided to keep the shop and work area in a separate building from the pool area. I'd plan on sectioning off those areas pretty good, you'll have people/kids running around barefoot all the time from the pool area and don't need any of the shop dirt making it into those areas.

 

[Joemctag]

Could you post more about the building? A pencil-sketched floor plan or elevations so we know where all your doors and windows are.
Only thing I’d suggest is maybe an opening at end of building so you could get front-to-back ventilation while any side doors on the pool side are closed.
Well, also, if you had just a couple sets of steps going back off the platform, instead of the long, continuous one, you could have a simple railing, even just a single one at 36” height the rest of the length. Then you can have poolside furniture up to that edge and not have to worry about people accidentally stepping off. The steps could (should) have rails. Just a top one to grab us all you need.

 

[jcarapet]

Welcome to the struggle. You've got the making's of a watering hole that's worth the journey. Time is an adversary that can be an ally if you use it wisely. I contacted people early expecting them to be late but like you, I was glad at least to get the ball rolling. You know what you want. Now examine it again and again and again tweaking the design until you're confident that you've arrived at the point where perception meets reality. And then accept the challenge when time offers you a window to move up the timeline. Because you took the time to prepare, opportunity will knock having seen the sign in the window that time created.

Thank you for the kind words. I have been thinking about a shop for years, so hopefully it will pay off sooner than later.

The elusive 320A Dual Meter Main......I found someplace online that had one for sale, they wanted over $3k for it......I've been waiting for that

I like the rendering! I was going to do similar for my build originally, but decided to keep the shop and work area in a separate building from the pool area. I'd plan on sectioning off those areas pretty good, you'll have people/kids running around barefoot all the time from the pool area and don't need any of the shop dirt making it into those areas.

Yeah, there is some person hoarding them in New Jersey on Ebay from what I can tell. They all seem to be overhead and I need underground per deed restrictions.

I hadn't thought of the dirt tracking, good point. I'm hoping that it won't be as bad as that, but it sounds like I'm going to have to keep neighborhood kids on sweeping retainer until I have kids old enough to do the job . The goal was to truly make it in and out so will have to think about that. Not rendered is long term planning a bar height glass roll up door underneath the porch. Planning on having a built-in bar that leaves room for other seating.

 

[jcarapet]

Could you post more about the building? A pencil-sketched floor plan or elevations so we know where all your doors and windows are.
Only thing I’d suggest is maybe an opening at end of building so you could get front-to-back ventilation while any side doors on the pool side are closed.
Well, also, if you had just a couple sets of steps going back off the platform, instead of the long, continuous one, you could have a simple railing, even just a single one at 36” height the rest of the length. Then you can have poolside furniture up to that edge and not have to worry about people accidentally stepping off. The steps could (should) have rails. Just a top one to grab us all you need.

Immediately, this gives you a good idea on where most of the openings will be.

• 2 10x12 doors West facing
• 1 walk door on the north side
• one 10wx8h center door on the porch side on the south.

You aren't the only person to suggest a door on the back side. With the long term goal of adding a second floor loft, a rear door just isn't possible. the wind seems to go south -> north here so hoping that one porch door and a rear door will allow the cross breeze ventilation.

Not pictured here is a counter height roll up door and a walk door to a bathroom on the porch side. I haven't figured out placement with those yet, but have been explicit with the manufacturers on not adding x-bracing on that wall so I can figure it out and place.

 

[68400BIRD]

Looks like a great plan. Looking forward to more updates. I don’t see a surplus of building supply’s happening anytime soon. Best of luck.

 

[jcarapet]

Minor update. Got one quote last week from a shop assembler that to me seemed high ($16/foot on slab, shop assembly was even more). Didn't go into details that would seem important to put down in a quote. Asked for line items for clarity and they followed up saying they were too busy to take my business. I'm leaving out some details and admit I'm a P.I.T.A., but good for them for being busy enough to fire a potential client at the slightest inconvenience lol. The search begins again.

Have another concrete person who did old neighbors shop coming by tomorrow, fielding some other calls. This is all holding up pool work so if it continues I'm going to have to get creative sooner than later.

 

[jbrentd]

That looks like it will be a sweet setup. Very well thought out...especially the lean too for the pool. You probably didn't want to use that contractor anyway if he wasn't willing to listen to what the customer wants. With the feds trying to curb the demand side, supplies will catch up eventually.

 

[chad215]

I thought I was the only one having trouble with electrical supplies. Everything I look up is either out of stock or $1000 plus and that just seems wayyy unreasonable. Didn't even dawn on me that there was a shortage. I thought I was looking up the wrong stuff. I'm running a generator for now while I'm building and have been casually hunting for the pieces to meet the power co's requirements.

 

[jcarapet]

That looks like it will be a sweet setup. Very well thought out...especially the lean too for the pool. You probably didn't want to use that contractor anyway if he wasn't willing to listen to what the customer wants. With the feds trying to curb the demand side, supplies will catch up eventually.

Yeah, This company handled pretty large scale build outs so I might have been small fry to them anyway. Either way, what's done is done and on to the next one.

I thought I was the only one having trouble with electrical supplies. Everything I look up is either out of stock or $1000 plus and that just seems wayyy unreasonable. Didn't even dawn on me that there was a shortage. I thought I was looking up the wrong stuff. I'm running a generator for now while I'm building and have been casually hunting for the pieces to meet the power co's requirements.

Yeah, The regional distributors are all saying the same thing. At this point I'm just getting the power company to run 320 lines to a 200 amp meter socket which are more prevalent, then upgrade the meter later. Fingers crossed I can come up with a reasonable priced one at some point soon.

 

[jcarapet]

General status update. Finally got a concrete contractor worked out and break ground sometime in the next 30 days. Going to place the order for the shop shell this week. Should time up when the concrete and pool is done the shop will be ready to be erected.

Now only to figure out plumbing rough-in for the slab, electrical, and hire a crew to assemble the shop. I'm tempted to do it myself based on finding people so far, but that seems to be a recipe for disaster.

In celebration I decided to start mapping out flags for the setup to help visualize.

 

[eastmtn]

What type of frame construction did you decide to use?

 

[jcarapet]

going ridgid frame bolt up. It should time out well that it will be ready when the rest of the work is done. Lead time is about 4 months so gives me time to find a contractor to do it, or if worst comes to worst I can rent a crane to help set it up.

 

[jcarapet]

It's been a little bit, but things for the most part have been a waiting game for crews to get started.

First up was I got the power company to install a separate pole and transformer for power to the shop and pool equipment. The agreement is that I have to trench from pole to meter base station and lay down the conduit in between. After which they will run the line to the base station. After that it's the 2 200 amp lines to the shop and hookup.

 

[jcarapet]

The pool company finally got back to us and said our wait was over. We started breaking ground last week.

The excavator crew came by the day before and mapped everything out. The only minor detail is the plans had the pool backwards (whoops). Thankfully I'm a stickler and caught it before they started running the backhoe.

All I know is that having the right equipment makes all the difference. About 1.5 feet down of dirt was a layer of limestone, followed by caliche the rest of the way. Even with that they were still able to get everything dug out in about 3/4 of a day.

It looked like they did a good job, but Wilbur was still skeptical of their work.

 

[jcarapet]

As a bonus, my wife's friend from college lives just down the road from us and has a little one obsessed with excavators. We of course invited her over to see things in action. The crew was no stranger to seeing this, so actually let her run operate it and dig out some dirt. I don't think she stopped smiling for the rest of the afternoon.

 

[jcarapet]

Next day, on came the forms for the pool. Equally quick and now it's just a waiting game for rebar and plumbing.

Shop shell officially has a down payment and signed off on the engineering drawings. Should see that delivered within the next 3 months.

I have yet to narrow down an official electrician for the hookup or a plumber for slab rough-in so that is the next order of business. I've slowly but surely started research on the inner components like lighting and concrete densifier/sealer after slab is poured. Nothing but the electricity and plumbing is something i can't delay until later.

 

[eastmtn]

The pool company finally got back to us and said our wait was over. We started breaking ground last week.

All I know is that having the right equipment makes all the difference. About 1.5 feet down of dirt was a layer of limestone, followed by caliche the rest of the way. Even with that they were still able to get everything dug out in about 3/4 of a day.

It looked like they did a good job, but Wilbur was still skeptical of their work.

Glad to see that you're making some progress.
Caliche is my arch enemy. It's bad dry and worse wet.
Wilbur will keep 'em in line. Always good to have an in house inspector.

 

[jbrentd]

Yes, nice to see things are moving for you. We hit big pieces of limestone at about 3-1/2 feet, then solid limestone below 4-1/2 feet. Needless to say, we didn't get the 9 foot diving pool we were hoping for. Still paid by the hour for a couple day's use of the trackhoe's jackhammer to get 6-1/2 feet.

 

[Kevkx125]

jcarapet good to see you are making progress, Hope it doesn't take 3 months to build the shop. That was cool the pool guys let the friends kid on the machine with them. Hope you get to spend some quality time in the shop with Wilbur.

 

[borgdog]

Nice looking project! as a side note we almost bought a house in a town called Wilbur, but the better half nixed it because I couldn't say the towns name without doing it in Mr. Eds voice.

 

[jcarapet]

Ha! If Wilbur knew there was a town named after him he would have insisted we move there instead. And he will be a good shop dog if a bit unhelpful. I love him, but he has two brain cells to his name and they are fighting over third place.

I fully anticipate the shop to take a good bit of time and hope so. The concrete guy came by for initial deposit and supposedly rebar and forms will start soon. Shop lead time to delivery is a couple months out still. This hopefully gives concrete people enough time to pour foundation and cure time so I can throw up the shell quickly on delivery. We had some rain the last couple days (thankfully) which has delayed things a bit but need to follow up soon.

Still working on plumbers. I might have found a lead on a 320 Meter can. Thankfully I have a long weekend to start making some headway on last minute items.

Rough-in for pool equipment is making progress as well.

 

[ned911]

Following. Need to do the same in the Austin area (40x60) with the same goals but without the pool access. Started the process but no builders would return calls/email other than one. Then the price started creeping up until it was not longer doable. ugh.

 

[jcarapet]

Following. Need to do the same in the Austin area (40x60) with the same goals but without the pool access. Started the process but no builders would return calls/email other than one. Then the price started creeping up until it was not longer doable. ugh.

Oh, small world. I'm up in Liberty Hill so probably not that far away. Prices and availability have been a continuing thorn in my side on every aspect, but patience and persistence are starting to pay off. I would have been better served waiting a year or two but my wife and I are talking about starting the family soon, and I know if I don't get this done it would be forever delayed to focus on kiddos. My feeling is in 10 years when I'm enjoying it all, I won't be worrying that I paid 15% more than if I had waited.

Didn't get anything done for the house and shop this weekend. Round 2 of covid meant that I didn't feel bad, but had to sit tight and not go make a bunch of trips to the store until I tested negative. Rebar has started going up for the pool shell. Weirdly it looks like they got called to a project halfway through to go to another job. Left after a couple hours with tools and rebar strewn about.

Confirmed with power company that the meter box I found will work (Milbank U2448) so that ships to me on Friday. Then comes another crazy amount of money for power hookup. 3" schedule 80 conduit is 110/stick right now and I haven't even started pricing cutoff switches, 200 amp panels, etc.

 

[Juiced06GTO]

I got lucky and a buddy scored me 200' of schd 80 4" PVC for 200 bucks! It was getting thrown in a dumpster at a job he was at, so he scooped it up for me. At the time it was only about 80 bucks a stick, but still worth the grab! Good luck finding everything, I am finally past the point of sourcing hard to find stuff, I think anyhow!

 

[jcarapet]

I got lucky and a buddy scored me 200' of schd 80 4" PVC for 200 bucks! It was getting thrown in a dumpster at a job he was at, so he scooped it up for me. At the time it was only about 80 bucks a stick, but still worth the grab! Good luck finding everything, I am finally past the point of sourcing hard to find stuff, I think anyhow!

Lucky you! I need some luck to fall my way like that on prices.

 

[jcarapet]

Not much to update. Took a week off in Mexico and a few project updates, but hard to call the major milestones

Electrical
I did officially find and am in possession of a 320 amp meter along with some schedule 80 to do the transformer to meter run. It was unbelievably expensive and daunting to think this only covers half the distance. After 6 months of searching I've dropped off the map of some of the electricians I was talking to and will have to circle back.

Coming back from Mexico I found myself the heaviest I have been since playing football in college . Decided as part of the waiting to hear on contractors and schedule that I would start digging out the 100' run from transformer to meter by hand. With the 100 degree days stacking up and the soil somewhat rocky it's slow going, but starting to see the end of that. I will 100% be renting equipment for the meter to shop run though

Pool Shell
Rebar and shotcrete went in and it's starting to look like the real deal finally. Not especially happy with how sloppy the shotcrete people were in leaving a mess, but I will make it a point to be addressed with the pool company. For now just watering the heck out of it to help it cure. Tile and Coping will go in next.




Shop (what we are really here for)

Because it's all one connected piece the slab people are waiting on tile/coping to be done before they start shooting grade, but it's happening soon. They started dropping off wood for forms and should be bringing rebar soon.

Got a hold of a plumber and he got back to me with a rather "let's see if he will bite" number. Decided to pass and have now added plumbing rough-in to my todo list.

Garage Door company got back to me on the insulated doors and glass door I wanted and said 21k! Decided to wait out the craziness and just go with the building companies rollup doors until I can't stand them. Something tells me that will be quite a while.

No progress on the septic right now but that's starting to loom as a todo list item.

 

[ned911]

Now you need to tell us where you played college ball

My son played at Maryland (2014-2019). Played in 50 games, started 47 at center and guard. As an Ag watching him destroy texas was definitely a highlight

 

[jcarapet]

Now you need to tell us where you played college ball

My son played at Maryland (2014-2019). Played in 50 games, started 47 at center and guard. As an Ag watching him destroy texas was definitely a highlight

Ha, good for him. That's a good accomplishment at the D-1 level.

I played at a small private D-3 school that almost nobody has ever heard of. How my small 6' 240 pound self could be a 2 year starter, 2 year all-conference at defensive tackle. Our only claim to fame is a 15 lateral play when I played there.

 

[jcarapet]

And my wife is an Aggie, so are looking forward to the renewed rivalry now that the longhorns are in the SEC. We decided that we didn't like having money so got season tickets this year.

 

[Riley]

Great project! I have to say that game highlight was one of the most entertaining I have seen. Following along.

 

[The Cobbler]

As a bonus, my wife's friend from college lives just down the road from us and has a little one obsessed with excavators. We of course invited her over to see things in action. The crew was no stranger to seeing this, so actually let her run operate it and dig out some dirt. I don't think she stopped smiling for the rest of the afternoon.

when I waterproofed one of my basement walls, the neighbours kid was enthralled with my buddies backhoe. you guessed it, he ended up inside digging with a grin from ear to ear

 

[jcarapet]

when I waterproofed one of my basement walls, the neighbours kid was enthralled with my buddies backhoe. you guessed it, he ended up inside digging with a grin from ear to ear

Love it. It makes me think that the excavator people enjoy their job and getting to inspire kids to get dirty. Need more of that.

 

[jcarapet]

Not much to update but want to keep the thread alive. Went up to Kansas with to a family members house to enjoy the 4th of July weekend, drink some beer, and enjoy the lake and fireworks. And holy cow do they do fireworks up there. I bought over $300 of fireworks and was basically given the equivalent of "that's cute" to that quantity.

As a bonus, got to check out the family members 40'x30' woodshop and boat storage. Got solid advice on what he would have done differently to use for mine. Added bonus that I scored an old craftsman joiner since he upgraded.



No progress on the pool. The tile is stuck somewhere in transit, and have agreed we need to start on the coping to set slab height and start on the flatwork but no start date for that. While planning out the in slab plumbing I'm working still playing with adding a few linear drains to help. The shop has gutters coming off and when it rains that's a lot of water to run off the roof.

100' of electrical trench has been dug down to 3'! For 3 weeks of working on it in the evenings, it's disheartening to realize that it was only a little over 11 cubic yards of dirt moved. I have another 75' to go from meter base to shop and will 100% be renting a backhoe for that part. At this point I'm committed to do the work until it's crunch time, but having someone who would sign off on what i'm attempting would be nice. Unfortunately electricians are busy and are smartly not going to provide advice unless someone is paying for their time.

Speaking of electrical, I'm planning on running an in slab conduit from one of the main panels to the subpanel running equipment. Supposedly only need 60 amps which if I'm reading my Ugly's tables correctly I only need to run a 1 1/4" conduit for it. Probably for ease to the pool guys will probably run 1 1/2" but open to suggestions. Probably will keep the same sizing for low voltage and fiber optic runs to make it super easy. All a good plan until I see what this weeks pricing on conduit is.

Looking as well into mini split units for the shop. All the calculators for my shop size and planned insulation are saying go for a 4 ton unit, so below link seems to be a good option. No idea on the site and if it is a reputable place, but the big box stores don't seem to sell the configuration I'm looking for.

MRCOOL DIY Mini Split - 54,000 BTU 3 Zone Ductless Air Conditioner and Heat Pump with 25 ft. Install Kit, DIYM348HPW03C28

MRCOOL DIY Mini Split includes everything you need to cool and heat three different rooms. You'll be sent: 48K Multi-Zone Condenser, three 18K Wall Mounted Air Handlers and three 25 ft. Installation Kits. The best part about all of this is that you can install it yourself!

www.premiumhomesource.com

Still looking for a 20' shipping container but that's rather low on the priority list.

 

[eastmtn]

How long is the run from the main panel to the sub? Factoring in that will give you a better idea of voltage drop. Direct buried is always a higher ampacity than in conduit ratings so be sure that your factoring in ampacity and temperature in conduit/ducts. For every 100ft run you get a 20% decrease in voltage which means to increase the ampacity required by 20% to accommodate. Your needs could potentially call for #4 or #2 Aluminum AWG (american wire guage).

I would go with 1 1/2" conduit for both the low voltage and the electrical to the subpanel. It'll make lives easier when pulling the wire. Also gives you room to upgrade up to 2/0 x3 conductors CU or AL and add additional low voltage wire in the other conduit in the future. It's also a steep jump in price from 1 1/2 to 2 inch conduit right now.

 

[driftpin]

Focus on the end result, to defeat disappointment over delays, pricing upswings, etc. Looks like the pool is going to be great. We signed a contract to re-model our pool in so. FL and are awaiting the commencement, plans are in. This is the last big phase of our retirement home renovation project.

Your school was Trinity U in San Antonio? Here's that game play.

Your fan base at the 'lateral' game must have been going crazy. They were when U-Miami (Florida) played Duke in 2015 at that game, where Miami won after many laterals. Fourth quarter, six seconds to the end, Duke ahead by 3, the Blue Devils already celebrating. An on-side kick, Miami Hurricanes get the ball, the play clock expires, and the laterals start. There were seven laterals after the play clock expired, eight total. The ball during the laterals was back to the Miami two yard line, then 98 yards to score. The Interim Miami coach had been appointed that week, it was his first team win.

Three U-Miami engineering or computer science alums are from my household. They were happy! The Blue Devil fan's look says it all.

 

[jcarapet]

How long is the run from the main panel to the sub? Factoring in that will give you a better idea of voltage drop. Direct buried is always a higher ampacity than in conduit ratings so be sure that your factoring in ampacity and temperature in conduit/ducts. For every 100ft run you get a 20% decrease in voltage which means to increase the ampacity required by 20% to accommodate. Your needs could potentially call for #4 or #2 Aluminum AWG (american wire guage).

I would go with 1 1/2" conduit for both the low voltage and the electrical to the subpanel. It'll make lives easier when pulling the wire. Also gives you room to upgrade up to 2/0 x3 conductors CU or AL and add additional low voltage wire in the other conduit in the future. It's also a steep jump in price from 1 1/2 to 2 inch conduit right now.

Thanks eastmtn. I ended up stocking up on 1.5" as it was only $6/stick extra anyway. Not cheap, but well worth peace of mind knowing I wouldn't get another shot at it. Bought a bunch of 2" so I can run the 4/0 for the 2 200 panels.

btw, I have been following along on your build. It's a real treat to watch so far with all the thought and care you have put in it.

 

[jcarapet]

Focus on the end result, to defeat disappointment over delays, pricing upswings, etc. Looks like the pool is going to be great. We signed a contract to re-model our pool in so. FL and are awaiting the commencement, plans are in. This is the last big phase of our retirement home renovation project.

Your school was Trinity U in San Antonio? Here's that game play.

Your fan base at the 'lateral' game must have been going crazy. They were when U-Miami (Florida) played Duke in 2015 at that game, where Miami won after many laterals. Fourth quarter, six seconds to the end, Duke ahead by 3, the Blue Devils already celebrating. An on-side kick, Miami Hurricanes get the ball, the play clock expires, and the laterals start. There were seven laterals after the play clock expired, eight total. The ball during the laterals was back to the Miami two yard line, then 98 yards to score. The Interim Miami coach had been appointed that week, it was his first team win.

Three U-Miami engineering or computer science alums are from my household. They were happy! The Blue Devil fan's look says it all.

I couldn't agree more. Thankfully while it could have been cheaper, faster, maybe better, it is still progressing.

Correct, I was a Trinity Tiger. The fan base was absolutely going crazy. Unfortunately being a D-3 away game that fan base might not have broken double digits. I've had some people argue against the cool factor on the miracle play because of the competition level, but it was still plenty good.

Also, 3 Duke C.S. majors? Well done.

 

[jcarapet]

Shop updates are happening

Electrical
Main trench line is finally done to the meter. I was able to get an inspector to come out to take a look at what I was doing and get clarity about what needed to happen vs. what he didn't care about. Super helpful rather than reading documenation online all day

Followed up with an electrician that I got an initial bid on a few months ago but he told me to hold off. After going back and forth we agreed on a proposal. He tells me what to buy for a "consulting fee", pulls last stretch of wire and panel hookup, and I take care of the rest. A little pricey at $850, but he has been incredibly helpful and I have no desire to pull 4/0 wire 75 feet.


Putting together the pieces above ground after measuring them out.


Test fit of UNLIMITED POWER!!!!



Me finding out that my measure twice, cut once setup should have gone back and measured a third time...