Running conduit thru foundation

[bagged89s10]

Who’s running their conduit for wiring thru the foundation wall and then up thru the floor. I think I’m going to do that vs having conduit exposed outside.

Please share pictures. I’m running a 2” for the main sub panel feed, one 1-1/4” for low voltage, one 1-1/4” for a 3way outdoor light switch between the house and garage, and another 2” for a pex waterline.

The forms should be stripped by Saturday so I can core my holes where I need them.

The front left corner is where the conduits will enter the garage.

 

[u2slow]

I've set a lot of conduit in and thru forms prior to concrete pour when I was an apprentice. Normally you try to keep the bend 'in' the concrete and the vertical portion as close to the finished wall as possible. Makes it easy to extend right into the bottom of a surface-mount panel.

Coring holes after... horizontally... puts the bend further away from the wall. You may have to come through the perpendicular stemwall (i.e. near a corner) to get it tight to the intended wall.

On my own shop, I had a sewer rough-in in the same corner I wanted the power. It got crowded and complicated so I skipped it. Later I ran it outside, just up to above the sill plate with an LB, thru the wall into a splitter, then up to bottom on the panel. I'm happy with it.

 

[bagged89s10]

I've set a lot of conduit in and thru forms prior to concrete pour when I was an apprentice. Normally you try to keep the bend 'in' the concrete and the vertical portion as close to the finished wall as possible. Makes it easy to extend right into the bottom of a surface-mount panel.

Coring holes after... horizontally... puts the bend further away from the wall. You may have to come through the perpendicular stemwall (i.e. near a corner) to get it tight to the intended wall.

On my own shop, I had a sewer rough-in in the same corner I wanted the power. It got crowded and complicated so I skipped it. Later I ran it outside, just up to above the sill plate with an LB, thru the wall into a splitter, then up to bottom on the panel. I'm happy with it.

So the conduit needs to run it 2ft below ground. I can possibly have it come thru the foundation wall on the left and come up thru the slab on the front wall next to the door. Here is basically what my garage will look like. I’ll have 3 feet from the wall to the walk in door.

Or I just run it up on the outside and hide it with landscaping.

 

[dcg9381]

Thru foundation for sure.. But you need to understand exactly how far on the inside of the foundation you need it to be. IE - consider brick lugs, framing, etc.

I'd recommend doubling what you need if you can hide these in a wall. I have several in each corner as well as some spanning the building. It's much easier to run power from a sub panel through the foundation than it is to have to go all the way around the walls or up under the ceiling.

1" electrical conduit will handle 1/2" PEX for sure... I couldn't get 3/4" PEX through the transition.

Photos are of one corner of my shop. Only one of those is in use for main power. The others are spare. The white one is a potential drain if we ever built a 2nd story.

The small foundation has a water tank on it and a pump house.

 

[u2slow]

I think I would put the panel on the left wall behind the door swing. Keeps the required space clear. You won't see much on that wall with your trees there.

Run the water to that front wall (or elsewhere) so you don't crowd the electric. You bringing gas out there too?

 

[Innovate1]

I ran mine through the foundation and brought them up in an interior wall. I needed to angle them to go in the direction I wanted and that also allowed me to keep some separation between power and low voltage coming up in the same wall. I used 6" PVC for sleeves in the forms and just poked the conduits in afterwards.

If you are trying to keep them in the wall that is going to be a lot harder. Others have posted pics of that. I suggest long sweeps if possible. Makes the pulls much easier. Used 2" conduit and bends to sleeve for the water line. Hope I never have to but I could pull it out and replace it if needed without busting up the floor.

 

[bagged89s10]

I think I would put the panel on the left wall behind the door swing. Keeps the required space clear. You won't see much on that wall with your trees there.

Run the water to that front wall (or elsewhere) so you don't crowd the electric. You bringing gas out there too?

No gas on my property. I inquired about getting gas brought in and the cost doesn’t make sense.

 

[bagged89s10]

I ran mine through the foundation and brought them up in an interior wall. I needed to angle them to go in the direction I wanted and that also allowed me to keep some separation between power and low voltage coming up in the same wall. I used 6" PVC for sleeves in the forms and just poked the conduits in afterwards.

If you are trying to keep them in the wall that is going to be a lot harder. Others have posted pics of that. I suggest long sweeps if possible. Makes the pulls much easier. Used 2" conduit and bends to sleeve for the water line. Hope I never have to but I could pull it out and replace it if needed without busting up the floor.

I’m not trying to bring them up into the interior wall. I’m trying to bring them up thru the slab which will be on the inside of the foundation. My foundation walls are 8” wide.

 

[dcg9381]

No gas on my property. I inquired about getting gas brought in and the cost doesn’t make sense.

I run the shop off a 100lb propane bottle.. Not saying that propane is necessary for you, but it's pretty simple.

 

[andyvh1959]

I ran the conduit and ground rod for my new garage inside the concrete forms before the concrete pour, and it worked out fine. Though, at the time I thought one ground rod was it. I had to drill through the floor six feet to the left to add a 2nd ground rod. After I got the garage built I dug the trench for the SE cable conduit. When I got to the new slab I just dug in till I found the conduit. After I got the conduit and cable in the trench I just backfilled it.

 

[bagged89s10]

I run the shop off a 100lb propane bottle.. Not saying that propane is necessary for you, but it's pretty simple.

I was planning to put a minisplit ac heat pump out there. I wonder if propane heat would be cheaper.

 

[That Guy Scott]

I did it. Like someone else said, figure out the wall dimensions and run it up in with some long sweeps. Just finished pulling the cable in mine. I decided I wanted to move it over a little - no big deal. Add some extra conduit while your are at it.
Water - I ran on the outside but I like the sleeve idea. I wish I would of done that.

 

[dcg9381]

I was planning to put a minisplit ac heat pump out there. I wonder if propane heat would be cheaper.

It depends on your cost of propane. Here, it's about $2.75/gallon (not lb)- but a 100lb tank is a pain to lug around. We use it for water heat and a gas clothes dryer in the shop.

My main heat is mini-splits (2). Power is pretty cheap here and it doesn't get that cold very often.. If you need to cool also, a mini-split is an easy way to get both.


Another vote for the ground rod inside your forms. On my residence, the ground is tied into the rebar.. Note, it's VERY difficult to get a 6' ground bar in the ground here.

 

[u2slow]

I was planning to put a minisplit ac heat pump out there. I wonder if propane heat would be cheaper.

It depends. Electric heat pump would likely do better to maintain a constant temperature. They also digress to resistive heat (like a baseboard) when its too cold outside. If you expect to jack it up 10-20 degrees each time you decide to work in there in the winter, fuel will do it faster. Also consider that you could supplement with portable propane heat.

Watch your electric rate tiers too. All my 9 cents/kWh is blown on the house. I'm into the 14 cent tier already, I'm not heating the shop yet.

 

[bagged89s10]

It depends. Electric heat pump would likely do better to maintain a constant temperature. They also digress to resistive heat (like a baseboard) when its too cold outside. If you expect to jack it up 10-20 degrees each time you decide to work in there in the winter, fuel will do it faster. Also consider that you could supplement with portable propane heat.

Watch your electric rate tiers too. All my 9 cents/kWh is blown on the house. I'm into the 14 cent tier already, I'm not heating the shop yet.

Dude I pay a ridiculous amount like 21cents per kw

 

[Norcal]

Dude I pay a ridiculous amount like 21cents per kw

Last month I paid 29¢ and 31¢ a KWH, for usage in two rate tiers.

 

[u2slow]

Dude I pay a ridiculous amount like 21cents per kw

Last month I paid 29¢ and 31¢ a KWH, for usage in two rate tiers.

Ouch! aren't propane/NG an easy cost savings then?

I still heat with wood and don't like the electric bill.

 

[rburke65]

Last month I paid 29¢ and 31¢ a KWH, for usage in two rate tiers.

. Where? California?

 

[13mo]

Who’s running their conduit for wiring thru the foundation wall and then up thru the floor. I think I’m going to do that vs having conduit exposed outside.

I am doing this as the slab on my building will extend at least 2 feet from the perimeter of the building on all sides. Any sweep would have to be buried below the slab, so there's no reason to have the conduit surface through the slab outside the wall and then elbow in. The only other option was to bring in the lines overhead. That would have been difficult as the pole is already a little bit full as you can see below. Conduit will be 2 1/2" coming from the right hand panel in the picture. I'd post a picture of it but all you would see is a hole as the slab gets poured next week.

The last detached garage I had did have the conduit come up the side of the building and then LB into the panel through the wall, but its slab was the same dimensions as the building so this could be done.

 

[Norcal]

. Where? California?

Where else but Pacific Graft & Extortion, PG&E.

 

[dcg9381]

Dude I pay a ridiculous amount like 21cents per kw

That's about double what we pay here. Make solar electricity an easy choice with nearer term payback.

Also makes paying attention to the SEER values on ductless systems more important too...

Or is propane sounding good right now?