To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

Young Guy Garage Reno in Edmonton

longlivepunk

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
377
Location
Edmonton, AB, Canada
Hey guys, so I've been planning on making a build thread for a while now, but haven't gotten around to it until now. I'm renovating my double garage that was built in the 50's, it and the house were built by a guy who was in charge of a lot of the construction in the area, so the house got a few nice upgrades (bigger windows, etc.) but he also made some very odd decisions some of which you'll see in this thread. To start with I had to begin tearing down the old wall-panels and ceiling panels, I unfortunately don't have any before photos, but he had old 1/4" plywood covering the walls and ceilings and he stuffed the walls with literally anything he could find: cardboard, bits of ceiling tiles, little pieces of insulation here and there, old peg-board cut-offs, bits of wood and plastic, etc. It was a total mess, and took a long time to clean-up. When I started tearing into the ceiling it made me miss the walls. Mouse droppings (and a carcass) a couple butter-knives, more insulation which had clearly been tossed through the access with no care for spreading it out, pieces of metal and wood, a bit of vermiculite insulation (thankfully we were at least wearing masks due to the mouse-droppings), a couple 5-gallon containers, etc.

Anyways, my plan is to re-wire with a dedicated panel and external conduit (the wiring is terrifying, I've had power to the garage shut off for a month now) insulate, drywall (I won't bother taping and mudding though) and eventually heat the garage. I will also be doing a very OCDish job of organizing because I hate searching for tools. So below are some pictures as the garage sits now, this will be a long-term build thread since money's tight (I'm 25, just got the house last year, pay the mortgage by myself, and I'm still getting my career going) but I hope I get some followers. It's going to be fun documenting it coming together! Enjoy!

IMG-20130905-00054_zps2e351c23.jpg


As you can see, I like motorcycles. Another thing that slows this build down is that my friends and I are still working on bikes in there as well. In the picture above you can see two bikes I got for free (Kawi KZ550 and Suzi GS400) that were lying in a guy's field until he called me. In the shot below there's a horizontal filing cabinet that will be coming apart and becoming a parts-organizer which was also free (thanks Kijiji!), and in the picture after that you can see a compressor that was free in a backalley! The tank is rusted badly inside (clearly never drained it, it left a stain on my driveway :p) but the pump looks to be brand-new!

IMG-20130905-00055_zps708e9fca.jpg


IMG-20130905-00056_zpse0de5738.jpg


Next we have some of the scabby framing that was done, basically the garage was built out of scrap lumber, so I'll be replacing most of the bracing in the ceiling with dimensional lumber, and reinforcing a couple of studs that are getting dicey as well. All of the beams running the length of the ceiling are made of two-pieces braced together by very inadequate wood, and you can see the truss that runs down the center in the shot below isn't even straight! It is badly out of line where that flimsy little board holds it together!

IMG-20130905-00057_zpsf23d838a.jpg


IMG-20130905-00061_zps34bbe2d9.jpg


A small example of what the walls were stuffed with:

IMG-20130905-00060_zps83a38eca.jpg


IMG-20130905-00058_zps7c205e29.jpg


Now here's my first problem, I need to ventilate the ceiling since I'm going to insulate, but as you can see in the above picture, there is absolutely no room between the wall and the ceiling, so there's no air-flow from the soffit (it's just there for looks) and on top of that, my roof is peaked from all 4 sides, so I can't just cut a vent into a side. My only idea would be to cut a hole in a wall, cover it on the outside with some type of vent-cover, and run a bend of ducting into the ceiling as the air-inlet then build a little insulated bulk-head around it and have a whirlybird roof vent near the peak. Any ideas?

Thanks for checking it out! :beer:
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

tornadocaster

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 25, 2012
Messages
278
Location
Edmonton, AB. Canada
Hey welcome to the board. I too am in Edmonton. Can you take a couple more pics of the eaves from the outside and another of the last pic but with some light. I have helped a customer with the same problem and it looks about the same gap.
Cheers
Gio
 

Sureshot

ALLIANCE MEMBER
Joined
Jan 3, 2011
Messages
3,134
Location
Bridge Creek, OK
Nice start. Be sure to at least prime the drywall or it turns all yellow and crappy over time. Just putting our attached back together after getting it finished as the previous owner never did anything with it so we ripped out everything, mud and tape, and full paint job.
 

HSpencer

ALLIANCE MEMBER
Joined
Nov 28, 2010
Messages
2,854
Location
South Central US
Lots of potential in there. Seems to be a nice sized garage. I have to wonder why the builder used all that rough framing lumber for the ceiling joists?

Best Regards
Herb Spencer
 

rancherbill

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Messages
5,332
Location
Foothills County, Alberta, Canada
I look forward to your build.

.....but he had old 1/4" plywood covering the walls and ceilings and he stuffed the walls with literally anything he could find: cardboard, bits of ceiling tiles, little pieces of insulation here and there, old peg-board cut-offs, bits of wood and plastic, etc.

That is not unusual. Remember this was built in the days before construction waste bins. Garbage removal was a pain, thus it was thrown into the walls - it was standard practive. For a hoot, rip apart an interior wall in the house and you will be amazed to find what is in there.

For venting you only real alternative is a ridge vent or roof vent.
 

55cadillacking

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 26, 2012
Messages
1,959
Location
Calgary
I'll follow but I hope you can find the time and finances to tape, mud and paint. It's a pain but very much worth it. Best of luck!
 

davey_darling

Active member
Joined
Aug 20, 2010
Messages
30
It sort of looks like there is room between the walls and the ceiling - could you take more pics for us to see?
 
OP
L

longlivepunk

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
377
Location
Edmonton, AB, Canada
Hey welcome to the board. I too am in Edmonton. Can you take a couple more pics of the eaves from the outside and another of the last pic but with some light. I have helped a customer with the same problem and it looks about the same gap.
Cheers
Gio

There's approximately 2" between wall and ceiling, I suppose I could do some kind of shaving-stop to keep the insulation out of the way if that's enough room for ventilation. I plan on just using pink fibreglass insulation for the ceiling, so it would be managable, there would just be heat-loss around the entire perimeter of the ceiling. Anyways, here are some more ceiling pictures:

1105c9ea-e1d5-4e6d-bef4-f9d7a3a48281_zpscd60b82a.jpg


IMG-20130911-00076_zps408e1617.jpg


ca4f46e5-07fc-4dd0-be34-a76ec61b420e_zps83b9447f.jpg


IMG-20130911-00077_zpsfe07788a.jpg


IMG-20130911-00078_zps0e45e618.jpg
 
OP
L

longlivepunk

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
377
Location
Edmonton, AB, Canada
I'm actually now considering other options for insulating my walls. As I said, I'm going to be doing external conduit for the electrical, so that leaves me a lot of options for insulating. I saw THIS video on youtube and it seems to make sense, especially seeing as how I'm not 100% sure that the garage was wrapped in Tyvek before having the siding installed (who knows considering how the rest of the work has been done) and I'm trying to keep things as cheap as possible. I'm also looking into cellulose insulation since it seems to be the cheapest option going. Any one have any advice or suggestions?
 

tornadocaster

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 25, 2012
Messages
278
Location
Edmonton, AB. Canada
Sorry I was out of the country for two weeks.
Check out home reusables, architectural clearinghouse and habitat for humanity. They often have half price insulation. I often bused it on kijiji too.
As for the venting I have a white vinyl leaf guard which is a very tight grid of 1/8" holes that you could use as the venting strip instead of the soffit, then there is no compromise of venting. Also I have some cheap thin insulation which you can use before putting your drywall or sheathing both on the ceiling and walls.
If you want a hand when you're ready pm me and we can exchange contacts.
Cheers
Gio
 
OP
L

longlivepunk

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
377
Location
Edmonton, AB, Canada
Haha sorry Gio, I didn't even notice your post, I guess I missed the e-mail about your reply. Yeah, I've watched Re-store and Kijiji a fair bit, I saw a house-worth of used insulation on Kijiji one day but was just too late. Next time I guess. At the moment the financial situation is too tight to justify any spending on the garage unfortunately, so I'll have to focus on other projects for a bit. You can probably expect a PM in the future, though! :p

I've never heard of that material you mentioned to replace the soffit before, but it sounds like it would be great! I'm also going to have to start watching Kijiji for an old whirly-bird for the peak-vent. In the mean-time since I have no spare cash I'm going to get to work on rebuilding the heater I'm hoping to install in the garage! Here are some pictures of it:

heater5_zpsad097a43.jpg


heater4_zps0ec4e2ac.jpg


heater3_zps34d6f40b.jpg


heater2_zps8621af77.jpg


heater1_zps95bb0fef.jpg


Sorry for the pictures, they were on a cell-phone in my kitchen while holding back the pooch whose nose you can see in one shot. Anyways, this will be my first time tackling anything like this, so if anyone has any advice or input I'd love to hear it!
 

tornadocaster

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 25, 2012
Messages
278
Location
Edmonton, AB. Canada
I like that furnace. So retro. Will look great when rebuilt.
I'm cleaning out a friends garage in the next few days as I'm parking my blazer in there.
If there is some insulation and panels I will take a pic and you can have them instead of throwing them out
Cheers
Gio
 
OP
L

longlivepunk

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
377
Location
Edmonton, AB, Canada
Yeah, I couldn't believe it when I saw it out with the trash at my dad's place. Immediately hauled it back into the yard which did not seem to amuse him. :p I love that it's Made in Canada too! I try to get as much old Canadian made stuff as I can. So far only the heater, an old Beaver drill press, and a Disston No.388 Hacksaw made by H.K. Porter Co. (Canada) Ltd.

If he has anything, that would be great! Thanks! I parked my motorcycle at my brother's a little while ago to make a bit more room and hauled 950lbs. of wood that has been torn out of the garage to the dump on the weekend (poor little Ranger :p ) to make some more room out there, still have some cleaning up to do though. Moving all my tools into my basement right now then I'll be compressing everything else as much as I can (still have 2 motorcycles, a motorcycle stand, compressor, shevling unit, etc.) Look at my hard-working tiny truck!

truck1_zpsbf36c7a2.jpg


truck2_zps123a0a8b.jpg


Anyways, I'll end this rambling little response. Time for the couch and another beer. :p
 
OP
L

longlivepunk

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
377
Location
Edmonton, AB, Canada
Well, not sure what it'll get me cash-wise right now: no tank, some busted up parts, not sure if it would run or not yet (probably not without a fair deal of work) etc. When I picked it up it was lying in a field with the GS that's sitting behind it, the GS didn't even have spark-plugs, probably has critter nests in the cylinders. :p On the plus side I got them both for free! :D
 

rancherbill

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Messages
5,332
Location
Foothills County, Alberta, Canada
That's a 'cool' old heater. I look forward to see it all shined up. Be sure to disassemble and give the combustion chamber a 100% visual inspection for integrity for pin ***** holes. Old ones corrode internally. You would hate to gas YOURSELF.:scared:
 

Buzzards

Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2013
Messages
13
Location
central Alberta Canada
IMG-20130905-00058_zps7c205e29.jpg


Now here's my first problem, I need to ventilate the ceiling since I'm going to insulate, but as you can see in the above picture, there is absolutely no room between the wall and the ceiling, so there's no air-flow from the soffit (it's just there for looks) and on top of that, my roof is peaked from all 4 sides, so I can't just cut a vent into a side. My only idea would be to cut a hole in a wall, cover it on the outside with some type of vent-cover, and run a bend of ducting into the ceiling as the air-inlet then build a little insulated bulk-head around it and have a whirlybird roof vent near the peak. Any ideas?

Thanks for checking it out! :beer:[/QUOTE]
Ok, to vent that soffit it could be a s easy as drilling 4" holes and using a round soffit vent. Drill as many as you want. Or install new once you remove the existing solid soffit. As far as your attic venting you can use a foam insulation stop that fits between your rafters and attaches with staples to the bottom of the roof sheathing. For the roof venting because it is a hip roof you could install 4 simple roof vents as high on the roof as possible. Looks like you will need new shingles before too long anyway so the installation of the vents will even be easier. Simple. pm me if you want. I am an old buggar [ contractor] with experiance. Even in the same province. Good luck
 
OP
L

longlivepunk

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
377
Location
Edmonton, AB, Canada
Thanks, Buzzards! The more I think about it the more I think that that gap will be adequate since I don't plan on keeping it insanely warm in my shop (warm enough to not be unpleasant to work in) in the winters, so I just need to make sure that there isn't wood behind the soffit itself I guess. We'll see. For now the plan was to restore the old heater, but a buddy of mine who is a plumber/gasfitter has been taking down a lot of Reznor flow-through heaters at work from warehouses, etc. and was saying he could get me one for free, so if that actually goes through I can't imagine saying no! If he does come through on it, the old heater may actually become my garage stereo (gut it and build speakers & an iPod dock into it) So that means my only projects for the winter might be restoring my old compressor (hope the tank will survive, PO never drained it) and brewing a ton of beer!! (and maybe a kegerator :p) So unfortunately there probably won't be any new posts on this thread for a while. But I will be back!! Thanks again, guys!
 
OP
L

longlivepunk

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
377
Location
Edmonton, AB, Canada
So, nothing new with the garage yet, but I did receive a couple of free Made In England Record vises!! They were both in non-working condition, and I'm fixing them up!
 
Last edited:
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
OP
L

longlivepunk

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
377
Location
Edmonton, AB, Canada
Some new tools for the garage when it's finished! I traded the Kawasaki motorcycle you saw above for a 24" Mitutoyo Vernier Caliper and a 1 ton Arbor press (pictured below) yesterday, and then today I bought a Craftsman Block Grinder off of a guy for $60! 3/4 HP, running, in good shape with the light and tool-rests and only missing 1 lense? Seemed like a deal to me!

https://scontent-b-sea.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1/1555585_10152181352804581_1289328502_n.jpg

https://scontent-b-sea.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/t1/1620725_10152183545294581_1553362852_n.jpg

1554528_10152183545919581_226346835_n.jpg


I think the arbor press is a Sowa, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. I'm also working on fixing up an old compressor I got for free a while back.
 
Last edited:

rixtrix1

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 25, 2013
Messages
3,010
Location
Chandler, AZ (from west NE)
There's approximately 2" between wall and ceiling, I suppose I could do some kind of shaving-stop to keep the insulation out of the way if that's enough room for ventilation. I plan on just using pink fibreglass insulation for the ceiling, so it would be managable, there would just be heat-loss around the entire perimeter of the ceiling. Anyways, here are some more ceiling pictures:

1105c9ea-e1d5-4e6d-bef4-f9d7a3a48281_zpscd60b82a.jpg


IMG-20130911-00076_zps408e1617.jpg


ca4f46e5-07fc-4dd0-be34-a76ec61b420e_zps83b9447f.jpg


IMG-20130911-00077_zpsfe07788a.jpg


IMG-20130911-00078_zps0e45e618.jpg

. Just add insulation channels into each truss space and roof vents and you should be good to go with whatever you use for insulation. The heat loss around the perimeter will be minimal considering the ventilation factor preventing icedams.

Is the vented soffit covering placed over solid sheeting?
 
Last edited:
OP
L

longlivepunk

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
377
Location
Edmonton, AB, Canada
So... I **** at keeping threads up to date. I am also terrible at taking pictures as I go. Oh well, it is what it is. So like I said at the start of the thread, progress has been slow. Very slow. But there has been progress, and lots of hard work! Prepare for quite a lot of photos. Lots of other projects got in the way and sadly I don't have pictures of most, but here's what I have...

I had to take a second load of **** out of the garage to the dump that was even bigger than the first, piled above the top of the cab. After that I managed to find some free insulation on Kijiji that came out of a guy's ceiling, it cost me a case of beer! It covered the majority of the walls in my garage, only had to buy two bundles of insulation after getting it all in. Then my girlfriend's mother decided that I should take all of the tools her deceased huband left behind. Um, SURE! So I headed over with my truck... here's where the pictures start.

IMG_20140701_123158.jpg


And that wasn't even all of it! Sadly, the majority of it was... well, ****. Lots and lots of ****. But it was free ****! I'll split some of the photos up over the next couple posts.
 
OP
L

longlivepunk

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
377
Location
Edmonton, AB, Canada
So this guy worked a lot of crappy jobs and had a tendency to steal stuff. But not good stuff. 16 steel wire-brushes, a bunch of olfa knives, and countless rolls of electrical and teflon tape kind of stuff. OH! And over 250' of speaker-wire, still in the packaging. Ooooookay.

_FRvWZttVNRdeFKmubZX1ujzJpamY8L8stftmYLQGg=w469-h625-no


IMG_20140701_163853.jpg


IMG_20140701_170538.jpg


IMG_20140701_164209.jpg


IMG_20140701_165001.jpg


I'll spare you most of these photos of random junk (there are a lot), there were lots of screwdrivers, wrenches, etc. Mostly cheap stuff, but other than what was damaged it can mostly be useful at least. Took a lot of sorting, cleaning, throwing **** out... But there were some cool things!
 
Last edited:
OP
L

longlivepunk

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
377
Location
Edmonton, AB, Canada
There were some cool things too though, a small bench-vise, some tools I could use for work including hammers, files, and a 0-1" OD micrometer, a soldering gun, car jack, torque wrench, impact sockets, a drill-press vise (but it has been destroyed by people drilling through it) a bunch of bottle-jacks, a couple of come-alongs...

IMG_20140701_165520.jpg


IMG_20140701_165606.jpg


IMG_20140701_165129.jpg


IMG_20140701_162048.jpg


IMG_20140701_162053.jpg


IMG_20140701_164614.jpg


IMG_20140701_170304.jpg
 
Last edited:
OP
L

longlivepunk

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
377
Location
Edmonton, AB, Canada
Alright, last post of free **** for a while, then back to working on the garage. So the best part of what I got was the toolboxes! I love quality stuff that was made here in Canada, and so I love old Beach toolboxes and he had a few! Here we go...

A couple tote-boxes

IMG_20140701_164126.jpg


IMG_20140701_163640.jpg


A cabinet

IMG_20140701_165347.jpg


and a couple of 6-drawer top-boxes! The one below, and one just like it, but older with some nice lines rolled into the cover and the crest logo on the front of the cover (kind of like on the cabinet above) Sadly, the older one is covered in stickers which I have yet to remove

IMG_20140701_163824.jpg


IMG_20140701_164005.jpg


There were also a couple of cheap Waterloo boxes, one I'll be giving to a buddy of mine, and one I'm using at work for the time being.
 

sean Buick 76

Well-known member
Joined
May 7, 2013
Messages
3,221
Location
Edmonton Alberta
Hello from Fort Sask.

Very cool, I like all the re-using old stuff!

I laughed out loud when you talked about how your dad was not amused when you dragged that item back into the yard!!
 
OP
L

longlivepunk

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
377
Location
Edmonton, AB, Canada
And now back to our regular scheduled programming!

...and it's time for my least favorite (because I know nothing about it) Electrical. DUN DUN DUN! Luckily I have a couple buddies in my corner who helped me, one is a second-year electrician and the other just finished completely re-doing his house and building a garage. With them telling me what materials to buy and the electrician coming over a couple times to help me get some pieces installed it all started coming together.

Right now the power, cable, and phone lines go from the back-alley over my garage, over my yard and deck, and into the house. I'm not a fan of this, so now they'll all shoot straight into my garage, and then go underground into the house. Doing so came with a lot of work though, as you'll see.

Since we're going underground, it all started with a trench. A big m-f-er of a trench. 4' down, 47' long, passing a gas-line and going through a 45 degree bend. Haven't dug like that since the army! Had to cut some concrete:

IMG_20140906_121909.jpg


Ah, the smell of a two-stroke sure gets you going in the morning! I marked out the trench with a 45 degree bend thinking I would have to use conduit underground, but wound up being able to use direct-burial cables. The plan was to rent a mini-excavator, but a plumber buddy of mine who fancies himself a damn-good digger (and holy ****, he IS!) decided to save me some money by getting digging. He dug all this on the first day while I was busting-apart and loading up concrete! The concrete was super-thick and had a ton of old concrete and bits of steel thrown under it before it was poured.

IMG_20140907_085441.jpg


And then the inspectors came in

69250fdc561726c2fa5c176dbb18a457.jpg


IMG_20140907_092729.jpg


IMG_20140907_092746.jpg


Everything seems up to snuff so far! Now at this point he had gotten us about 2' down for about 34'. I needed to be just a bit deeper than that it turns out, but got some mistaken info that I had to be much deeper, so we dug, and we DUG! We suffered a couple of small cave-ins near the corner of the deck along the way because of the rain, but we pushed on.

One of the cave-ins:

IMG_20140910_163341.jpg


And almost there! (me in the back, my older brother nearer the camera)

IMG_20140913_182119.jpg
 
Last edited:
OP
L

longlivepunk

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
377
Location
Edmonton, AB, Canada
The other bad-info I got (Thanks to the permit office) was that it wasn't 2" of sand above and below the cable like I thought it was, it was 6"!! So my poor little Ranger had to haul 3 loads of a half-yard of sand (not counting the load of road-crush they gave me that I had to return) I still have about 1/4 yard in the truck, makes good winter-weight! :p The loader-operator thought I was nuts every time, but my house was only about a 5-minute drive away.

IMG_20141004_103524.jpg


Now, the 6" of sand and the 4' deep that I said were both incorrect are actually meant if the trench is for your main service straight from the city-lines! Oh well, I'm WAY beyond code at this point, just have a hell of a lot of extra dirt to deal with.

At this point the rest of the electrical was in full-swing, got the panel up, meter-base, a splice-box, two masts (one for service, one for cable and phone), a ground plate and was getting inspected! All of it met Canadian Electrical Code and looked great! For the ground plate I had to drag-out the random chunk of concrete below, bust it up, and dig-down 3' again.

IMG_20140916_194555.jpg


But Epcor owns the power-lines and circumvents Canadian Electrical Code! HA! **** it, home-owner! Even a few electricians I know didn't know that! So I basically had to redo it all to meet their standards. Don't have any shots of it before tearing it all back out, but here is some of the electrical the way it sits now, ready for re-inspection

IMG_20141213_152915_1.jpg


IMG_20141214_140242.jpg
 
OP
L

longlivepunk

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
377
Location
Edmonton, AB, Canada
Hello from Fort Sask.

Very cool, I like all the re-using old stuff!

I laughed out loud when you talked about how your dad was not amused when you dragged that item back into the yard!!

Haha yeah, that was quite the look on his face, he had dragged it to the curb not an hour earlier! :p I grew up in the Fort! Lived there for 17 years.
 

CatSplat

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 4, 2014
Messages
127
Location
Alberta
Man, that is a serious trench! Makes my gas line trench look pretty piddly in comparison. Hopefully you get some insulation and a heater up and running in there before the really cold weather hits - although from the looks of things we won't see anything nasty until after Christmas. Been pretty nice down here in Calgary.

Also, those Beach boxes are a great score, super well-made stuff.
 

rancherbill

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Messages
5,332
Location
Foothills County, Alberta, Canada
But Epcor owns the power-lines and circumvents Canadian Electrical Code! HA! **** it, home-owner! Even a few electricians I know didn't know that! So I basically had to redo it all to meet their standards. Don't have any shots of it before tearing it all back out, but here is some of the electrical the way it sits now, ready for re-inspection

I'm not an electrician, how did they circumvent code?
 
OP
L

longlivepunk

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
377
Location
Edmonton, AB, Canada
Well for whatever dumb reason, a private company owns our public power lines, so they are the only ones allowed to touch the lines. Even if I have a pass sticker if they show up and don't like my setup, they just keep driving!

Even if I switched providers I would be buying power from a different company, but still have to get Epcor to hook me up.

This being said, they do have a simple easy to follow setup guide, although it's hard to find. All they care about is your mast and meter base, I just wish someone in the many times I had talked to the permit office had mentioned it before I drilled holes in my roof and wall and cut materials.
 
Last edited:

rancherbill

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Messages
5,332
Location
Foothills County, Alberta, Canada
Well for whatever dumb reason, a private company owns our public power lines, so they are the only ones allowed to touch the lines. Even if I have a pass sticker if they show up and don't like my setup, they just keep driving!

Even if I switched providers I would be buying power from a different company, but still have to get Epcor to hook me up.

This being said, they do have a simple easy to follow setup guide, although it's hard to find. All they care about is your mast and meter base, I just wish someone in the many times I had talked to the permit office had mentioned it before I drilled holes in my roof and wall and cut materials.

Epcor, to the best of my knowledge is owned by the City of Edmonton. In Calgary, they call theirs EnMAX. Both cities run them as businesses.

To massively simplify the electric system in Alberta, here's how it works. Many companies own the facilities on the grid - power generators, wind farms, power poles etc. All of the actual physical stuff is here. They are overseen by the Alberta System Operator. The ASO ensures that the system works.

The actual electricity is entirely different. You sign up with an energy provider to supply you house. The provider will make deals with all the generators to buy the actual electrons and sell them to you.

The base electricity is coal electrons, and when it's available wind electrons. The electron that really go up and down in price is the ones from gas fired plants.

Back to your comment, Epcor 'owns' the wire from your house to the pole. They are responsible from the meter base back. I'm sure it conforms to the CEC, and they want it done a certain way because they are responsible for probably 200,000+ meters in Edmonton.
 
OP
L

longlivepunk

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
377
Location
Edmonton, AB, Canada
I'm pretty sure Epcor operates all over, and is just contracted by Edmonton. Their setup guide definitely meets CEC, but it has a bunch of specific placements and dimensions that go beyond CEC. Not a bad thing, I just wish that in all my dealings with Epcor and the permit office someone had mentioned that guide earlier, before I punched holes and cut material and did all the work. If anyone wants a link to the setup guide I can post it later.

All the electrical needs now is a service inspection, then on hook-up day I can wire it into the house panel, get final insp. and have power again!

Sadly, that won't happen for a few months since I'll be in school and don't want to play hooky.

Edit: yeah, all over North America:
http://www.epcor.com/Pages/Communities.aspx
 
Last edited:

rancherbill

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Messages
5,332
Location
Foothills County, Alberta, Canada
... I just wish that in all my dealings with Epcor and the permit office someone had mentioned that guide earlier, before I punched holes and cut material and did all the work. If anyone wants a link to the setup guide I can post it later.

HAHA Been there done that!

The pros know all about it. This a problem with any job you do yourself, you have the research and research and research all this stuff. The problem I have had in the past is I did not know I had to research stuff that seemed obvious!:shocking:

The City of Edmonton owns Epcor.
https://www.google.ca/finance?cid=5443827

At its core, EPCOR Utilities is an integrated energy provider, supplying water, wastewater, and power distribution services to more than 1 million customers across Western Canada (including 600,000 in Alberta). Its Energy Services division, which accounts for most of the company's sales, procures and markets electricity and natural gas for retail and wholesale customers and related products and services. EPCOR Utilities operates the regulated electricity and water distribution utilities in the Edmonton, Alberta, region, and in two US states. The unit has 351,000 power customers in Edmonton. It also has energy infrastructure construction operations. The City of Edmonton owns EPCOR Utilities.
 
OP
L

longlivepunk

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
377
Location
Edmonton, AB, Canada
I forgot to mention how terrifying the old electrical in the garage was! I had one breaker in the house running the whole garage, and the wiring was SKETCHY! Sadly, no pictures, but considering my walls were basically full of tinder and oxygen I'm surprised it never burnt down! At least the old line was in conduit and buried nice and deep! Oh wait...

a16dca9097e1acd68a3dc046e3a7432c.jpg
 
OP
L

longlivepunk

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
377
Location
Edmonton, AB, Canada
So progress is going to really slow down for the next couple months while I'm in school. I'll try to work on the ceiling possibly (but not likely since I won't have power yet to cut wood) But the main focus will be on putting up vapor barrier, installing a new window, and installing a new man-door if I can find time to get it all done.

It'll be hard to find time though. On top of school, my girlfriend started a small business this year making fancy dog and cat collars (It's Oscar - Webpage and Facebook) and so I've been trying to help out in any way I can. Soon I'll be starting to build displays for her like crazy to put in stores and use at Farmers Markets and craft shows. I also recently took apart the horizontal filing cabinet I mentioned earlier in this thread and used it and a solid-core door that was originally the workbench top in the garage to build her a crazy-solid sewing table.

So the filing cabinet on the left in this picture:

IMG-20130905-00055_zps708e9fca.jpg


became the table in this shot, one set of drawers on the left, two sets on the right end:

af9e6184d9c68eec247e35c993334757.jpg


***** for me to lose that potential storage, but it's great for her, and the fact that it's so solid makes it way better when she's using her serger on it.

I also have all kinds of random home projects getting in the way, like when I was freezing my **** off with a flashlight in my mouth working on this snowblower during the big dump of white stuff we had:

2b03d43008706525f0e7fd9709574dc3.jpg


7c747ec350cce4505af07167686517f0.jpg


...or the 4 times I've had to take apart the damn dryer. :(
 
Last edited:
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
Top Bottom