The Kester House|Mechanical|Wiring

Updating the Electrical Service

Exterior electrical goodies (2 photos).

As described in the mechanical systems introduction, the wiring was in pretty bad shape when we bought the house. I was going to have to replace everything, which I was actually looking forward to doing. Back in my wrenchin'-on-cars days, I was the "electrical guy" for the shop then I later opened my own business building electric cars, so I enjoy tinkering with wiring. Household wiring isn't too terribly difficult, so I planned to do all circuit design and the wiring installation myself. Homeowners are not allowed to make the connection from the pole to the meter and panel however (which is fine with me), so we would have to find an electrician to get the panel installed. The original plan was to have the local electrical inspector (who's also an electrical contractor) do the service panel installation, since he had done the wiring for the septic system effluent pump and said he'd do the panel as well. I played phone tag with him for a while but wasn't getting anywhere, so I talked to the plumber for a recommendation of another electrician. I figure it's a good idea to not upset the electrical inspector, so I let the him know we were going to find someone else to do the job, and he actually called back to say that was okay with him (I think he was relieved to not have to deal with me and this junky old house). The new electrician contacted us right away, and after some discussion of price and timing, we decided to have him install a new 200 amp service.

One of the first things we had to address with getting the new electrical service installed was trying to figure out where to locate the new panel. The pole is near the center of the lot, and there's no power anywhere near the back of the lot. Our only option was to bring the power in the front of the house someplace. The existing service was hanging off the rotted barge rafter (the outermost rafter of the roof overhang) between the main house and the old screen porch. I'm pretty sure the original service was installed before the screen porch was added (since there was no power in the porch), and we couldn't put it back in the same spot (code doesn't allow overhead service to go over the roof). If I'd have run the power to some other part of the front of the house, that would have meant the panel would be back in the living room our in our bedroom. The power was going to have to go into the entryway somehow, which would have meant wires coming into the house with some huge mast thing sticking up right next to the front door. In order to put the panel where we wanted, we decided the best option was to install an underground service.

Getting the dominoes lined up to have the underground service installed and the new panel put in took a little time and prep work. I needed to demolish the old wall and window framing where the panel was going to go, and get the new wall framed for the panel. I had to have siding up on that section of wall for the meter box, and get the panelling stripped from around the old service panel so we could tie it to the new service. I also had to ensure the electrician, excavator and electrical inspector we're all ready to jump at the same time, since we were living in the house and didn't want to go without power for days on end. It didn't work out exactly as planned, however.

The Saga of the Service Panel

I worked on rebuilding the porch and getting the section of wall ready for the new panel in Fall of 2005. The electrician called and said he'd had a cancellation, so he'd be here in a couple days (rather than a couple weeks as planned). I called my septic guy in a bit of a panic and left a message saying we needed the service trench as soon as possible, since the electrician was on his way. He didn't call me back. The next morning I awoke to the sounds of machinery outside and there was George, sittin' in his backhoe, chompin' on a cigar. He'd driven the thing to our house from his shop. He swung the cab door open and shouted "Where d'ya want it, Rock-boy?" I sorta waved a vague line from the pole to the corner of the porch. He nodded, shifted the cigar stub a bit, swung the door shut and got busy. I stumbled back into the house for my first hot cuppa Joe, and by the time I returned George was finished and on his way up the street. One of a kind, that guy.

The electrician showed up the next day with conduit and the new panel, and installed the panel and three conduits for telephone, cable TV and power. He then added a big hunk of 8/3 NMCB inside the house from the old panel to the new so I could start getting new circuits installed - which I didn't care about at that time - I wanted that overhead wiring gone so I could work on the roof. The old meter and overhead wire were still there, so we were stuck with the cable in the living room until I could get the wall ready for the meter. He said to call him when it was ready and be right over to finish it up. I believed him. Apparently I hadn't learned my lesson from the bad experience we'd had with the landscape contractor.

I finished the wall prep and was ready for the panel in about a week, so I called and left a message with the electrician. I'm not sure how some of these guys stay in business. I've worked in the service industry as an auto mechanic. I've owned my own business. Rule number one was always answer the phone. In the construction trades I think "answer the phone" might be somewhere between wiping their feet before coming in your house and cleaning out the cab of their truck on their list of priorities... it just doesn't happen. I've figured out that the only way any communication takes place with these guys is through their Nextel 2-way. If you're one of the select few that have their 2-way number, then they'll immediately answer your "chirp" (especially if they're in the middle of a conversation with a client). Without the 2-way, you're not worthy of their time. They only get new clients when some other contractor chirps them on the 2-way and tells them about a possible sucker they can screw over a customer in need of their services. Okay, I'm calm. I'll continue...

The new panel was worth the wait.

After the first few daily calls with no response, I decided I wouldn't get anywhere by being a pest. I switched to leaving a message once a week, in hopes that he wouldn't find that too bothersome and come finish the job (he hadn't been paid for anything after all, so I assumed he was interested in getting paid for the materials at the very least). Nothing. After a couple months , I cut back the calls to once every two weeks, and started to try and figure out how I was going to get another electrician to come finish the work this guy had started. After months of steady messages with no return calls, the electricians truck rolled up in the Spring of 2006. He hopped out and started feeding cable through the conduits without even a knock on the door. We didn't engage in a lot of friendly chit-chat (and there was no apology for the delay). He installed the meter and tied it to the new panel, then much to my surprise he went up the pole on a ladder and tied the new power to the old overhead lines and snipped off the old lines to the house.

As he was loading up the truck to leave, I confirmed the price with him, and asked if a check was okay. It was not. I was then informed that the price was a special discount since I was a friend of a friend (naturally), and that he would need to be paid in cash. This guy came highly recommended, and did a very good job (when he actually showed up). He's even been featured on "This Old House" when they were doing a local renovation. I had no problem with the quality of work he performed, but I couldn't get past his troubles with using his phone... perhaps he didn't know he could flip it open and push the number keys to initiate a call, since he'd only ever used the push-to-talk button on the side. Poor guy. I told him I didn't have the cash on me, since I didn't know he was going to come and do the work that day (I took a little shot there, but either he didn't understand it, or chose not to acknowledge the comment - I tend to think it was the former). I told him I'd give him a call when I had the cash so he could come pick it up. Mwuahaha.

I got the cash from the bank the next day, but didn't call him. When the lovely bride got home from work and asked if I'd paid the electrician so we could finally be done with him, I said "Nope - didn't call him either". She wasn't pleased, but I would have my revenge! This fellow blew off my phone calls for over 6 months , when all he had to do was let me know he was on another job, out of the country, his grammy had passed - whatever... just some form of communication would have be nice and I'd have some idea of when we'd have the new power hooked up. I had decided that if he was going to make me wait 6 months, I was going to make him wait a while for his money and see how he liked it. She didn't approve, but I insisted we hold for a month at the very least, and she relented. Every night between 5 and 6 pm for the next 30 days, we'd get a phone call from "Unknown Caller" (he obviously Caller ID blocked his cell number). On night 31, I answered the call, and said he could come get the cash the next day, as if no time had passed at all. He was happy to act like nothing had happened, so I did the same and handed him the cash the next day (I put it in a crumpled up brown paper bag for added effect).

Our new panel was in and all was right in the world. I got a call the next day from the electrical inspector saying the electrician had contacted him and that we were good to go. He came and signed off on the panel install, I set up the time and date for the utility guys to come and do the permanent tie-in at the pole, and a few weeks later the job was done at last.

The final chapter to this whole saga occurred in the Summer of 2008, and it's so ridiculous it's funny. One fine day I was working in the temporary shop in the driveway when our electrician pal pulled up in his truck. I hadn't spoken to or thought about this guy for over 2 years, yet here he was. We shook hands and exchanged pleasantries, and he commented on how well the place was coming together. I had no idea why he was here, so I rather awkwardly asked what brought him by. "Oh, I got your message that you needed something or other done with the new panel" he said. I couldn't help myself and laughed out loud. I told him I'd left those messages two years ago! I don't think he believed me, but we both had a good laugh about it and he hung out for a while to have a look at the changes inside the house since the last time he was here. All's well that ends well, I suppose.

Wiring Plans

Planning started with the panel (2 sheets).

I completed the wiring plans in Winter of 2005, having worked on them for a month or two while waiting to get the new service installed. I think the old mess of wiring that was originally in the house helped drive my desire to try and create an ideal wiring system for the renovation, since I had a very good idea of what I didn't want to end up with. The idea was to have plenty of receptacles in every room so we'd never need an extension cord or power strip, as well as lights and switches located where they'd make sense. A couple issues I especially wanted to address were the lack of attic lighting and outdoor receptacles that we'd suffered through with the old system. I also wanted to ensure plenty of power would be available in the kitchen and the bathroom, via multiple circuits, so we wouldn't have to deal with our old "don't make toast when the coffee maker is running or using the hair dryer" scenario, which would pop the fuse in the old days.

I started the electrical layout with the service panel plan, and tried to put in whatever circuits I could imagine needing for the completed house. We had also decided what appliances we were going to outfit the kitchen with by this point (although we hadn't bought them yet), so I was able to download the installation instructions and verify the power requirements for each of those while doing the planning. I didn't worry about switches and receptacles at that point, and just dreamed up whatever I thought might be useful then made a spot for it in the panel. With a notion of the number of circuits I'd want, I then tried to balance the power distribution across both legs of the service panel. Next I started working out where I was actually going to place lights, switches and receptacles, and totaled up the power requirements for each circuit while adjusting the distribution of circuits in the panel. Working off a tentative house plan with the service panel schematic as a guide I layed out wire runs, and tried my best to minimize the number of junction boxes (especially under the house) while providing adequate power and light to each room. I must add that a great deal of the wiring layout was based on the information in Rex Cauldwell's Wiring a House from Taunton Press. Cauldwell not only clearly explains what is required for safe household wiring and why, but he also makes a lot of what he calls "above code" recommendations based on his years in the industry. A highly recommended read for anyone planning to do some household electrical work.

The completed wiring plan.

The wiring plans have been extremely useful, and I'm very glad I took the time to get them worked out early in the project. Nearly every wall has some wiring in it, so having the plans finished before any carpentry work began has helped avoid the need to tear any new work apart because I neglected to get the wiring in place first - almost. I somehow completely missed the air conditioner circuit, probably because I was working on the wiring plans in our 60° barely heated house in the middle of Winter. I did place extra runs of 12/2 in the walls before I installed the GWB around the panel, but as we shop around for efficient A/C units, it's looking like I'm going to need to get a piece of 10/3 in there to supply adequate 220v power to the A/C unit. I think I can thread the wire into the wall from under the house without having to tear out drywall (and here I thought I was finished under the house), so it may not be too bad.

Household Wiring Installation

Before drilling holes in studs and feeding wires, we had to decide on colors and styles for switches, receptacles, electrical boxes, and all the rest of the stuff needed to make the light come on when we flick the switch. Because we live here while the renovation is happening we couldn't just run all the circuits then wait until the finish work in a particular room was done to install the fixtures - I needed to disconnect the old circuit and be able to use the new one pretty much on the same day - which meant the switches and receptacles had to be on hand. As with most of the mechanical systems supplies, you get what you pay for with this stuff so we decided early to eliminate the bottom end stuff from the mix. I couldn't see putting in the effort to re-wire the house only to have switches fail and plugs falling out of the wall because we wanted to save a couple bucks on supplies. I made a few trips to the store to get an idea of what was available and take some notes, then planned a hot date with the lovely bride to the Home Depot electrical aisle (I'm so romantic). She agreed that the 89¢ light switches were not acceptable, and we moved on to the higher-end stuff. After much flicking of sample switches, we decided to just go for the best and use Lutron® Designer Style lighting controls in Light Almond for the entire house. We selected their Diva® and Maestro® lines for dimmers and fan controls, the matching Claro® line for regular light switches and receptacles, and decided to finish everything off screwless wall plates.

The wiring kit & PT-1600 labeler.

As I started to add up the costs for the switches and receptacles we were going to need, I had some doubts about our decision since a basic dimmer was going to run $20-$30 each (with some of the three-way units topping $75). We stuck with the decision on switches (and I'm glad we did), but decided we could skip the designer style wall receptacles and just use normal stuff for the units that wouldn't be located at counter-top height (the $5 ones, not the 89¢ junk) . As we've gotten closer to finish work in the kitchen, we also decided to go with black controls and stainless-steel wall plates to better match the appliances, rather than light almond stuff. Because of the relatively high cost of all the lighting controls, I did some poking around on the 'net and found I could save a significant amount of money by purchasing all the units online, rather than from local stores. It takes a little while for the stuff to show up (since it's just getting processed by the online retailer and then shipped from the manufacturer), but the cost savings is worth the wait - online costs were less than half the local prices, even with shipping.

In addition to selecting the switches and receptacles before work could begin, I also selected the heaviest, largest electrical boxes available for use in the walls. The cost difference between the tiny, thin-walled boxes versus the heavy-duty units is insignificant compared to having a roomy, solid box for wiring that the screws won't pull out of the first time you snug up the light switch in the box. I also put together a little "home wiring kit" of tools and supplies to allow me to work without constantly having to go find more wire nuts or staples in the middle of the job. Finally, the most important item needed to install household wiring, in my opinion, is a label maker. No matter how nice the plans are and how good you think your memory is, everything should be labeled throughout the wiring project. I used a Brother P-Touch® PT-1600 handheld label-maker when I was doing data center wiring in my IT days and loved it, so I purchased the same unit for use on the house renovation. Apart from the obvious need to label the breakers in the service panel, I labeled the ends of wire runs at the wall and junction boxes, as well as inside the panel itself. This was especially helpful for our project since many of the new circuits were not connected until months (sometimes years) after they had been put in the walls and ceiling during the installation of the new panel. I also labeled the cover plate of every junction box with the breaker number for the wiring inside, as well as the back of the wall plates for any receptacle or switch. Before doing any electrical work, it's now a simple matter of pulling the wall plate (or looking at the junction box in the attic) to see what breaker to switch off prior to exposing the wiring.

Once all the supplies and proper tools are assembled, the actual wiring installation is a pretty simple matter. As I said, I find wiring quite satisfying, especially when the homeowner heads to work in the morning after using old switches she had to jiggle to make work and comes home to new, soft-touch illuminated paddle switches in their place at the end of the day. Most of the house wiring is now complete, although a few circuits will get additional receptacles added as I finish the carpentry work in the living room, bedroom and walk-in closet and extend the wire runs around the remainder of those rooms.

Voice & Data Wiring Installation

The voice & data wiring access.

While installing the wiring for switches and receptacles, I also tried to get everything in place I could think of to meet our needs for home networking, home entertainment, telephone and CATV. Looking back now on what I managed to get installed, I would have done a couple things differently on the home networking end, although the latest wireless tech has resolved any shortcomings of the initial installation.

I set up the voice & data wiring much the same as the household power wiring, so all voice & data runs would emanate from a central service entrance and feed various locations throughout the house. We receive telephone, internet and CATV from the same provider (Comcast), so there's just the one coax cable coming into the house near the electrical service (we did install an extra conduit in case we switch to FiOS or add some other service at a later date). I added an access panel and mounted the cable modem and all my coax-splitters inside the wall below the electrical panel. I then split the coax line from the pole to feed the phone modem, broadband modem, and CATV through another splitter for CATV distribution. The second splitter feeds CATV wall plates located in the living room, bedroom and the lovely bride's office (we only have the one TV, but we're not going to live forever, so it made sense to add CATV drops where ever they might be needed). I purchased a roll of good quality RG-6 coax, a crimp tool, and gold-plated connectors so I could custom make all the lengths of coax required for the installation. The telephone wiring from the cable modem (RJ-11 output) is connected to a junction block in the wall with the modem, where I distribute the phone lines to the same areas as the CATV, as well as a couple lines to my office. I also ran a spare phone line and healthy length of RG-6 into the attic as spares, in case we need to add another drop somewhere else.

Multiple RG-6 leads behind the home entertainment area.

I changed the configuration of the stuff in the wall behind the TV when we recently upgraded to Hi-Def (I was trying to hold off on the new TV until the renovation was done, but the 25+ year old Sony finally conked out last year) and wanted to clean up the mess of CATV signal splitters that were kicking around behind the home entertainment center. One of the problems with wall plates for coax is that they introduce additional signal loss to the line compared to just running the coax through a hole in the wall and connecting it to the back of a device. With the wall plate, the coax is terminated in the electrical box and screwed onto the back of a little adaptor on the wall plate, then another piece of coax runs from the front of the wall plate to the device. Every little adaptor adds -3db signal loss, (and every end connection in a line doesn't help either) so they can start to add up. I had tried to cram a couple 3-way splitters inside an electrical box (1 in-2 out, with one of the "outs" feeding another 1 in-2 out splitter), then connected all the outs to the back of a multi-gang wall plate with little pigtails of coax. It was ugly. I started over by losing the wall plate / electrical box combination, and went with a little double-gang wall plate that's shaped like a big louver so you can just feed wires out of the wall without having to use adaptors. The open plate is attached to a "backless" electrical box, and I mounted a good quality 4-way splitter to the wall behind the opening. I can remove the wall plate and gain good access to the splitter to screw on the coax through the double-gang opening, and I got rid of all those little pigtails of mangled coax. It's much neater and provides a noticeably better signal to the TV, cable box and VCR. I'm also planning to add a TV antenna soon, so the new configuration gives me a little room to add the additional coax drop from the attic. With all the signal splitting going on at the service entrance and behind the TV, I decided to add a CATV line amp on the coax line from the pole as well. I also added termination caps to all of the coax runs that don't connect to a device (office, bedroom, attic) to eliminate any ghosting or interference in the CATV signal.

I tried to minimize the home networking wiring in the walls, since the technology changes so rapidly it didn't make a lot of sense to install a bunch of components that would likely be obsolete by the time I finished. Even though the phone modem can also be used for internet access (it's got a pair of RJ-45 outputs on it in addition to the RJ-11 outputs), I decided to just run RG-6 coax to my office, then connect a dedicated broadband modem there and keep all the Ethernet cable in the office. I did install a length of Cat-5e cable in the wall between my office and the lovely bride's through a couple of RJ-45 wall plate connectors, thinking she could use that to connect her desktop to the network. We've since decided her office would be more of a traditional Sukiya style room, so with no desk there wouldn't be a desktop system either. The wall connection might still get used for her laptop, but most of that will be handled through wireless networking now. What I thought I should have done when I had the walls open was run an Ethernet cable to the home entertainment area. Our Blu-Ray player is set-up to have an internet connection (for additional BD Live content), and with Netflix streaming movies available, it would be very nice to have the throughput of fast Ethernet available at the TV. The problem with running wireless G networking for streaming video was it could only run at 54mbps (compared to 100mbps fast Ethernet) so the feed was pretty choppy. I upgraded our home network to gigabit Ethernet (1,000mbps) not long ago when we lost a router, and picked up a wireless N access point and bridge to connect the home entertainment goodies to the internet. Wireless N runs at 300mbps, so it ended up working out better than if I'd connected the TV with fast Ethernet in the first place (as suspected... it would have been obsolete by the time I was ready to use it). Okay, I admit I've still got some computer geek in me even after all these years of working on the house.

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