He explained it was an attached garage AFTER I posted that. I was under the impression it was a detached garage and yeah, the "6 ft" distance was glanced over (by me).
Quote to add an outside electrical outlet
- Thread starter PWMDMD
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What gauge wire goes to the existing outlet ? We don't know.... If it's 14-ga for a 15A outlet, you can't just add a 20A outlet off of it. Well, you physically can.
This is what greedflation looks like.
This. Straight out of seventh grade shop class.
Even with inflation, still could probably do it for < than $35.
A LOT of people have no desire to do this type of work for their own reasons. That's his choice too. If everyone did their own electrical work, why do professional electricians exist ? Why do we have dentists ? If something is wrong with a tooth, just pull it out with pliers...
@Arc @ brianl703
You're right, Pulaski country Arkansas code on commercial buildings has a soft limit of 8.
A rule of thumb is assume 1.5 amps used at every circuit (not code general practice)
That would give a number of 8. (NEC recommends 80% for a soft limit of 10)
I worked for a guy 25 some odd years ago who set the company rule of five.
Source (warning pdf) https://www.littlerock.gov/!userfiles/editor/docs/planning/Statics_Specialreports/Electric_code.pdf
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Just get another quote and you’ll see if he was high or not.
Yeah...less than zero desire to figure this out.
Yup, I will do without. My wife made a comment that I’d be nice to have another outlet there and I said let’s get a quote. Now that we have the quote we can do without the outlet.
Not too much more behind it than that.I just wish there was some way for contractors to communicate what they do and don't like to do. Their website really does say no job too small. Maybe I watch too much TikTok - there's a Boston electrician on there and while he does big jobs he also does lots of simple single recessed light or outlet installations too. Sometimes he's just installing lighting fixtures that are already wired.
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How is that supposed to work when an appliance can be designed to use 80% of the circuit rating?
In datacenters I routinely loaded circuits to 80% because that is what the NEC allows. That's 16 amps on a 20 amp circuit, and 12 amps on a 15 amp circuit (most datacenters have no 15 amp circuits, they are all 20 amp circuits, but a typical space heater at max output will consume 12 amps. And there is most likely computer equipment designed to pull the same).
Seems absolutely insane on the price even if adding a new circuit. I just did this job my self in my own house for under $50 in parts and an hour of my time.
The hardest part would be cutting a 12" square in the vinyl siding, installing a block of some kind of material and then trim around it. Then a hole through the block so the outlet will be flush mounted. The electrical part is easy. Even with a breaker it's less that $50 in materials.
You forget opportunity cost of spending half day on this vs another job with far more materials/markup/profit.
It’s high unless there are a lot of permitting requirements or red tape in the area.
I know some contractors who will add 15-20% for certain cities where the inspectors are more “thorough.”
I know some contractors who will add 15-20% for certain cities where the inspectors are more “thorough.”
Get more quotes. Call a handyman that does all sorts of work vs a dedicated electrician. This isn't a whole-house rewiring job, installing a new circuit breaker panel, etc, etc. Bunch of people talk about permits, licenses, etc, etc and we're to believe no one here has replaced an outlet or swapped a light fixture for a different one ?
Replacing an existing outlet or light fixture does not require a permit in most, if not all, jurisdictions.
Adding a light fixture or outlet where one did not exist before usually DOES require a permit.
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My dad was a contractor so I grew up in it (not electrical, but similar idea). If we didn't want to do a job we just said so - "outside what we normally do" If we were too busy to do a job we just said so - "thanks for contacting us, we apologize but were too booked up right now". People appreciated it. Many called again in the future. Its pretty basic customer service stuff.
I truly think there hoping someone will be dumb enough to pay the $2K for an outlet. Seems everyone is a scammer these days / lacks morals.
OK-Let's say this is a slightly bigger company. Maybe 6 trucks with electricians. So we have payroll, insurance, cellphones, suppliers, WHATEVER-everything that is required to run a legitimate and legal business. How much should the owner charge before your "lacks morals" theory kicks in?
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