New Garage Circuit

2007.06.04

We had to cut a couple holes in the basement ceiling to run the line for the garage (as well as the panel grounding wire).

Hole cut in basement ceiling to run electrical
Hole cut in basement ceiling to run electrical

He installed a GFCI weather-protected outlet at the back corner of the house (tied to a 20-amp breaker in the panel).  The wiring then continues down through the trench and up into the back corner of the garage.

New GFCI exterior outlet at back corner of house, with line to garage going down into trench
New wiring coming up from trench into back corner of garage

Inside the garage, he installed a disconnect switch and an outlet (the disconnect is a code issue).  After the inspection is complete, then I can work from there to wire up whatever I want in the garage; mainly, the automatic garage door opener, a light of some sort, and maybe another outlet or two.

Wiring in progress for garage
Garage disconnect switch and outlet

Well, despite his complaining and skepticism about finishing today, he did manage to get it all done.  I do think the panel took longer than what the estimator had figured, but the garage circuit was pretty simple and I think he overbid that, so it probably worked out in the end.  Still, the electrician was here from about 8:30 AM to 6:30 PM, with no lunch break or anything, so it was a full day at a steady pace.  I’m pretty wiped out just with what little I did to help, and standing around watching.

I was surprised when he showed up this morning and there was just the journeyman, no apprentice tagging along.  As we talked during the day, he said it’s hard to find good help these days, and after a few bad experiences with apprentices, he told the company he didn’t need an apprentice any more.  It’s like a bad cop movie cliche.  I think he was regretting that cavalier independence today.