Scrutinizing electrical work
The past two days have been all about electrical wiring and outlet box installation. All necessary, but hardly exciting. There’s a lot that has to be done: outlets, overhead lighting, under-cabinet lighting, disposal and dishwasher wiring, cooktop hood fan wiring and controls. At some point we need a 240-volt line for the ovens but I haven’t seen that yet.
One complication with this project is that our house has only 50-amp electrical service. Apparently most houses now have 100-amp service or even more than that. To power the ovens and everything else, we need to upgrade to 100 amps. I really have no idea what that requires, but the electrician has asked for access to the other three basements in our building. We’re not exactly keen on bothering our neighbors with this, or trying to coordinate access during the day when everyone’s at work.
This is all moving along, but I find myself staring at empty outlet boxes and trying to figure out what’s going to go there. Where are they going to put switches for under-cabinet lights? Where will the overhead lights be placed? Are we going to have enough outlets? I’m becoming quite the micro-manager as I grill George each day about these kinds of details.
Speaking of George, he gave us one awesome piece of news on the cost front: our semi-complicated tile installation will NOT cost us any extra! For once something will not add to the cost of this project. Hooray!
There’s not a whole lot new to look at, but here’s some wiring:
Markup and new electrical wiring
Some yellow wires, some white wires. What does it all mean?