Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Lots of great information sharing.. we are also interested in this community.
10-15k in electrical wiring sounds pretty steep.... unless its the fancy one where you can control everything over web interface. I hope the base at least meets some standard & I am not sure why to pay for TV outlet. Its a standard thing and should be there regardless.
is there a rule of thumb when you should upgrade to 2 zone? we saw bergen and it was only 1 zone. is it enough for a 2600 sq ft? some also suggests that by having a 2 zone it will reduce your monthly heating and it performs more efficiently. Did anyone upgrade or considering to upgrade to 2 zone.. what is approx cost?
yogesh - do you know the cost of ceiling fan box? and how much weight the foyer box can handle for the chandelier?
Lots of great information sharing.. we are also interested in this community.
10-15k in electrical wiring sounds pretty steep.... unless its the fancy one where you can control everything over web interface. I hope the base at least meets some standard & I am not sure why to pay for TV outlet. Its a standard thing and should be there regardless.
is there a rule of thumb when you should upgrade to 2 zone? we saw bergen and it was only 1 zone. is it enough for a 2600 sq ft? some also suggests that by having a 2 zone it will reduce your monthly heating and it performs more efficiently. Did anyone upgrade or considering to upgrade to 2 zone.. what is approx cost?
yogesh - do you know the cost of ceiling fan box? and how much weight the foyer box can handle for the chandelier?
NO **** those upgrade costs are a rip off. $200 per recessed can? $600 to upgrade to a larger panel? The larger panel is like $100 from Home Depot, considering they have to put a PANEL in ANYWAY, that cost is negligible at an extra $25-$50??
Charging extra to relocate an outlet? What a scam. You know what they say, a fool and his money...
and how much weight the foyer box can handle for the chandelier?
One electrical upgrade that you should do is to have the plastic boxes replaced with steel boxes in any location where you are planning on putting a chandelier. Trust me--I found out the hard way, many years ago, that those plastic boxes will simply rip apart after a few months of a heavy chandelier weighing them down, and that expensive chandelier will come crashing down.
When I built my present house, I made sure that the dining room and the foyer had steel boxes in the ceiling. And, even with that steel box, my electrician went into the attic to further reinforce the mounting for the foyer chandelier.
[quote=TonyStarksNJ; $600 to upgrade to a larger panel? The larger panel is like $100 from Home Depot, considering they have to put a PANEL in ANYWAY, that cost is negligible at an extra $25-$50??
[/quote]
So I guess the electrician is going to also install 200 Amp service conductors instead of 150 amp conductors and he does this for no charge?
Just to make it clear the General contractor beats up the sub contractors on pricing for the base job and the only way the electrician or plumber of HVAC contractor makes any real money is on extras/upgrades.
If you don't want to pay for the extras you can always call in a contractor later and see what they charge for old work outlets and high hats.
If you really don't know what your talking about you should refrain from making stupid posts.
One electrical upgrade that you should do is to have the plastic boxes replaced with steel boxes in any location where you are planning on putting a chandelier. Trust me--I found out the hard way, many years ago, that those plastic boxes will simply rip apart after a few months of a heavy chandelier weighing them down, and that expensive chandelier will come crashing down.
When I built my present house, I made sure that the dining room and the foyer had steel boxes in the ceiling. And, even with that steel box, my electrician went into the attic to further reinforce the mounting for the foyer chandelier.
Good points but we now have special code required boxes just for mounting chandeliers and yes they are metal and they use larger mounting screws.
The coolest mount for high ceilings is a motorized unit and will drop the chandelier down to the floor level for cleaning and lamp replacement.
Just to make it clear the General contractor beats up the sub contractors on pricing for the base job and the only way the electrician or plumber of HVAC contractor makes any real money is on extras/upgrades.
If you don't want to pay for the extras you can always call in a contractor later and see what they charge for old work outlets and high hats.
If you really don't know what your talking about you should refrain from making stupid posts.
Are you an electrician, did I offend you? Upping the SE conductor size when the house hasnt even been built yet is also NEGLIGIBLE. 200Amp service should be STANDARD on any new construction. That was the intent of my original post. Labor is the same, upping from a #4 to a #2 negligible
Last edited by TonyStarksNJ; 04-17-2012 at 04:57 PM..
Are you an electrician, did I offend you? Upping the SE conductor size when the house hasnt even been built yet is also NEGLIGIBLE. 200Amp service should be STANDARD on any new construction. That was the intent of my original post. Labor is the same, upping from a #4 to a #2 negligible
Care to guess again on the size of the service entrance conductors?
Why do people insist on throwing out numbers when they don't know what they are talking about?
Yes, the contractor charges more, but if you do it later, you may have to open up your wall, etc. We pay slightly high upfront for the convenience of not getting disturbed later. For example, if you plan for kitchen island later, you may not match its marble color with the kitchen counter-top. There is separate contractor for TV wiring/security/alarms/phone and CAT6 wiring for PC, etc. We paid $3,000 for his work. It includes installing 2" pipe inside the wall for $220, so that we do not have to rip-off wall in future for taking any cable from basement to 2nd floor.
I agree that some of the stuff should come standard with the purchase of home. But builders try to keep intial cost low so that people can buy homes in this tough economy and pay for upgrades as needed. Even at Heritage Homes in Piscataway, family room is only 13 ft wide, with extra 4 ft upon "upgrade". The panel work includes price of components. The recess light is rip-off with $180 per bulb or $1,000 per room (of 6 bulbs).
Retriever, thanks for info about Chandelier. I had seen it crashing down if boys accidently hit it with a ball. I will now avoid it although electrician insisted for it. I will prefer 2 recessed lights now.
Yogesh
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
