(no subject)

[cellio]

I always get a little nervous when contractors say "hmm, I think I can do that" to what I thought were simple questions. But the electrician we had in this morning says that yes, he believes he can add the new outlets we need in what will be my office, on a different circuit from where the air conditioner will go, and that he can put appropriate outlets in the new TV room. (This room currently has no outlets. How in the world did that ever pass inspection?)

A different contractor will be by in a few weeks to do some minor remodelling in the new TV room, so he'll be able to patch up any holes left by the electrician at the same time. Then we can go out and buy furniture, and maybe even a new TV. The current TV is starting to get flaky, and it's a little small for the current state of my vision anyway, and it's so old that it can't handle a DVD player. So we may enter the 1990s in terms of television technology. :-) (We're pretty sure we don't give a hoot about HDTV, at least at current prices.)

It's funny: I thought Dani was joking when he said he wanted to window-shop for TVs and gravitated toward the large flat-screen models. I think Dani has a secret vice he's been reluctant to let me see, as he is actually driving this more than I am.

Comments

Electricians and Contractors

[dagonell.livejournal.com]

Unless Pennsylvania has drastically different regulations than New York, there is no minimum number of outlets for any room. They're only worried about overloading circuits and causing fires, doing Amish impersonations isn't a safety hazard. :D

As long as you have a contractor going through the place anyway, if it's at all humanly possible, have him walk through with the electrician and you and have the electrician explain what he's going to do. This way, if the electrician's an idiot, the contractor will be able to tell him not to cut through the support beams. If you don't think it's worth the bother, don't take my word for it, ask Steve and Ruth. :

Re: Electricians and Contractors

[cellio]

Johan once told me that you're required to have outlets every N feet along walls (I forget what N is, but it's around 10 feet). I believe the reasoning is that they're trying to keep people from stringing extension cords all over the place, under carpets where they can start fires, across doorways where they can be tripped on, etc. Pennsylvania is a pretty paternalistic state.

Thanks for the tip about the contractor. The remodelling he's doing is really minor (twiddling with a closet and building in some shelves), but it doesn't hurt to make sure the electrician knows what he'll be doing.

Re: Electricians and Contractors

[jpbl.livejournal.com]

I believe that there are regulations about how many outlets are required in new construction in many areas, but old houses are grandfathered, and there are a lot of old houses in Pittsburgh. Six years ago, there were still plenty of houses with knob-and-tube wiring, and that hasn't been legal to put in houses in years. You should be grateful for the grandfathering, of course, since it would cost more to get some of the houses up to the current new-construction codes than they cost on the open market.

Re: Electricians and Contractors

[cellio]

Oh yeah, grandfathering is definitely your friend on stuff like this. I believe the rule is that inherited non-compliant stuff is fine, but if you touch it you have to make it legal in the process. And, um, this room has been touched since these rules were created. But it's ok; we're going to fix it.

I know there's knob-and-tube wiring in my previous house, which I simply disclosed to the buyers and declined to do anything about.