Electrical contractor prices are outrageous!!!

[Sundog]

I have gotten three quotes to do the following work:

1. Install one 20 amp breaker
2. From that breaker in the basement run 45 ft of romex along the open basement ceiling (upstairs floor joices) to the opposite wall.
3. On the wall (cinder block) install 2 outlets 7 ft apart.


Cheapest of the three quotes: $575 :Q:Q:Q:Q:shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked:



I understand people gotta eat, and companies have to make $$ but that is rediculous.:frown: Looks like I will be doing the wiring myself.

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

um... that sounds about right to me.

oh wait. i thougth you said a subpanel. never mind. do it your self!

thats what about 50$ in materials and it will take about 4 hours for an amatuer.

 

[Sundog]

Originally posted by: HomeBrewerDude
um... that sounds about right to me.

How so?? I priced everything out at the local harware store and retail parts came to approx. $68. When I asked two of them how long it would take because I would have to take off of work I was told 45 minutes to 1.25 hours tops.


<Edit> Ah...you edited your post. Exactly what I am thinking. Make sure the homeowners insurance is paid up and go at it myself. Just have to remember the little things like disconecting the power to the panel before installing the new breaker. 😉

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Originally posted by: HomeBrewerDude
um... that sounds about right to me.

oh wait. i thougth you said a subpanel. never mind. do it your self!

thats what about 50$ in materials and it will take about 4 hours for an amatuer.

The reason you are getting high bids is becasue it's not worth their time to come out and do the work. If someone is stupid enough to pay that much, they'll happily do it.

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

Originally posted by: Sundog

Originally posted by: HomeBrewerDude
um... that sounds about right to me.

How so?? I priced everything out at the local harware store and retail parts came to approx. $68. When I asked two of them how long it would take because I would have to take off of work I was told 45 minutes to 1.25 hours tops.

yeah i agree. read my postscript edits. 😉

I put a circuit in at my house and it took about 2-3 hours. just be careful and don't fry yourself.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Originally posted by: Sundog

Originally posted by: HomeBrewerDude
um... that sounds about right to me.

How so?? I priced everything out at the local harware store and retail parts came to approx. $68. When I asked two of them how long it would take because I would have to take off of work I was told 45 minutes to 1.25 hours tops.

The only hard thing might be the cinder blocks. Now si this being done i nthe basement? So you are jsut adding plugs for power in the basement? If so, it's a total joke to do. Why did you even get bids?

 

[lozina]

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004

Originally posted by: HomeBrewerDude
um... that sounds about right to me.

oh wait. i thougth you said a subpanel. never mind. do it your self!

thats what about 50$ in materials and it will take about 4 hours for an amatuer.

The reason you are getting high bids is becasue it's not worth their time to come out and do the work. If someone is stupid enough to pay that much, they'll happily do it.

agreed...

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

homedeopot book "1-2-3 wiring" is pretty good for this sort of thing. It will really help you be sure that you aren't in fact about to send elevenity billion amps through your nads.

 

[Sundog]

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004
The reason you are getting high bids is becasue it's not worth their time to come out and do the work. If someone is stupid enough to pay that much, they'll happily do it.

Which pisses me off because I specifically researched ones in my area, within 2 miles of my house. Yeah, gotta love the ads "No job too small". :frown:

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

you might get a handy man to do it for less. not sure though since its electrical.

 

[Sundog]

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004
So you are jsut adding plugs for power in the basement? If so, it's a total joke to do. Why did you even get bids?

I am realizing that. Was getting the bids because if it came in at say $120-140 I would have some else do it and possible do some other work. Looks like the stuff will have to wait.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Originally posted by: Sundog

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004
So you are jsut adding plugs for power in the basement? If so, it's a total joke to do. Why did you even get bids?

I am realizing that. Was getting the bids because if it came in at say $120-140 I would have some else do it and possible do some other work. Looks like the stuff will have to wait.

Cocnur with other people. Just get the Home Depot 1-2-3 book on electrical work and buy the parts for $70. The book is worth it as it will be usefull for the rest of your life. And it's actually fun to do....trust me.

 

[Sundog]

Originally posted by: HomeBrewerDude
homedeopot book "1-2-3 wiring" is pretty good for this sort of thing. It will really help you be sure that you aren't in fact about to send elevenity billion amps through your nads.

Yeah, will look at that or one from the library. I really don't want to mess up the cinder block or end up a statistic. Hmmm...where's that damn life insurance policy (just in case).

 

[cerebusPu]

just wear thick gloves and rubber boots just in case. and make sure someone who knows CPR is watching so when you get elecuted they can call 911 and keep your blood pumping.

 

[Jzero]

It's that same old thing about the farmer with the broken tractor. He calls a mechanic who opens the cowl, whacks something with the mallet and then starts it right up, then promptly bills the farmer $300.
When the farmer asks how he arrived at that measure, he says:
"It costs you $1 for my time, and $299 for knowing what to whack with the mallet."

They charge that much b/c the people who don't know how to do it themselves are willing to pay that much.

 

[OffTopic1]

Electricians are expensive &amp; some of them will take advantage of you if you are not careful. Talk to your local hardware stores (not box stores like Home Depot) to recommend you some small electrical companies, or see if you can get a home owner repair permit from your city hall and wire it yourself.

[Edit] For that price you can buy me an air ticket &amp; diner, and I'll wire it up for you.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

My dad occasionally does jobs on the side. He charges about $60/hr plus materials. Usually any job he takes, he undercuts other guys by a huge amount. He doesn't take the large jobs just because he doesn't do it full time. For the full time guys, they have to take a certain amount of thier time out to order the stuff, gather the parts, go out to the site, do the job, and get back home. They want to make it worth thier time. I'd venture to say that you could add alot of extra stuff onto the job for not much more cost.

 

[kranky]

You could always ask one of the bidders if they would do it for $X (the amount you feel is fair). I wouldn't go below $200, though. They might feel insulted, and might hang up on you, but you never know.

 

[ApacheXMD]

My dad is an electrician, and I'm helping him full time now. And yes for a job that small, it's really not worth it for us to come out and do that unless we charge a gross amount. Depending on how far you are from our current job and the electrical supply store, it might take up half our day to buy materials, drive to where you are, do the work, and drive back to the other job. Though we usually try to do our best to help people.

Just yesterday we took a job like this. A lady wanted to change a fuse box to breakers. It's a tiny little 4 circuit panel. It took us less than an hour to swap it out. But we charged $350.

When you're working on a $15K job, using half a day on little jobs just isn't worth it.

Edit: Re: Original post

You can't just run romex along the cinder block wall. The electrician will have to run EMT conduit from the panel to the receptacles. That will add time, labor, and of course cost.

If you want to do this yourself, you'd have to buy the EMT, buy/borrow/steel an EMT bender, get couplings and box connectors, enough black and white 12guage wire, a fish tape, pull string, metal boxes, metal receptacle covers, the receptacles, a drill, masonry drill bit, wall anchors and screws, one hole EMT straps, a wire stripper, wire nuts, and you'd have to know what you're doing in the panel to not kill yourself. But getting shocked really isn't that bad. I've been zapped a few times..

-patchy

 

[redly]

on a similar note, is it possible to remove power at the meter??

 

[maziwanka]

Originally posted by: ApacheXMD
My dad is an electrician, and I'm helping him full time now. And yes for a job that small, it's really not worth it for us to come out and do that unless we charge a gross amount. Depending on how far you are from our current job and the electrical supply store, it might take up half our day to buy materials, drive to where you are, do the work, and drive back to the other job. Though we usually try to do our best to help people.

Just yesterday we took a job like this. A lady wanted to change a fuse box to breakers. It's a tiny little 4 circuit panel. It took us less than an hour to swap it out. But we charged $350.

When you're working on a $15K job, using half a day on little jobs just isn't worth it.

Edit: Re: Original post

You can't just run romex along the cinder block wall. The electrician will have to run EMT conduit from the panel to the receptacles. That will add time, labor, and of course cost.

If you want to do this yourself, you'd have to buy the EMT, buy/borrow/steel an EMT bender, get couplings and box connectors, enough black and white 12guage wire, a fish tape, pull string, metal boxes, metal receptacle covers, the receptacles, a drill, masonry drill bit, wall anchors and screws, one hole EMT straps, a wire stripper, wire nuts, and you'd have to know what you're doing in the panel to not kill yourself. But getting shocked really isn't that bad. I've been zapped a few times..

-patchy

ummm. this sounds nasty. hahaha

 

[EyeMWing]

Originally posted by: Sundog

Originally posted by: HomeBrewerDude
um... that sounds about right to me.

How so?? I priced everything out at the local harware store and retail parts came to approx. $68. When I asked two of them how long it would take because I would have to take off of work I was told 45 minutes to 1.25 hours tops.


<Edit> Ah...you edited your post. Exactly what I am thinking. Make sure the homeowners insurance is paid up and go at it myself. Just have to remember the little things like disconecting the power to the panel before installing the new breaker. 😉

Disconnect the power to the panel? Are you crazy? Just don't touch the bad parts.

 

[redly]

I think he means turn off the main breaker

 

[flamingelephant]

Are you going to frame that cinder block wall at any time in the future? If you are, then it might be a good time to do it now. Wiring the boxes with wood studs would be much easier.....
if you have questions, please ask me

 

[EyeMWing]

Originally posted by: ApacheXMD
My dad is an electrician, and I'm helping him full time now. And yes for a job that small, it's really not worth it for us to come out and do that unless we charge a gross amount. Depending on how far you are from our current job and the electrical supply store, it might take up half our day to buy materials, drive to where you are, do the work, and drive back to the other job. Though we usually try to do our best to help people.

Just yesterday we took a job like this. A lady wanted to change a fuse box to breakers. It's a tiny little 4 circuit panel. It took us less than an hour to swap it out. But we charged $350.

When you're working on a $15K job, using half a day on little jobs just isn't worth it.

Edit: Re: Original post

You can't just run romex along the cinder block wall. The electrician will have to run EMT conduit from the panel to the receptacles. That will add time, labor, and of course cost.

If you want to do this yourself, you'd have to buy the EMT, buy/borrow/steel an EMT bender, get couplings and box connectors, enough black and white 12guage wire, a fish tape, pull string, metal boxes, metal receptacle covers, the receptacles, a drill, masonry drill bit, wall anchors and screws, one hole EMT straps, a wire stripper, wire nuts, and you'd have to know what you're doing in the panel to not kill yourself. But getting shocked really isn't that bad. I've been zapped a few times..

-patchy

I thought the conduit was only required to reach to the wire handling space (which in this case would be the basement ceiling) - not all the way back to the panel. In fact, I've NEVER seen it go all the way back to the panel in a residential situation.