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Estimating Electrical Work newbee 09-11-2007
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Posted by newbee on September 11, 2007, 3:18 pm
We live in a 2 year old townhome where we want to do the following
electrical work:

There are light fixtures in living area and in the dining.

1. Dining - Remove existing hanging lamp, move the fixture by 3 feet
to the center of the room (fish wire through joists), mount a
different dome lamp on top.

2. Living - Remove existing hanging lamp, move the fixture by 3 feet
to center of the room, CONVERT TO A FAN FIXTURE, and leave it (so we
fan fix fan later).

I understand that fan fixture require additional support in the joists
that can be bought in home depot or lowes for 20$.

Electricians are quoting 600$ for this. Do you think its that
expensive.

Hindsight: I should have done this as pre-wiring when we built the
townhome. Would have costed much less.

SR.


Posted by on September 11, 2007, 5:43 pm
> We live in a 2 year old townhome where we want to do the following
> electrical work:
>
> There are light fixtures in living area and in the dining.
>
> 1. Dining - Remove existing hanging lamp, move the fixture by 3 feet
> to the center of the room (fish wire through joists), mount a
> different dome lamp on top.
>
> 2. Living - Remove existing hanging lamp, move the fixture by 3 feet
> to center of the room, CONVERT TO A FAN FIXTURE, and leave it (so we
> fan fix fan later).
>
> I understand that fan fixture require additional support in the joists
> that can be bought in home depot or lowes for 20$.
>
> Electricians are quoting 600$ for this. Do you think its that
> expensive.
>
> Hindsight: I should have done this as pre-wiring when we built the
> townhome. Would have costed much less.
>
> SR.


Depends on some important things we don't know. One big one is what
happens at the old locations? Are you covering them with a blank
plate or removing them and restoring flat sheetrock ceiling? It's a
big difference, because if you leave them, then it's just a 3ft new
wiring run. If not, then it's a wiring run back to the switch or
some other junction box. Also, if covering over, who does the
drywall repair? Also depends on if the new location is a clear shot
in a joist bay, or requires drilling through joists to get there.

I was looking at a new $1mil house here last weekend that had just
been sold. They were adding some lights like this and boy what a
mess. Several rooms had all kinds of holes punched in the brand new
drywall at many locations, as part of the process of running the wires.


Posted by Toller on September 11, 2007, 7:13 pm

>> We live in a 2 year old townhome where we want to do the following
>> electrical work:
>>
>> There are light fixtures in living area and in the dining.
>>
>> 1. Dining - Remove existing hanging lamp, move the fixture by 3 feet
>> to the center of the room (fish wire through joists), mount a
>> different dome lamp on top.
>>
>> 2. Living - Remove existing hanging lamp, move the fixture by 3 feet
>> to center of the room, CONVERT TO A FAN FIXTURE, and leave it (so we
>> fan fix fan later).
>>
>> I understand that fan fixture require additional support in the joists
>> that can be bought in home depot or lowes for 20$.
>>
>> Electricians are quoting 600$ for this. Do you think its that
>> expensive.
>>
>> Hindsight: I should have done this as pre-wiring when we built the
>> townhome. Would have costed much less.
>>
>> SR.
>
>
> Depends on some important things we don't know. One big one is what
> happens at the old locations? Are you covering them with a blank
> plate or removing them and restoring flat sheetrock ceiling? It's a
> big difference, because if you leave them, then it's just a 3ft new
> wiring run. If not, then it's a wiring run back to the switch or
> some other junction box. Also, if covering over, who does the
> drywall repair? Also depends on if the new location is a clear shot
> in a joist bay, or requires drilling through joists to get there.
>
> I was looking at a new $1mil house here last weekend that had just
> been sold. They were adding some lights like this and boy what a
> mess. Several rooms had all kinds of holes punched in the brand new
> drywall at many locations, as part of the process of running the wires.
>
Now that was an intelligent answer because you actually knew what you were
talking about!
Don't give legal advice.



Posted by Edwin Pawlowski on September 11, 2007, 9:42 pm

> We live in a 2 year old townhome where we want to do the following
> electrical work:
>
> There are light fixtures in living area and in the dining.
>
> 1. Dining - Remove existing hanging lamp, move the fixture by 3 feet
> to the center of the room (fish wire through joists), mount a
> different dome lamp on top.
>
> 2. Living - Remove existing hanging lamp, move the fixture by 3 feet
> to center of the room, CONVERT TO A FAN FIXTURE, and leave it (so we
> fan fix fan later).
>
> I understand that fan fixture require additional support in the joists
> that can be bought in home depot or lowes for 20$.
>
> Electricians are quoting 600$ for this. Do you think its that
> expensive.

There are a lot of "what ifs here" that we can't see. It does not sound too
high, especially if the ceiling patch is included.

I don't know whey they are three feet off center to start with, but I'd
probably just leave the fan where it is as in won't make much difference to
how the air blows.



Posted by franz frippl on September 12, 2007, 7:35 am
On Tue, 11 Sep 2007 19:18:32 +0000, newbee wrote:

> We live in a 2 year old townhome where we want to do the following
> electrical work:
>
> There are light fixtures in living area and in the dining.
>
> 1. Dining - Remove existing hanging lamp, move the fixture by 3 feet
> to the center of the room (fish wire through joists), mount a
> different dome lamp on top.
>
> 2. Living - Remove existing hanging lamp, move the fixture by 3 feet
> to center of the room, CONVERT TO A FAN FIXTURE, and leave it (so we
> fan fix fan later).
>
> I understand that fan fixture require additional support in the joists
> that can be bought in home depot or lowes for 20$.
>
> Electricians are quoting 600$ for this. Do you think its that
> expensive.
>
> Hindsight: I should have done this as pre-wiring when we built the
> townhome. Would have costed much less.
>
> SR.


Costs depend where you live. Different parts of the country have
different rates.

Get 3-4 quotes but base your choice not so much on price but on service
and quality of work. Price is not always indicative of workmanship. Ask
for references, if this concerns you.

It's really up to you and how you want to job to look when it's all done.
Go cheap and it may well look cheap. Your call.

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