Final Electrical

Now that the floors and walls inside the New House Next Door have all been finished, the electrician has been on site installing the final electrical fixtures and outlets. I learned that the sub contractors like electricians and plumbers that come in after the floors are finished work in their stocking feet! The inside needs to be kept clean, so all workers now remove their outside shoes before entering.
 

Inside Garage

Barn Light being installed outside garage

 Because the garage is detached from the house, the electric runs underground to that building, and comes up out of the ground outside the north side door. These wires were pulled through the underground conduit, which was placed and buried last fall, and the garage was fitted with light fixtures and electrical outlets.

Exterior Lights are required by every door

Outside, light fixtures are placed near entrances, and convenience outlets on porches, etc. The cutest idea that was implemented was the "Christmas Light" outlet - placed up high around the front porch roof. :)

Lighting in Bathrooms over mirrow

Shoe-less Electrician installing outlet in kitchen island

Light Fixtures are required over stairs

Floor Outlets can solve furniture placement dilemmas in large rooms

 Inside, special outlets in the floor and kitchen island have been installed, as well as all the light fixtures. The building code is quite specific about light fixture and switching locations - especially at stairs and hallways - so that one can easily get around without having to fumble in the dark. The code is also quite specific about the distance between outlets, so that extension cords don't become a safety hazard. (did you ever live in an old (not updated) place where there is one outlet per room?!)

Lots of folks like to grumble about the building code - or government rules in general - and some even try to "get away with" evading the code- but these rules are there to protect health and human safety and the more I work in this field, the more I try to impress this upon my clients. Of all the sub-contractors on the job site, I think electricians are the ones I've learned from most frequently about some code requirement.