Running power to garage and shed, pipe size.

[rlux4]

I just have to add a couple of permit stories to this thread (sorry Rey). On my first job in Oxnard, Ca. I was in getting a permit and a city business license. First off, Oxnard charges twice what other cities out here charge for a business license, but when I looked at the total of the charges I saw a $10 "processing" fee. I asked what that was and was told it's for handling the transaction. "You charge me $10 to process the money you charge me to do business in your city!?" I asked. "Yes', he answered, 'and there's nothing you can do about it". I told him oh yeah, there's something I can do about it, I can stop doing business in your city. The next one was in the city of San Fernando. I was building a garage that was 5' off the property line. This put it within 10' of the block wall there. Because fire code calls for firewall on anything within 10' feet of a structure they made me firewall the garage, just in case, you know, the block wall caught on fire.
Ron

[spiderrey]

No apologies necessary Ron.

[azruss]

Sorry for the long rant. I have dozens of more stories. Here is the bottom line. For every 10 commercial additions we are asked to do, 9 of them are abandoned because of the cost and difficulty of the permit process. always the difficulty isnt with the safety, it is with engineering requirements (ie have to have a sealed site plan even though they already have 2 or 3 on file from the previous property modification) or beautification (everything must be screened from sight with landscaping added, or moved to make room for more landscaping).
If these 9 abandoned projects had been completed it would have hired many workers and bought a lot of material. If you want economic stimulus, get these guys out of the way. We are approached by incoming businesses and asked what cities we would recommend setting up shop. we always tell them do NOT do business in Mesa, or Tempe because of the permit difficulty. It is not just us, we get the same bitch from every contractor that walks through our door. It is also interesting to look at the number of businesses moving to Arizona from California for this exact reason.

[RRoller123]

I love visiting CA, but it does seem to be running on fumes these days. Multiple cities going bankrupt, restrictive regulations, businesses fleeing, what a mess. Even MA isn't bad by comparison. My town gave me a business operating license in 2 days for $100 and a 1 page form. Piece of cake, no bribes, only restriction is signage and parking since I am in a residential area. never thought I would say that about MA.

[dmwhiteoak]

So Rey, what is your plan now to run your wiring ? Seems to me as long as you follow code you will be fine. Good luck.

[spiderrey]

Well I bought 50' of 1 inch pipe this mornin. 3 90,s, 1 45 and a few other odds. Also picked up a 60 amp box to mount next to my house panel. I couldnt figure out which sub panel I should use though. They had something like a 60 amp panel with 22 spaces and 4 something. dang my memory sucks. The next panel up was a little bigger with double the capacity. Gonna make sure the trench is 18 inches deep and get to laying the pipe. Thanx for ALL the info guys. You have been a great help.

[maytag]

Well I bought 50' of 1 inch pipe this mornin. 3 90,s, 1 45 and a few other odds. Also picked up a 60 amp box to mount next to my house panel. I couldnt figure out which sub panel I should use though. They had something like a 60 amp panel with 22 spaces and 4 something. dang my memory sucks. The next panel up was a little bigger with double the capacity. Gonna make sure the trench is 18 inches deep and get to laying the pipe. Thanx for ALL the info guys. You have been a great help.

Try something like this:
http://www.homedepot.com/Electrical-Bre ... EPJgJYkqvk

[spiderrey]

Thanx Maytag. Ill check it out when I go back.

[spiderrey]

Is this the right box for the house side?

[maytag]

Is this the right box for the house side?

perfect.

[spiderrey]

Thank you.

[steve8462]

hey Ron, you should move to Georgia. down here we build first and ask questions later if somebody even bothers to come by and inspect your work! i used to live in New England. up there you would get in touch with Vinny or Tony to help speed up the permit process and get any changes approved!

[spiderrey]

O K, with plenty of unexpected help from my girlfriends son, and his buddy, I got alot done yesterday. Here is where Im at.


We ran into a 10 or 12 inch pipe at the garage that we had to bust through to get the line run. That part was time consuming.

In the process we removed the existing line of power to the garage as it was in poor shape and only 7 inches down.

[azruss]

boy, i hope you didnt open up the neighborhood sewer line.

[spiderrey]

Oh, thats what that smell was. Seriously though, no sewer pipe is gonna be running through my back yard. this was a very old pipe, full of dirt with concrete around it. cant figure out what it was for. This used to be a ranch area from what Ive researched.