In reply to brad131a4:
Thanks for the catch! Sounds easy enough. On the garage side, a pipe from the LB goes directly into the subpanel, so I should be good there.
I pulled a permit for this project for insurance reasons, so there will eventually be an inspection.
In reply to brad131a4:
Does this look a little better now? I will put an access panel in the drywall to get to that LB.
Don't forget to bury the idiot tape (for future and present ones alike)
Bye-bye trench
That will work. I hope you got the trench inspected before you covered it? That could be a nice dig it back up if the inspector is having a crappy day. If you can show a measurement on how deep the trench is in some pictures they may accept that. Still you are doing about 90% better than most home owners I've had the pleasure of fixing there attempt at electrical. Keep up the good work.
Uh oh...it might be mostly buried after last night... I'll dig it up in a few key spots so the depth can be measured, like at the transitions and sidewalk bore. Hopefully that's good enough.
Good news! The garage electrical service project is now inspected and signed off by the city. This is a nice feeling because I've never had my work (outside of work) inspected by an official before. I have also never done anything that needed an inspection before. Any future electrical work, such as adding lights or outlets, doesn't need a permit or inspection according to the guy.
Welder outlet:
Misc. wiring and probably future spot for additional welder outlet. On the bottom left is the original service entrance, a measly little 20A line breakered at the house main panel. Pfffft, weak. I will re-purpose this wire to power and control the outdoor lights from a switch inside the house.
Outlets spaced every 3 feet along the bottom on the work bench:
Which leads us to the stash of 4-bulb fluorescent troffer lights stowed away in the rafters, left behind by the previous owner:
After rigging it up with a broken extension cord, they work!
There are 6 of them, so 24 bulbs total. The internet tells me I need about 40 bulbs for a 30x40 garage. But at least it saves me some green. Thanks previous owner! No wait, I hate you for other stuff. Like what you did to this bathroom.
Enter the half-bath. This is a laundry/utility room that was hastily converted into a half-bath just before putting it on the market. It was not permitted, I don't really care to do so, and I don't think future buyers will care either. Plus with the main panel there, it would never pass without relocating all the wiring. Nope, not gonna happen.
It feels a bit cramped. That's partly due to the fact THERE ARE NO LIGHT FIXTURES IN THIS ROOM. IT'S DARK. Just, why. The partial wall is new and non-structural. It will be chopped lower, level with the machines, and trimmed out. Shelves will become nice cabinets. The drywall was finished beautifully, but this crappy beadboard stuff was nailed right over it. WHY. WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT. So many nails to pull and fill...I just don't understand.
At least it has a light now.
The goal here is to feel like a nice bathroom, not an afterthought laundry room conversion. Which it kinda is right now. I will also replace the laundry plumbing which is a disaster waiting to happen.
In other news, my old man gave me his old Snapper mower for Christmas. It didn't run and he claims the engine is broken, or something. He figured I work for an engine company so I should be able to fix it. 9hp horizontal Briggs. Okay, sounds fun.
This mower and I have some history. My first job in middle/high school was mowing lawns. I mowed my dad's lawn and maintained the machine in exchange for using it to mow other people's lawns. Georgia has a lot of lawns and a long growing season. I mowed a lot of lawns. An El Camino's worth of lawns, to be exact. The green machine in my avatar is my first car, purchased at age 14 and mostly restored by 16. This old red Snapper paid for it all. I still have the ramps I used to haul the Snapper in the bed. Yes that's right, I was the kid in high school with the 70's El Camino with no A/C and the bed always loaded down with lawn equipment.
Anyway, it just needed a fuel line replaced and the carb rebuilt. Runs good as new!
Why don't you like the beadboard?
I also like the half wall. If anything, I would rather close that in completely. I like the idea that I don't E36 M3 where I do laundry.
Sorry for poor photography but it looks way worse in person. The beadboard doesn't fit the rest of the house and was done very poorly. It also has a weird glossy finish and the trim job is terrible. I prefer smooth painted walls and will try to match trim with the rest of the house (craftsman style stained oak). I have a vision for this room that I can't put in words but you guys just have to trust me.
We saw a house where they put a shelf/counter on top of the washer/dryer recently.
Looks very nice and gives you a good counter for folding clothes etc.
What's on the other side of the wall with the bathroom circuit breaker panel? If it's a blank wall, you could reverse it.
In reply to Jerry From LA:
Left side of window is outdoors, right side of window behind the plumbing is a bedroom. We are thinking curtains around the window plus painting the cover same as the wall would help hide it, while keeping it accessible. I don't want anything to block access, which is another code violation.
In reply to Mad_Ratel:
That's kind of what we have in mind. For now, just a short wall at machine height with the wood trim on top. When we upgrade to front loaders, I'll put a wood counter over the pair. Should look nice either way.
Here in SoCal, outdoor breaker boxes are very common. In fact, mine is just outside the window about five feet from where I sit. I do understand why this doesn't work in the actual world, though.
I'm actually kind of jealous. We have to have everything inspected here. They ding you on how many outlets, switches and lights are installed even electrical heaters are charged. Bloodsucking revenue building state I live in.
I do see one possible way to keep the panel and toilet but it involves moving the window and adjusting the orientation of the toilet 90 degrees.
Check out CL for lights I've seen dozens of fixtures like that go for $5 a piece or less. Only problem most of the time is they are 277v ballasts. Easy enough to change to 120 or if lucky the ballast is a 120/277 universal and will work on 120v as well.
A nice touch is to get some drop ceiling edging and build a little box for the light so it sits flush with the bottom of the rafters or if you sheetrock the ceiling you can have the lights flush with sheetrock.
Without turning this into flounder bait, building codes are there for a reason. I work on buildings every day. Unfortunately, code enforcement is hard to achieve in LA because there isn't enough money for the inspectors necessary to cover a city this populated and 65 miles across. I've seen stuff that scares the living daylights out of me. There are gas explosions and electrical problems here due to people interpreting the rules as they wish. Frankly, I'm jealous of any municipality that has the money to enforce building codes to the letter. That would make me feel better about buying a property there without the thrills and chills maschinenbau is experiencing. My own house has grounding issues due to multiple POs having their way with the place. This will be rectified soon.
I empathize with maschinenbau and appreciate his efforts to be code compliant. Everything he's doing will be safe for his family and last a long time. I appreciate the quality of the work. So does the inspector. They are much more reasonable if they see you're attempting a quality result.
The inspector here is easy to work with and overall a swell guy. Also, permit and inspection process is only $30 all said and done. I actually had to get a re-inspection, at no extra cost, because I didn't have a GFCI outlet installed yet. Gotta love small-town Indiana. The panel/entrance looked good, a lighting circuit switch worked, and a single GFCI tested well, and after that I am "on my own from here" and free to install more circuits in the garage without additional permits. He said if you can get to this point, we trust you to finish the rest. Cool.
Don't get me wrong Jerry I don't have any problems with Building or electrical codes. I have to use them everyday as well. It's more of the fee everything mentality of Washington state and mostly the county I live in that get's to me. What cost mashchinebau $30 would be about $120 here with it being more for every additional outlet.
As far as California wooo don't even get me started. I haven't met to many electricians from there that I would trust wiring up a sand box. Not saying all are that way just that when you don't have to be licensed to be a electrician it's scary. Also not saying I'm the end all be all but I do keep up on the current codes and new products coming onto the market so I can be a safe and effective electrician.
Wall:
No wall!
That is all.
Drywall is pretty much done, thanks to Lady maschinenbau. I'm supposed to be painting. Instead I pulled a Buick engine and built some trim.
The thing about old houses is the trim is probably not made anymore. So I made my own.
Here is what I am going for (kitchen window):
Here is the final product in the half-bath:
Check it out: I found some original finishing trim in the basement. Keepin' in local here in Columbus IN.
Also a random baseboard from the hardwood floor restoration a while back:
Looks great! Did you finish nail it all in place or pocket hole the whole thing together then tack it up?
I just used finish nails. The stain is dark enough that you can't really see them.
I was getting frustrated with the absurdly low (light intensity):(size of engine parts pile) ratio in the garage, so I built a frame for one of those lighting troffers that came with the house. Now I have THREE whole lights in the garage! Many more to go...
Also, the bathroom is almost done with trim, and it's looking pretty great.
If there is a Costco anywhere near you, you should get some of their LED fluorescent tube replacements. The light output of these is absurd, like burn your eyeballs bright. It's a pretty cheap investment for lots of light and a long, long life.
http://www.costco.com/Feit-LED-4%E2%80%99-Direct-Replacement-Tube-.product.100235288.html
Costco also has complete LED shop light fixtures that aren't much more expensive than the fluorescent tube replacements.
Bathroom is trimmed out. Now the fake wood floor looks super out-of-place. Planning to go with period-correct tile, eventually. Those weird spots are the camera, not my painting skills.
I thought it was interesting symmetrical mold.
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