Large House advice

Status
Not open for further replies.

arnettda

Senior Member
Looking for any advice for wiring a large 8k plus sq ft home. I will be starting soon and am looking for advice on things I may not be thinking of. Are sub panels worth it? My smoke detector circuit will have detectors 100 ft apart. I know it is a just a big house but am looking for advice on things that you may have discovered when wiring a home of this size?
Thanks
 

jumper

Senior Member
Yes on subs. Saves money and time.

Run data, phone, coax everywhere. Intercom. Security. Plenty of spares and conduits for future.

Switched recs. under windows for Xmas.

Fan boxes and xx-3 in every room.

Load the kitchen up as much as possible.
 

arnettda

Senior Member
Yes on subs. Saves money and time.

Run data, phone, coax everywhere. Intercom. Security. Plenty of spares and conduits for future.

Switched recs. under windows for Xmas.

Fan boxes and xx-3 in every room.

Load the kitchen up as much as possible.

I am running switched outlets outside for christmas lights that alone will be around 500 ft of wire.
 

infinity

Moderator
Staff member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Journeyman Electrician
Yes on subs. Saves money and time.

Run data, phone, coax everywhere. Intercom. Security. Plenty of spares and conduits for future.

Switched recs. under windows for Xmas.

Fan boxes and xx-3 in every room.

Load the kitchen up as much as possible.

I am running switched outlets outside for christmas lights that alone will be around 500 ft of wire.

Is the customer willing to pay for all of this stuff?

I agree, subpanels are the way to go.
 

ritelec

Senior Member
Location
Jersey
Looking for any advice for wiring a large 8k plus sq ft home. I will be starting soon and am looking for advice on things I may not be thinking of. Are sub panels worth it? My smoke detector circuit will have detectors 100 ft apart. I know it is a just a big house but am looking for advice on things that you may have discovered when wiring a home of this size?
Thanks


Doing this for a builder?

If so.......my advice is don't walk away.....RUN AWAY!!!!


LOL

Good Luck!
 

growler

Senior Member
Location
Atlanta,GA
I know it is a just a big house but am looking for advice on things that you may have discovered when wiring a home of this size? Thanks

Big house or even a small house I do everything the same way? Either they have a set of plans or I draw out a set of electrical plans. That way I know where every circuit is going and what it's used for.
 

dhalleron

Senior Member
Location
Louisville, KY
If you don?t know, the most smoke alarms that can be interconnected per fire alarm code are 12. Many times on a large house you will exceed that number and need to go with a low voltage supervised system.

Also, BRK limits the total wire run of interconnected alarms to less than 1000'. Other brands may have a similar limit.
 

KVA

Senior Member
Location
United States
Well you know what is required for the code minimum. The question is not what we think you should add but what the H.O. wants. Have a sit down with them and give suggestions for each room in the house.

Give 3 prices if you can good(code minimum), better, best.
 

CopperTone

Senior Member
Location
MetroWest, MA
Looking for any advice for wiring a large 8k plus sq ft home. I will be starting soon and am looking for advice on things I may not be thinking of. Are sub panels worth it? My smoke detector circuit will have detectors 100 ft apart. I know it is a just a big house but am looking for advice on things that you may have discovered when wiring a home of this size?
Thanks

we are finishing a 6500 sq ft house right now. - If you are working on a bid price - keep track of changes daily and get all changes signed before you do them. Have blank change order forms on hand and fill it out and get it signed as you go. You will never get paid if you don't do this . (they will always complain afterward - why is that this much and that seems too expensive - hit them with it before you do it - if they sign you will have no problems collecting - usually.

candles in windows - we installed a receptacle box under every window in the front of the house, ran 14/3 and linked them all. Switched the upper half of the receptacle and left the lower half always on. Installed a 2 pole arc fault breaker so we have 2 circuits feeding the receptacles. during XMAS one switch turns on the candles in the window - the rest of the year they just leave the switch on.

Yes on the Sub panels - much less work then trying to run home runs from the furthest point of the house to your main panels.

We had no prints - this was a custom job - be sure to have several walk throughs with the customer. we nailed up all the boxes and then let the customer have 3 days to make adjustments before wire was pulled in. Ask the homeowner a ton of questions, and as with all jobs - get all the specs for appliances before you pull wire.

Treat the job like several small jobs to avoid becoming overwhelmed.
They are nice long jobs and good money makers. Usually you don't have to compete on these jobs with romex jockeys working for wages only installing big box store cheapo recessed lights and doing code minimum things like switched receptacles instead of overhead lights.

If you have over a certain amount of smokes you need to have the system monitored - consider a different smoke/CO system - something low voltage tied into the alarm system.

Is this job a custom build or a cheapo - or are they building an 8K sq ft house but dont want to pay to get it built?

stereo speaker systems through out the house.
Control 4 system to control all lights in the house
intercom through out the house.
theater room
central media system
custom gym with dedicated circuits
custom bar area
recessed lights everywhere - low voltage recessed lights? more $$
dimmers everywhere - more $$
3 way switches everywhere - more $$
heated floor under tiles
lighting in crown molding tray ceilings.
it is endless if they have money.

Outside lighting - up lighting, down lighting, security lighting, landscape lighting, drive way lighting.

upsell, upsell, upsell.
this will be well work your time in the end.
 
Last edited:

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
Looking for any advice for wiring a large 8k plus sq ft home. I will be starting soon and am looking for advice on things I may not be thinking of. Are sub panels worth it? My smoke detector circuit will have detectors 100 ft apart. I know it is a just a big house but am looking for advice on things that you may have discovered when wiring a home of this size?
Thanks

talk to the homeowner. if the house is 8k sq. they don't have a walmart mentality.
they will most likely want all the bells and whistles, if you can explain the value of
putting it in now. or putting raceways in for future. an easy money extra. think
lots of 3/4" smurf tube. lots.

and figure full documentation of your install. take pictures of EVERY wall before
sheetrock. print them up nicely, and put them in a nice binder.

the last big one i did was 7200 sq ft. full basement, in calif that is odd.
the 7200 sq didn't include the basement. two stories.

subpanels, oh my yes. one for the kitchen, one each for two floors, and the main.
walk in refrigerator, commercial kitchen. house was in riverside county, had 400 amp
3 phase main gear. 3 125 amp 3 phase subpanels

36 node cat 5. data, voice to every position.
generator, ATS, 5 802.11x repeaters spanned. this was before home automation.

this brings us to home automation.
if you don't have a pipe into lutron or celestron, find someone in your area who does.
get a system integrator on board. he brings the hardware, you bring the customer,
figure out a split that is good for both of you.

something this size can easily have 300 can lights. my wife's aunt's house in feen-x
was 6,500 sq ft, and had 400 cans.... make sure they understand the value of LED
lighting.

the house i did with 7,200 sq, we stubbed everything down into the basement, and
tied it all together there. emt, and flex, so it was really a commercial building. stubs up into
bunches of places for futures. put nema 1 gutter around three sides of the basement,
and the stubs all hit there, so everything was in the gutter.

the owner was a retired aerospace contractor, and he wanted it done right....
 
Last edited:

ritelec

Senior Member
Location
Jersey
Man you people know how to spend these peoples money.............................

Personally, most of the cheapest people I've ever met were the ones with money...

Most would not even offer you a glass of water.



A note to the OP. With all the fine advice given, I think the most valuable I saw was to get all the work and additional work signed for before you start.
 

B4T

Senior Member
Use 1000' reels of 14/2 NM located on second floor..

I use (2) 10D nails and a short piece of EMT..

Drill a hole through the plate directly below reel to feed wire to first floor..

That keeps the wire nice and straight plus saves time over using 250' rolls..
 

sd4524

Senior Member
1000 ft reels
Gang Box on site
Daily's like on a commercial job
try and work with other trades a little more than you would on a basic 2400-3000 sq ft cause you can help eachother out
Make money money make money money!
 

George Stolz

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Windsor, CO NEC: 2017
Occupation
Service Manager
Group lighting loads together as much as possible in the attempt to reduce switching. People love switches on the front end and get perplexed at the amount of switches when the job is done. Think about function first, ambiance second, because they will likely be in the opposite mode.

Make them decide on appliances now. You don't want to be surprised by oddball ranges, refrigerators, microwaves, etc later.

Keep a keen code mentality. Make sure you restrain them from non-compliant fixtures and methods to install fixtures, cove lights and undercabs being chief on the list.

Be happy. :)
 

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
A note to the OP. With all the fine advice given, I think the most
valuable I saw was to get all the work and additional work signed
for before you start.

good advice, that.

my experience with higher end residential is that the homeowner
will be much more willing to entertain changes, like adding a island
in the middle of the kitchen, and often to them, it is effortless to
say "do it", so it will be effortless to do it, and the cost should reflect
how effortless that sayng it was for them...

daily job log, clearly defined scope of work, and timely progress
payments. and change orders, signed before work is done.
people with a bunch of money often got it by not giving
much of it away to other people.

did i mention timely progress payments? having a sheaf of signed
extra work orders is nice, but trading them for a check is even nicer.

enjoy the ride... high end customers can be fun, or a royal pita.
time will tell
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top