outdoor wiring method

Status
Not open for further replies.

Greg1707

Senior Member
Location
Alexandria, VA
Occupation
Business owner Electrical contractor
I need to run a 20 amp circuit to a AC disconnect on the back of a house. I will need to follow a path from the side of the house around the back side of the house to the far corner of the back side of the house. The total distance is about sixty feet. I have never done this before and not sure of the best wiring method. It seems there are two choices: UF Cable exposed at seven feet above grade or some type of pipe. Any opinions? UF cable has the lowest profile. PVC would be really clumsy looking?
 

jimdavis

Senior Member
l would never run exposed UF cable on the exterior of a house. In fact I could make an argument that such an installation is subject to physical damage and therefore a code violation. If it were me I would probably stub it straight down into the ground in PVC and run it underground around the backside of the house, then bring it back up in PVC at the AC unit.
 

SceneryDriver

Senior Member
Location
NJ
Occupation
Electrical and Automation Designer
Would 1/2" EMT look terrible? Probably the easiest, and has low expansion unlike PVC conduit, so no expansion fittings needed.


SceneryDriver
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
l would never run exposed UF cable on the exterior of a house. In fact I could make an argument that such an installation is subject to physical damage and therefore a code violation.

And I would point out all the windows this wire passes that have not been nor are likely to be broken. I would also point out the 100 of thousands of services done in SE cable.
 

masterinbama

Senior Member
Can you fish it around the house through the soffit? This is real simple if the soffit is vinyl. As for plywood soffits, I keep a few of te cheap soffit vents on the truck in case I need to cut a hole for fishing.
 

Greg1707

Senior Member
Location
Alexandria, VA
Occupation
Business owner Electrical contractor
UF

UF

I was hoping to get away with UF cable. I figure it will be almost invisible from distance. The only concern is getting busted for "subject to physical damage."
 

Aleman

Senior Member
Location
Southern Ca, USA
EMT doesn't look to bad on a house. It can be painted. Keep it up under the eaves. For me it would depend on if I had dirt or concrete around the house.
If I had to go above the grade then I would use EMT. 1/2 is pretty small.
 

jimdavis

Senior Member
"Subject to physical damage" is a condition which is very much open to interpretation and obviously my opinion is not shared by others on this forum. I think the bottom line here is there are better ways to perform this installation than running 60' of UF horizontally along the backside of a house.
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
"Subject to physical damage" is a condition which is very much open to interpretation and obviously my opinion is not shared by others on this forum. I think the bottom line here is there are better ways to perform this installation than running 60' of UF horizontally along the backside of a house.
You are correct in that it is much open to interpretation. One could run it in 4 inch RMC, and it is protected from a lot of things, but not everything.
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
"Subject to physical damage" is a condition which is very much open to interpretation and obviously my opinion is not shared by others on this forum. I think the bottom line here is there are better ways to perform this installation than running 60' of UF horizontally along the backside of a house.

Yet I would do it in a heartbeat if the customer was good with it.

IMO a cable 7' above grade is not the least bit likely to get damaged.
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
That's what I do in that situation. I run sch80 PVC on the house as low as possible. If their are rocks or wood chips I'll scrap them back beforehand and then push them back over the pipe.

Technically that's a violtion.

If you choose to bury it you have to bury it deep enough to meet the requierments of 300.5.
 
Technically that's a violtion.

If you choose to bury it you have to bury it deep enough to meet the requierments of 300.5.
what I do is leave the very top of pipe visible and if the homeowner decides to cover it up completely that's out of my hands. I have never been called on it here (Minnesota), But I agree that this is technically a violation. This is where the ahj can let common sense be the better judgment.
 

lakee911

Senior Member
Location
Columbus, OH
:sick:

Yuck, keep the commercial stuff off the side of my home.

I'm with you there. The only thing I want on the outside of my house is my house.

I live in an area with 75-100 yr old homes so seeing some conduit is unavoidable... Buddy of mine's neighbor has conduit run all over the side of the house from the basement to the second floor. Looks like total crap. I'd hate to have that or even to live next door to it!
 
I'm with you there. The only thing I want on the outside of my house is my house.

I live in an area with 75-100 yr old homes so seeing some conduit is unavoidable... Buddy of mine's neighbor has conduit run all over the side of the house from the basement to the second floor. Looks like total crap. I'd hate to have that or even to live next door to it!
When they are that old usually they are balloon framed which means you can fish from bsmt to attic and anywhere in between (in an outside wall at least)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top