amount of wire

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jethro

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i am looking for a good rule of thumb for amount of wire in a new house
14-2 = 1' per square foot and so on
14-3
12-2
10-3
and so on just for me to get a material list to start jobs. this is just standard houses between 2600 sq ft and 4000 sq ft. i am sure rr would know this as he does so much resi.
 
jethro said:
i am looking for a good rule of thumb for amount of wire in a new house
14-2 = 1' per square foot and so on
14-3
12-2
10-3
and so on just for me to get a material list to start jobs. this is just standard houses between 2600 sq ft and 4000 sq ft. i am sure rr would know this as he does so much resi.
Click to expand...

The production jobs, they pretty know, to the inch, how much cable is used for every model they build. And you don't need to know the material list, because the job will go to the bidder willing to loose the most money.

The custom homes, are not usuallly bid using the sq ft method, unless it is some green contractor.
 
I think that you have to many variables for a "standard " wire order . If all your heating \cooling equipment,HWH,dryer,washer ,bathroom,kitchen are close to the panel this would affect the 10/2 ,10/3 ,12/2,6/2 ,6/3 amounts. If you have plans and they are to scale a good investment is an electronic scale wheel this will get you close.
 
When in doubt give it a WAGuess.

Figure:
15'/outlet of 14-2 or 12-2.
15'/ceiling fan outlet of 14-3 (skip 14-3 homeruns)
40'/circuit of 12-2 or 14-2 homeruns.
Dedicated circuits you can guess/measure from plans.

Dave
 
jethro said:
i am looking for a good rule of thumb for amount of wire in a new house
14-2 = 1' per square foot and so on
14-3
12-2
10-3
and so on just for me to get a material list to start jobs. this is just standard houses between 2600 sq ft and 4000 sq ft. i am sure rr would know this as he does so much resi.
Click to expand...


This really is impossible to answer, way to many variables, are we talking wiring to bare code or all the bells and whistles? Some houses the panels are in great locations, others are in terrible... but it all adds up in the end.
 
Rewire said:
If you have plans and they are to scale
Click to expand...

The secret to any job, good plans.

Many times when we are doing a remod in an older home with K&T, we will find a plan set of the K&T system hidden the the attic floors, the crafstman signed their names to the plan, today many times, we have butchers wiring. the new homes, Hachet, and knife men rather then crafstman.
 
satcom said:
The secret to any job, good plans.

Many times when we are doing a remod in an older home with K&T, we will find a plan set of the K&T system hidden the the attic floors, the crafstman signed their names to the plan, today many times, we have butchers wiring. the new homes, Hachet, and knife men rather then crafstman.
Click to expand...
I found an old Zippo lighter in an attic checked the serial # with the company it was an from the early 40s cleaned the wheel put in a new flint and fluid and it worked.
 
My rule of thumb for a 3500 to 4000 sq ft house.
1000' 14-2 per 1000 = 4000 FT
1000' 14-3 ( usually have leftover)
500' 12-2
500' 10-2
250' 10-3
250 6-3
250 6-2

There are several things to know going in , HVAC unit gas or elect. what size heat strips, cook top separate oven, all in one range. As said do your measurements.
 
don't we all wish it was that easy:
go to the supply house and order a "three bedroon -two bath" rolls out on a pallet??? and estimating would change drastically!!!

i wire,
i've been looking for that lighter for years--that was before flashlights!!!
 
I mostly wire custom homes and the only constant is change. No matter how much time you spend with the HO ahead of building they will change thier minds and add things. Its a wonderfull money making opportunity but it usually shoots pre-build plans right in the ...!:smile:
 
Get a plainimeter like this:

http://www.professionalequipment.com/scale-master-ii-digital-plan-measure-6125/planimeters/

That features:
Exclusive! Dedicated Length, Width, and AREA/Volume Keys - Lets users store and recall L, W, (and H) values to easily find rectangular areas and volumes.

Seems there are many threads here to not bid a job based on a Square area sum. Not only that, many posters say they will fall back and compare a Square count but only based on a Linear sum of the project, to compare later.

At least that's what I get from the my reading of these type threads.
I'd like to see the math equation to turn a Linear Measurement into a square area count, this just hurts to see these type inquiries...
 
jethro said:
i am looking for a good rule of thumb for amount of wire in a new house
~~
and so on just for me to get a material list to start jobs. this is just standard houses between 2600 sq ft and 4000 sq ft.
Click to expand...

If you're just looking to "START" the job

2 rolls each 14/2, 14/3, 12/2, 12/3

And one roll each of 14/2/2, 12/2/2, and 10/3

As well as a case of boxes that'll give the guys one day to come up with a materials list for the next day and have some work to do while they wait.

Then when the job is finished collect all of the tags from it and count up what you actually used.... Next job just get 50% of that....
 
I don't think he was looking for a square foot price. I believe he is unit pricing the estimate, and just looking for a baseline for what wire to have for different square foot houses.
 
e57 said:
If you're just looking to "START" the job

2 rolls each 14/2, 14/3, 12/2, 12/3

And one roll each of 14/2/2, 12/2/2, and 10/3

As well as a case of boxes that'll give the guys one day to come up with a materials list for the next day and have some work to do while they wait.

Then when the job is finished collect all of the tags from it and count up what you actually used.... Next job just get 50% of that....
Click to expand...

Why not grab all the wire at 1 time?
 
bradleyelectric said:
I don't think he was looking for a square foot price. I believe he is unit pricing the estimate, and just looking for a baseline for what wire to have for different square foot houses.
Click to expand...

Yes indeed you might well be right, I guess I did expaned only on Satcom's statement than answering the OP.
 
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