copper thieves

[scwirenut]

Im wiring a new subdivision , just wired the first 4 homes all around 2000sq feet, my GC called me this morning to tell me all 4 homes were visited by copper thieves, 3 of the house were recently sheet rocked. I met him there with the deputy and couldnt belive what I saw, they went in under the top plate above the panel and just just cut out every wire in the panel, then went in the attic and began cutting between the staples every wire they came to. In the house without sheetrock they cut all the switch legs and home runs. I estimate over $10,000 damage all for maybe 300-500 in scrap. Pictures to come in a few days. P.S. I priced 12/2 today at CES for $412.00/1000ft. thats $103.00 a roll!!! Im going up to $2.75 sq/ft and maybe $3 by end of year.

 

[oliver100]

It happens.

Years ago in Harlem (NYC) a substation supplying Triborough Bridge was vandalized under voltage 2 times. The thief was cutting FIRST the neutral (3 phase 480 volts system ) and then the rest of the bus bars (about 300 pounds of pure copper). On the second time the cops caught him red handed. I gave him my business card and offered him a job. The guy never came for an interview.

 

[bikeindy]

Where are you buying wire!!!!! I can get you a 1000" spool of 12-2 here in Indy for $223.00. I know where sumter is I was stationed at Shaw in "89. Maybe I should load up my truck and sell wire in SC.

 

[scwirenut]

CES (city electrical supply) is our local supplier, I usually use blue box, priced today at $269/1000ft.. I went to local hardware store and bought out their remaining stock at $220/1000.... all 12/2, Im considering dropping the copper for HVAC and Range and using AL SE/SER

 

[iwire]

Where are you buying wire!!!!! I can get you a 1000" spool of 12-2 here in Indy for $223.00. I know where sumter is I was stationed at Shaw in "89. Maybe I should load up my truck and sell wire in SC.

How many days ago did you see $223.00 per 1000'?

You might want to check again before you bid. :wink:

 

[hardworkingstiff]

You might want to check again before you bid.

In todays wire market, that's good advice for every bid.

 

[bikeindy]

We have been lucky here in Indy the prices have been pretty stable for 14-2, 12-2, 14-3, 12-3, the others are not so predictable. Bought the 1000' of 12-2 yesterday. and has been this price for about 3 months. 14-2 1000' is $146.00

 

[hardworkingstiff]

I deal in type W cable a lot. Here is what he wrote to me in an email yesterday.

Lou, General is going to have another price increase 5-8-06 of 25 to 35 %

We have been lucky here in Indy the prices have been pretty stable for 14-2, 12-2, 14-3, 12-3, the others are not so predictable. Bought the 1000' of 12-2 yesterday. and has been this price for about 3 months. 14-2 1000' is $146.00

If you have some cash, you might want to buy the wire now for any jobs you have in progress.

 

[celtic]

I can get you a 1000" spool of 12-2 here in Indy for $223.00.

How many days ago did you see $223.00 per 1000'?

You might want to check again before you bid. :wink:

Lowes is selling 1000' 12/2 @ $291.00 !
Home Depot is selling 1000' 12/2 @ $263.60
eBay has a few 1000' 12/2 listed from $140 - $170


I imagine the plumbers are also taking huge hits on copper prices (and thefts!)
3/4" x 10' Type L (BLUE) @ $18.53
3/4" x 10' Type M (RED) @ $13.67


I did a quick search for "copper theft" and saw way too many stories confirming that copper theft is on the rise - as is the scrap value (some stories quoted $3/lb).
I'm sure we will start seeing stories of people of questionable character getting too close to live parts in their efforts to steal the copper parts.

 

[tshea]

all 4 homes were visited by copper thieves

Another EC friend had a jobsite vandalized also. Thieves (vandals) pulled the copper out of the underground conduits, cut off in the panels, then threw trash and any other loose stuff into the conduits.

Insurance covered it.

 

[hockeyoligist2]

(some stories quoted $3/lb).


$3 a pound? I've got several barrels of shorted stuff I've pulled out, wish I could get that much! It's going for around $1.50 here, and we had a ground loop stole twice before it got covered.

 

[charlie tuna]

few years ago some theives got on the roof of a warehouse where they took all the aluminum a/c compressor coils. they accessed the roof by climbing the service pipe running horizontal along the side of the building. on the way down, they dropped one of the cores on the service wires and killed one guy and burnt the other guy over 90 per cent of his body --- glad he didn't die ---- 90 per cent is alot of pain!!!

 

[electricman2]

Sold 56 pounds of scrap a week ago for $117. 90 feet of No.6 thhn cost $31. No wonder it is being stolen.

 

[memyselfandI]

Instead of charging by the foot maybe we need to charge by the pound huh? :?:

 

[shocker3218]

reading the commodity prices in the paper, copper was at $3.50/lb this week. Scrap prices are usually only 10-20 cents behind that. Hard to bid jobs and make money when the price of copper jumps so much. I hope everyone is locking in wire prices when they sign the contract - only way I know to make sure they stand a chance of making a profit.

Has anyone negotiated a contract with a "copper surcharge" similar to the fuel surcharge used in the shipping industry?

 

[JohnE]

[quote="shocker3218]

Has anyone negotiated a contract with a "copper surcharge" similar to the fuel surcharge used in the shipping industry?[/quote]

For my regular builders, I've been invoicing for a "copper surcharge" exactly as you phrased. Instead of restructuring all my regular pricing, I charge a surcharge for the amount of wire I use and the cost above the average price I'd always paid.

For example, I used to pay around $100.00/ 1000' 14/2 Rx. If you look at 1994 - 2004, I don't think we ever paid more than $100 for a thousand feet of 14/2. So for a 2000 sq. foot house we may use 2000 feet. I'll invoice a surcharge for 2000' at the difference between today's price and the $100.00 benchmark. This works well for my long standing customers.

My thoughts were that copper wouldn't stay high for very long, and I didn't want to restructure all my prices. I price my jobs per unit. Looks like it's not staying high - it just keeps climbing.

 

[bdarnell]

Where are you buying wire!!!!! I can get you a 1000" spool of 12-2 here in Indy for $223.00.

You might want to get some current pricing. I just priced it here in Indy at $397.95

Hope you aren't bidding against me on any jobs. I'll be high for sure !

 

[dduffee260]

Romex prices

Romex prices

Wow, so I guess we bought wire at a good time. Last month we bought 150,000 ft of 12/2 , quite a bit of other romex along with a semi truck load of building wire for a few projects. I think the 12/2 went for $176.00 per 1000ft. The building wire was in line also. I think the #12 thhn solid was like $54.00 per 1000 ft. Somewhere in the 400,000 ft range. Now I hear it is $92.00 per 1000 ft. I think we overbought romex, maybe we will go into the supply business :?

 

[tonyi]

Better get an armed guard for that pile :lol:

...and another guard to guard the guard

 

[bikeindy]

You might want to get some current pricing. I just priced it here in Indy at $397.95

Hope you aren't bidding against me on any jobs. I'll be high for sure !

I think you are getting ripped off where are you buying at? Allied? Home depot and Lowes and Menards are all $223.00 for 1000' spool today!

most of my work is in remodel in Carmel and fishers area and rehab stuff on the near east side.