feet of romex per square foot ??

[-marty]

I'm bidding an 8000 sq foot house. Basement and two levels. Does anyone have a magic formula to figure how much romex per square foot of house?

This may be a big trade secret but trust me, our territories don't overlap.

Thanks... It amazes me the amount of knowledge on the other side of this wire.

 

[peter]

Re: feet of romex per square foot ??

Marty,
The square feet thing is an invention of real estate people. You could have an 8000 sq. ft. warehouse with one receptacle and one light bulb or you could have a mansion with 80 tiny bedrooms.
Generally, the more area, the more Romex you need.
Wire is a lineal measurement. Walls are linear. Square footage is not.
~Peter

 

[luke warmwater]

Re: feet of romex per square foot ??

Marty, I don't like any square foot measurements. They are never accurate. Something as simple as 10' ceilings instead of 8' ceilings will throw the guesstimate way off. Also, how far it is to the panel for home runs makes a difference.
You're better off to look at the lay-out and specs, and from experience try to determine your best estimate.

 

[-marty]

Re: feet of romex per square foot ??

Thanks - you both have some good points.

I do mostly commerical work. When I bid a project I count every item down to the wing nut give it a value and labor rate. I don't do enough houses to come up with a per opening price. There must be an easier way than scaling every run. Lineal, huh I'll have to think about that.

 

[sirjaxx]

Re: feet of romex per square foot ??

When I have an Unknown like this, I use the 20' per device rule. Although this is from when I was in Chicago, and we would use 20' of conduit/wiring and not NMC, (romex, is Illegal there). Try it and let me know how it works out for you.