Residential........emt vs romex

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electricguy,
Does this AHJ consider a pipe coming through a drilled hole as supported?
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The NEC does for horizontal runs. 358.30(B), but must be fastened within 3' of any conduit termination points. Fasteners for vertical EMT in Chicago area dwelling units are oten omitted with the approval of the AHJ.
Don
 
Any more tricks and tips?

Any more tricks and tips?

e57 said:
Bob, a trick I picked up on the other forum last time a guy from Chicago was hangin' round was that if you pull a stud out (32" open), and you can lightly wax your holes a 10' stick of 1/2 will have enough spring to it that it will make it whole into a wall. I tried it - it works..... I didn't even realize I had been doing it the same way on tin can studs forever ...
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Good tip any more EMT in wood framing type tips?
We have a customer from Chicago and being Oregon his house is wired in romex. He has had alot of problems with rats and or squirrels chewing up wires in his walls. He has definitly spent some $ on getting it fixed and thinks romex is a rip off.
he keeps threatening to have us rewire his house in "thin wall" as he calls EMT. I have had a few other customers request all EMT in wood framing. I personally like EMT Better than NMB to work with.

I have rewired everything that was chewed with MC or greenfeild and noticed The largest MC remodel box I can find T&B 54mxn is still tiny and a pain to "cut in" with battle ships. Any better ways to remodel in mc or greenfeild?

The stranded MC and stranded wire in general is nice and easy to work with however I end up using commercial grade outlets to ease trimout. Do Chicago electricians mostly pull in stranded or solid in residential?

Is is the standard Chicago electricians practice not to pull in a non required equipment grounding conductor? What about for sub panels? I have seen the guide to sizing EMT as a equipment grounding conductor.

Cheers
tortuga
 
tortuga said:
We have a customer from Chicago and being Oregon his house is wired in romex. He has had alot of problems with rats and or squirrels chewing up wires in his walls. He has definitly spent some $ on getting it fixed and thinks romex is a rip off.
he keeps threatening to have us rewire his house in "thin wall" as he calls EMT.
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This customer is a dope. :rolleyes:

He should be more concerend about the filth and disease from the rats and squirrels and spend some $ on geting that taken care of.
 
tallgirl said:
I think you're looking at more than 2000' of THHN, unless that's 2000' x 3 wires. And even then you're wrong :)
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How so if he is comparing 1000' of nm to 1000' emt that is pretty close considering you might choose to use the emt as your GEC. it was only for a rough figure on material cost. I want to know where he is buying the 14-2 Romex I will gladly sell it to him for $400.00 a 1000' since I get it for $160.00
 
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electricmanscott said:
This customer is a dope. :rolleyes:

He should be more concerend about the filth and disease from the rats and squirrels and spend some $ on geting that taken care of.
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A community to the south of me has a local code that prohibits NM for that same reasoning, (so they say...) but after working there on many homes over the years, I have seen absolutely no evidence of rats or mice. (droppings or otherwise) FYI these are all multi-million dollar homes and the first sign of one would be a call to make them extinct from the state as whole. I think thier reasoning has more to do with un-nessesarily driving up building costs to keep out other human rif-raf.

tortuga said:
Good tip any more EMT in wood framing type tips?
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Most of these go for piping metal studs too.
  1. Line laser for all holes to keep them straight.
  2. Put boxes in middle of stud bay on hanger-bar for easy in and out. due to the radius of conduit.
  3. Reduce your runs by good planning before starting.
  4. Maximize conduit and box fill
  5. Own a band-saw
  6. Pull it before you close the walls.
 
Some nice work - But for all the vertical stuff I would have to support <3' from box. Normally I do that with a hanger bar and tie wire .
EMTRuff013.jpg
 
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It sounds like you are in need of an estimating program that can generate estimates for both EMT and Romex. It's dangerous to shoot from the hip. There really is a lot a stake. There are so many variables in either case.

What are the ceilings made of on the first floor? Dimensional lumber (2x10), open web joists, etc. It takes a lot of 12" nipples and couplings to install a light in dimensional lumber and a lot more time than it does in open web joists. That's why you can't price a ceiling light on the first floor the same as a ceiling light on the second floor where you are running your conduit above the ceiling joists.

On the 1st floor are you dropping your conduit into the basement and making your wraps. There is less material required when dropping down into the basement versus running everything overhead. In that same line, if you're using EMT and dropping into the basement, a receptacle on the 1st floor will take less material than a receptacle on the second floor where you are running your conduit overhead.

For these and many other reasons, I am a firm believer in using a quality estimating program. The only one that I have found that can do everything I've mentioned is a program called TurboBid. It's a really good residential estimating program. You can get a 30 day trial at www.turbobid.net.

Regardless if you can estimate the job properly, you still need to know how to install conduit. You need to know how to install conduit fast and efficiently. I'm talking about wearing cordless drills with reamers and bits for setting your set screws. Knowing how to bend the pipe without having to think about it, (and getting it right the first time), piping for efficient pulls with as many dead ends as possible (Eliminate as much splicing as you can), etc. etc.

I would have to assume that the only way you would get the job is if you were competitive in your bid price. In my world, if you're competitive then your hours are tight. If you don't know what you're doing you will definitely take a beating by running over your estimated labor hours. After all, it is a labor business that we're in. That's where our biggest costs are. I'm a union shop and every hour of lost time equals $82.00. That's $820.00 for ten hours of lost time.

Just be careful because it's easy to get in over your head.
 
electricmanscott said:
This customer is a dope. :rolleyes:
He should be more concerend about the filth and disease from the rats and squirrels and spend some $ on geting that taken care of
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The customer is alway$ right

I wouldn't expect the customer - dope or not - to tell me how deals with a vermin issue any more than I expect the customer to talk with his exterminator about electrical issues :cool:
 
celtic said:
The customer is alway$ right

I wouldn't expect the customer - dope or not - to tell me how deals with a vermin issue any more than I expect the customer to talk with his exterminator about electrical issues :cool:
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They like to think they are always right. :rolleyes:


This customer doesn't really have an electrical issue has a nasty rat issue. Yuck
 
Most inspectors here do not hit you hard on the horizontal runs and strapping. If the they are esp. loose we then use a nail strap and drive it into the framing. I see these pictures do not reflect this. If the conduit comes through the bottom plate and then though the top plate as a straight run then the inspectors want some strapping in the middle. The pictures that have been posted in this string are of my work. I noticed a point made about the mud rings being side ways and a pain to pull. How is it any easier if they are up and down. The conduit comes into both sides of the box, so it all works out.

As for prepulling I am not a fan of it. The drywallers tend to cut the wires with thier tools, then who pays to fix all of that. There is a couple of towns that require prepull, and there we comply.

Should anyone have anyother questions, or want to hire us to come and ruff a home in their area let me know. Im happy to go for the money.
 
scott moran said:
Should anyone have anyother questions, or want to hire us to come and ruff a home in their area let me know. Im happy to go for the money.
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Be careful how you word that, the internet has global reach, and make sure to get the travel and lodging in contract. ;)
 
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