Is this electrical quote for barn too high?

[Inspector507]

Yes Junkman, that "slip joint" or expansion fitting is required /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
On both ends

 

[Larry_Van_Horn]

Well I spoke with the electrician tonight about his quote. He had figured $2700 in materials and about $2200 in labor (55 hrs at $41 / hr). He said that for the main run to the barn he wanted to use 1-0 copper. He felt that he wanted 4 conductors there, though while we could ground it at the barn, he felt that was not as safe if I was to have animals out there. He had figured on Square D Homeline boxes. I asked him if I could lay out the conduit and pull the wire but he wasn't exactly pleased with that idea if he was going to have to sign off on the job. Don't really know what to say. $4900 was not in my budget for this project. I'm going to get another quote.

 

[Junkman]

Square D Homeline is on the low end of the quality scale in my opinion. I would rather see you use the QO series. I don't understand why he would have a problem with you doing the pull, but I also don't think that the pull is the expensive part of the job. It is the overall labor expense. Try to come up with a complete bill of materials and figure out the cost. Then you will have a better idea of where you are going.

 

[_RaT_]

Not all four wires need to be 1/0 copper. The ground will be much smaller. Homeline is Square D's inexpensive line. With 1/0 copper, you can get by with 1.5" PVC SCH 40. You could simply install the PVC yourself. Call an electrician to come bid the job. Tell him conduits in, all you need to do is pull the wire and make up the connections. I have no doubt you could do as good of a job if not better putting the PVC in as most electricians. If saving some money is your goal, it can be done.

 

[8NTX]

Larry, I agree with RaT. Installing the conduit is not difficult, and even pulling the wire can be done fairly easily with a little planning. I did mine and I had a 600 ft. run to the sub-panel plus another 80 feet to my boathouse. (See my previous post and thread entitled "pulling electrical wire"). I hired a sprinkler guy to dig the trench; he charged the same as it would cost me to rent a trencher for a day. I saved over $3000 by doing most of the grunt work myself. It sounds like he is marking up his cost of materials plus charging $41 an hour for every guy there, and maybe paying his helpers $8-10 per hour. If you have the time and a little help from friends (for the pull), you can do it and just let an electrician do the design and hook-ups. Feel free to pm me if you would like.