My Industrial Cabin Build

[oosik]

As I recall. The house was buttoned up mid-September. Completed - mid-November. We had been living in the house - no electric, no water - since mid-Sept. Thankfully - we had a wood burning stove for heat and a VERY generous neighbor. He delivered a full cord and a half of seasoned wood - mid-Sept. I paid him back with two full cords of just split wood the following spring.

Previously - since about mid-June we were living down at the far end of our little lake. In an old cabin. With the mice and chipmunks. It WAS gross ........

On our final inspection. Had to completely cover the basement floor ( solid bedrock ) with one sheet of black vissqueen. Everything else passed. Even the big 'ol radial arm saw - still in the living room.

The day after we got the final written approval - pulled the visquene in the basement. A true nightmare to try to walk on and maintain your balance.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

FYI, This shows my well pipe to house connected to pitless adapter. Wire goes up conduit to well cap, inside cap it is connected to the pump wire.

 

[airbiscuit]

Big milestone!

 

[Valveman]

View attachment 718712
FYI, This shows my well pipe to house connected to pitless adapter. Wire goes up conduit to well cap, inside cap it is connected to the pump wire.

Looks good! You would be better served with a sealed and vented pitless well cap. Critters can get under the edge of those kind and fall down the well. I usually find a lot of spiders living under a cap like that.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

Work Has been full throttle this week. Lots of late nights and me trying to manage the move. We got crazy amounts of rain last night and today. I drove up to the build, to get some tools to help take things apart and drive screws. As I was walking thru the house I found a puddle. It seems that I didn’t cement two pipes together in the vent plumbing up near the roof. Good to discover that now.
As we were looking around the new place this week we found that there was a 5 gallon bucket under the sink where the drain pipe wasn’t installed correctly and was leaking. I bought the parts on the way home yesterday and tonight we took two carloads of stuff up there and I repaired it. Jefanna took the day off to get everything really clean before we move in and came back raving about the quality of the stove. I am sure it is original and that would make it 55 years old.
Tomorrow morning we pick up a U-Haul and starting moving in earnest.
Not sure I mentioned it but I took the Ventrac to the shop this week. They got the parts in. They replaced the hydraulic cylinder that lifts the cutter and discovered that it needs a new bushing. So they ordered that. The wheel kit for the cutter and one of the grates is in. When I pick it up next week it’s going to be a monster.
I am looking forward to cutting

 

[dstig1]

I see your new videos and the wiring issues. My rule was to never have more than 3 12 ga cables going into a single gang box (and they were all the biggest single boxes you could get). Any more than that, and it just doesn't work. Trust me. When I see 4, 5 or more, yeah, you are hosed. Ignoring code: it just plain won't fit... I tried hard to stick to 2 12ga cables in a single box so it was a lot easier. Once in a while 3 was necessary and it was always 5x the PITA of 2 wires. This is also why 14ga is a better option for lights. Outlets are best to be 20A but lights are best on the smaller wire of 15A circuits. ESPECIALLY the switch boxes that have a billion wires in them... Like this:

Notice how they are all white (aka 14 ga)? You couldn't do this in 12 ga.

Label every key wire in a box. Which one is the hot black wire feeding it? That is #1. Any loose wire needs a label to tell you where it goes. Tie everything together and leave the loose pigtails so you can properly identify them and connect switches when the time comes. Also write on every wire what it is the moment you pull it. You will forget in 2 minutes otherwise. Later on, you can often cut off that part of the jacket and slide it over the wire you want to mark.

I mentioned a few posts back to not staple wires close to the edge of studs. I see your electrician agrees. It really pays to read up on this stuff BEFORE you start. It isn't super hard, but there are rules and conventions to follow. I get that you are overextended. BTDT. But if you don't learn this stuff ahead of time and/or listen to those who know it, you will spend far more time redoing it...

 

[s219]

Couple pieces of advice:

1) don't take the wiring capacity rating on a box to be the same as the "practical" rating. The rating comes about for safety/heat/ampacity/etc but I have found boxes can be a royal pain to work with at full capacity. Better to be no more than 75% capacity in my opinion, and this is even more important with 12ga wire because it's much harder to work with. If you do have to stuff 12ga into a crowded box you risk damage to the wiring and switch or receptacle. Should never take more than fingertip effort to pack a switch or receptacle in the box.

2) to help with #1, leave enough wire so that you can work with the switch or receptacle at least 8-10" from the wall (if not more). As you stow everything into the box and push the switch or receptacle into place, plan for 1-2 folds of the wiring. You want the wiring to go in and out like an accordian, nice and graceful. Or use some sort of gentle/wide spiral coiling like a spring. The wire needs to go in graceful without any horsing or manhandling.

3) don't rule out using multiple boxes, one up high as a work box dealing with wiring business and another down low for the switch or receptacle. I've never done that for 14ga, but have for 12ga. Or when I was being frugal and trying to use up boxes I already had. Whatever the reason, it adds quite a bit of leeway into the work.

 

[ronjhall]

When we moved into my house 50 years ago it had a stove like that. Wife used it until we got NG for about 6 years later. Wouldn’t be surprised if someone is still using it.

 

[JPRambo]

Unless you have a local code requirement on # of boxes per circuit, there is nothing in the NEC about it. The rule I am aware of for commercial work is 13 receptacles on a 20A 120V line. But only commercial as there are no requirements in residential for this. Modern houses can get crazy with the number of circuits in them, so you do need to pay attention when planning this so you don't run out. Not putting enough on a circuit can cause you more problems this way.

There is a requirement in residential work in my area. it's NEC 220-3(c)(7) it's also the reason for only 13 outlets on a circuit in commercial work. It states that each receptacle will be concidered 180 volt-amps.

 

[gary49]

I agree with the comments on number of cables in a box. Three #12 cables in a plastic nail on box is plenty. It’s also matters if the box will be holding a larger device, such as a dimmer or GFCI receptacle, what meets code for box fill might still be too much. I like 14 gauge better for lights and also rooms such as bedrooms that you don’t expect to need 20 amps of capacity because you’re generally not going to be operating tools or appliances in them. I actually think it’s safer because you’ll have lots of things with 16 or 18 gauge cords in those rooms and it’s easier to trip a 15 amp breaker than a 20 amp breaker if the cord gets old and worn and shorts out. If you find yourself in a situation where you just have to have a lot of cables in a box you can always use a 4”X2 1/8” or even a 4 and 11/16”X2 1/8” metal box with a plaster ring for your wall box.