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12 January, 2012

And No One Even Got Zapped

The wiring project for the palapa is done, and we're all safe. That's important because according to a British news article I read this morning (I forgot which one), it said that because of slowing economies worldwide, DIY projects had increased to around fifty-some percent of homeowners now doing their own home projects.

I'm just guessing here, but I'd be willing to bet that a significant number of those involve some form of electrical project, since it's hard to find spaces that don't have electrical outlets and/or switches, etc.

As a result, insurance claims have also escalated (surprise, surprise). The article said that the increase was due mostly to many of these projects ending in disaster. An increase of some 11 percent of those who ‘have a go’ at some home project end up submitting a claim on their policies.

We could have done that, but I played it safe by hiring a qualified electrician, Joe Folgorait, who did all the technical stuff - like adding two new breakers, wiring up a switch and a three outlets. I opted to play electrician's assistant and 'gofer' for the two days of the project, helping pull wire, run to the hardware store, get the right part out of the parts bin, paint conduit and boxes to help them blend in, etc. Much safer that way.

To begin with, we ran wire from the pool house utility room, where Joe installed two breakers in the power panel. The wire was run in PVC conduit out to the palapa. The photo below shows Cody tamping the fill marl back in place after we'd run the wiring.
Cody Tamping Wiring Trenches
Once we got it out to the palapa, Joe began hooking up the lighting switch and the outlets.
Joe Hooking Up Outlets
 Joe did a nice job of hiding the wiring in the overhead of the palapa.
Joe Running Wire To Palapa Apex
We split the wiring with one circuit powering the palapa and the other powering an outlet over by the BBQ. Eventually that circuit will have more on it than just one outlet. There will eventually be about ten lamps on the back fence that will be added to the circuit. All in good time.
Joe Working On BBQ Area Outlet
Last Friday, Carlos had cast the palapa table. Even though it's still formed up, we put it to work holding the electrical stuff as we worked. At one point, we tested it strength by putting ladder on it and Joe on the ladder to hook up the lamp which was hung from the central apex of the palapa.
We Even Put The New Table To Us
Speaking of the lamp - it's a nautical-looking thing. We found it at Lano's Hardware when we went looking for a chandelier or something to hang there. We found a brushed aluminum lantern at first. When the girl who was helping us went to get it, she got a different lamp that wasn't even on display. We looked at it and decided we liked it better than what we'd seen on display. This was the result. It fits in just great.
Palapa Lantern
When it was all said and done, I still managed to get a real sense of satisfaction with a job well done.

5 comments:

Don said...

Hey Dave, Your place is looking great! I hope to get Brenda back down there in a couple years. She's not crazy about the bugs. I finally quit the state after 20 years, stress is gone !. Quit not retired, will do that in a couple years at 65. Hope you guys are doing ok. I am now working for Mystateusa. They were the EAS and notification software company EMD used. They bugged me for 4 years to work for them and finally I made the right move. Again, your place is looking great !

Don and Brenda

Dave Rider said...

Hi Don,
Hey, we're the same. I have another three years till the state considers me retired. Welcome to the ranks.
Best of luck with Mystateusa. I think that's a good fit.
Working on our place has been a lot of fun.
Tell Brenda bugs are more or less under control. We have screened in porches, and more land all around cleared so fewer bugs.
We'd love to see you guys.

Cheers,
Dave and Dianna

JRinSC said...

It didn't take you long to get into another project! Looks great as usual and no insurance claim... well done!

Julian

John said...

Hey Dave, the place is looking great. I think you are going to run out of property before you and Dianna run out of projects at the rate you are going.

Joe is an outstanding Electrician, are those water proof boxes, I hope! Is that a GFI Joe is installing or just a duplex? See you soon.

Dave Rider said...

Hi John,

No, it isn't a GFCI outlet. Totally slipped our minds. I have two of them in my parts bin. I'll swap out the closest outlet and that way, cover both of them. Thanks for the reminder.

All we have left are some small projects. Then we'll have to start traveling.

Have a safe trip. See you in a few weeks.

Cheers,
Dave