coachJC Posted December 12, 2022 Author Share Posted December 12, 2022 (edited) The topic of the amount of outlets and locations of air compressors lines has been an interesting topic that I have had with my buddies around home. It seems like the guys who built their garages 15+ years ago were outlets everywhere and air line drops everywhere, guys with new garages lean more towards the change in technology where there is almost no tool you can't get that is not battery operated, the idea of 120v plugs every 4 feet is overkill. The same with air compressors, one guy said to me that all he uses his air compressor for any more is to add air to tires on his vehicles and for and an air gun to blow things off. Both things for me kind of depend what you are planning on using your garage for, if you are doing wood or metal work you needs plugs both 120v and 240v to meet the needs of the equipment and an air-line to each spot also. If you are into body work like many of us play around doing, it is all air tools while then you need a compatible size compressor and lines run acordingling especial if you have a sandblaster. My oldest son who has been working in the home and barn construction industry for a few years now absolutely detests my tools that need to be plugged into a wall socket or and air compressor, for him it is battery only. He cursed my air framing nailer everyday when we were building the garage. Guess what I get for Christmas and Birthdays from him...so sort of battery operated tool and I don't mind one bit. I am at the point I actually have more battery operated tools then I do air tools. My current layout has 20 120v plugs including 2 outside GFCI's and I plan on adding 5 240v wall plugs and there will be 2 in the ceiling for my lifts for a total of 7. I also will go by the old adage that is easier to put them in now then to try and add them later. Edited December 13, 2022 by coachJC (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dship Posted December 12, 2022 Share Posted December 12, 2022 In Massachusetts, electric code requires that all new and/or updated residential construction have minimum 120-amp outlets every 6 feet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Bollman Posted December 13, 2022 Share Posted December 13, 2022 The one place I do use a lot of outlets is at my main work bench so I added a power strip. My old shop I found one that I wired in to a box but my current shop I just plugged it in to an outlet. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted December 13, 2022 Share Posted December 13, 2022 (edited) 3 hours ago, dship said: In Massachusetts, electric code requires that all new and/or updated residential construction have minimum 120-amp outlets every 6 feet. Did you mean 120 volt, 20 amp outlets? How many plugs on a circuit? Edited December 13, 2022 by Larry Schramm (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38Buick 80C Posted December 13, 2022 Share Posted December 13, 2022 11 minutes ago, Larry Schramm said: Did you mean 120 volt, 20 amp outlets? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dship Posted December 13, 2022 Share Posted December 13, 2022 11 hours ago, Larry Schramm said: Did you mean 120 volt, 20 amp outlets? How many plugs on a circuit? I meant to type "120 volt" but Microsoft s/w auto typed in "amp" instead. I should have pre-read before submitting the reply button. I don't remember the max on one circuit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachJC Posted December 13, 2022 Author Share Posted December 13, 2022 I have corrected my 120v and 240v in my previous post .... just a bad habit from talking to my old neighbour electrician of saying 110v and 220v. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachJC Posted December 15, 2022 Author Share Posted December 15, 2022 The blown-in insulation got done in my ceiling yesterday. They put 14-16in in which gives me an R value around 50. I will get a pic from the attic in another day. I need to get some insulation on my entrance panel for the opening. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 Rigid foam works good on top of the hatch. I'm assuming that the opening is boxed to hold-back the insulation. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachJC Posted December 16, 2022 Author Share Posted December 16, 2022 7 hours ago, EmTee said: Rigid foam works good on top of the hatch. I'm assuming that the opening is boxed to hold-back the insulation. Yes the opening is boxed to hold back the insulation. My plan was to take a piece of the left over floor insulation and glue it down to the back of the hatch. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAKerry Posted December 17, 2022 Share Posted December 17, 2022 I think CoachJC hit the nail on the head. My 30 x 40 currently has 5 quad outlets and 1 220 for my table saw. I swap the cord when I need to use the shaper. It is primarily a woodworking shop (my profession) but I also have about half dedicated to car restoration at this point. I use mostly battery powered tools, have a quad for my chop saw, one at the work bench and a couple of others. I do want to add a couple of pull downs from the ceiling. Really dont need outlets every so many feet, just a waste of wire (=$) I have a 60 gal compressor and would like to add a couple drops sometime, but get along just fine right now. I use it to air up the tires and spray paint. I do have a couple of small nail guns (sorry, air guns are 1,000% better than anything electric). I use almost all electric or battery when working on cars. As for code, in my area a pole barn/out building only needs an outside light by the door, interior light, and 1 outlet. Anything else is optional. Sorry for the hijack, your new barn/shop is coming along nicely. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachJC Posted December 23, 2022 Author Share Posted December 23, 2022 (edited) I don't have much to show in progress this week, installed electrical boxes and wire in the walls, not that entertaining for pictures. But I did stop by at my neighbour farmer buddy who is having his own new garage built (50x93 with 18 ft ceiling) to see his infloor heating that he just got up and running yesterday, so I got a few pics of that which I will share with you. His infloor heating is in 2 sections, so the one pump and 3/4 pex line is feeding the other manifold that is near the center of his shop and the 2nd pump is feeding the manifold you see in these pics. His boiler is also supplying hot water to a bathroom he installed in his shop. He has the temp set to 65 and it was pretty nice standing in the shop. Edited December 23, 2022 by coachJC (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachJC Posted December 23, 2022 Author Share Posted December 23, 2022 Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone who has followed along and peaked in to check on my progress I never thought I would be nearing 10,000 views on a garage build. Thank you everyone. Jeff 10 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swear57 Posted December 27, 2022 Share Posted December 27, 2022 Plugins plugins the more the merrier. The glass bead cabinet doesn't work very well on 20 volts nor the soldering iron. How's that plasma cutter work. I haven't seen a 20-volt drill press or bench grinder. There are so many tools that work better and are cheaper than battery powered tools. I do have Dewalt tools 2 1/2 drills 2 3/8 drills 4 3/8 impacts 1 1/2 impacts. in total I have 21 20-volt powered tools. Batties are expensive. Where are you going to plug in all the charges for them including the car charger. Lots of good advice some not so good. This has been a neat thread to follow. Keep up the good work. Jim 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted December 27, 2022 Share Posted December 27, 2022 8 hours ago, Swear57 said: Plugins plugins the more the merrier. I will say that you'll never need an outlet in that area of the garage until you discover after snaking the extension around stationary tools and other projects, it's 18 inches too short... I see a cord reel hanging from the ceiling being one of my next garage upgrades. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachJC Posted December 28, 2022 Author Share Posted December 28, 2022 Here are the pics of the blown-in insulation in the attic space. I also redid my attic access board with a piece of 3/4 plywood. Then I used a couple pieces of left over foam from the floor and used some PL to glue them down to the backside of the access door to insulate it. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachJC Posted January 4, 2023 Author Share Posted January 4, 2023 (edited) Just a couple small things to update but without pictures. Over Christmas holidays I got all the wiring with plugs and switches installed. When it stops raining around here I have to dig and install a ground plate 3ft deep outside for the ground for the new panel in the garage. Code requires the wiring from the house panel to the garage panel all be in conduit which is turning into a bit of a chore to run in the house.....to many obstacles in the way. Looks like I have to move a hard wired smoke director and my copper hot and cold water lines that go to the kitchen sink and dishwasher to be able to get my conduit to fit between a load bearing beam and a drop ceiling. All this is not that difficult but it all takes time to plan what is the best way to do things and to make sure what is done will satisfy the electrical inspector. I will try and remember to take some pics tonight. My water lines in the obstructed area will be changed over to pex which will help make moving them out of the way a lot easier. I have previously done pex in my house in a couple of places so I have all the stuff to do the job. Edited January 4, 2023 by coachJC (see edit history) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachJC Posted January 5, 2023 Author Share Posted January 5, 2023 (edited) Here is a picture of my initial attempt at my conduit run in the basement. I thought it looked pretty amateurish and I was also not going to be able to get my ceiling tile back in place. Between fighting with the conduit and the smoke detector box and trying to heat up the conduit and put some bends in it did not work as well as I had hoped. With moving the electrical box back one floor joist and being able to move the water lines over one set of ceiling tiles I should be able to run a straight pipe with no bends to get by that area. The pipe is flexible enough that I should get the result I am looking for and still look neat and tidy for the inspector. Edited January 5, 2023 by coachJC (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachJC Posted January 5, 2023 Author Share Posted January 5, 2023 Before the question comes up as to why I just did not move the conduit over one set of floor joist..... I have an led light panel down the left side and lots of wiring from my house runs down that next set of joist along with some duct work at the very end that i would have to contend with. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachJC Posted January 6, 2023 Author Share Posted January 6, 2023 (edited) Before I posted about the work in my house doing the electrical I was not sure I was going to go into that part of the garage build in any detail. It is kind of boring and it involves more thinking and planning then actual work and progress, but it is still part of the build. I changed my mind just to show that it is not always as cut and dry as running wires to the panel and your done. It has always been a beef of mine when you look something up on line, youtube or whatever platform you want, that they always skip some of the details or an obstacle that slowed them down. You watch how something is done and you go out and do it and there alway seems to be about 4 steps they skipped or did not explain. So with that thought I have started to add the electrical part to my garage build for everyone that is following along, maybe someday someone down the road looks at this thread and if they are planning or looking at a build that this helps them to include this in there plan and to not underestimate what is involved getting hydro from your house to you garage. This part of the build is also a little more expensive then I had originally budgeted.......electrical stuff is not cheap. Edited January 6, 2023 by coachJC (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachJC Posted January 6, 2023 Author Share Posted January 6, 2023 (edited) My house water has all been done in cooper but as I have done some work I am slowly changing it over to pex...it is so easy to work with. I decided after some research to go with the Sharkbite connector to go from the copper to pex instead of soldering a copper to pex connection. This is quick and easy as you just slide it over the copper or pex, you just have to make sure there is no burr on the cooper to cut the O-ring and you go to the proper depth. From there is was just rerouting the lines out of the way. In this pic I have also moved my electrical box for my smoke detector and I have added the extension to set the level even with the ceiling tile for electrical code compliance. This was not necessary when it was just an open ceiling but with the drop ceiling now in it is required. Lastly I dry fit the conduit in place and I think it looks much neater and more functional for when I have to push and pull the wire thru the lines. Edited January 6, 2023 by coachJC (see edit history) 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted January 7, 2023 Share Posted January 7, 2023 That copper-to-PEX transition is a perfect application for Sharkbites. I used one on my hot water heater connection (which is all PEX) when I replaced my anode. They can be disconnected and re-connected if necessary so it saved using a big, bulky union. Nice work on the house connections! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachJC Posted January 10, 2023 Author Share Posted January 10, 2023 (edited) Saturday I got my youngest to dig a hole in the mud as we worked at doing the required ground line and ground plate for the garage panel. The hole depth needed is 3ft. The plywood you see is to cover the holes for the ground plate and part of the trench for the conduit that goes to the house for my electrical inspection. I have to leave them exposed for him. Edited January 10, 2023 by coachJC (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachJC Posted January 10, 2023 Author Share Posted January 10, 2023 On 1/7/2023 at 10:33 AM, EmTee said: That copper-to-PEX transition is a perfect application for Sharkbites. I used one on my hot water heater connection (which is all PEX) when I replaced my anode. They can be disconnected and re-connected if necessary so it saved using a big, bulky union. Nice work on the house connections! I had to fix some plumbing at my parents house 5yrs ago, the house is about 80-yrs old and has a 2nd floor addition put on in 1975. So needless to say some of the water lines are abit of a mess and all kind that don't even get used any more, just dead end runs. But at that time I had never used pex so I was a little scared of it so I went with what I knew and used copper. Now that I have used pex in my house and I think back I sure wish I had used the pex and sharkbites to fix some of the stuff it would of been so much easier. Jeff 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachJC Posted January 10, 2023 Author Share Posted January 10, 2023 Here are a couple pic of my garage panel and my hydro runs in the walls. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachJC Posted January 11, 2023 Author Share Posted January 11, 2023 I have attached below the pics of the last of the conduit run in my basement over to the main panel. I had a few things I had to work thru, first was moving my air conditioner line out of the way, luckily it had lots of slack in it to adjust it to where I wanted to remount it. Next was a flexible heat duct line to a vent in the living room which was pretty simple. And the last thing was a few wires around the panel I had to move to make room for the conduit to run beside to panel. The conduit is 1 1/4in out from the plywood as I was not able to get all the wires to not run behind the conduit. When I did a kitchen renovation almost 20 yrs ago, we added this 200 amp panel with this whole garage build in mind to be able to sub 100 amp out to the new garage. My old panel was only a 60 amp panel with the old twist in fuses at the time of the reno. I do wish we would of run the conduit down the wall during the reno, it would of been nice if it was there ahead of time neatly tucked out of the way.....you win some you lose some. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dship Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 I sure hope you've labeled all those...🤪!! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachJC Posted January 12, 2023 Author Share Posted January 12, 2023 (edited) 13 hours ago, dship said: I sure hope you've labeled all those...🤪!! I thought everything in the panel was labeled pretty good until I was doing some work about 1 year ago and needed to turn the power off to a plug as I was going to add another to it and do you think I could figure it out which one it was....nope. Ended up turning breakers off until I had no power to the plug.😕. One other thing I noticed at that time was some of the labeling was done in pencil...while pencil fades, and some of the labels are now impossible to read......and my eyesight is not as good as it used to be so that does not help either. I did rewrite a bunch of them in pen at that time. Most of the new wire that was run during the kitchen reno is labeled with black marker before it goes in the panel. But I noticed the other day some of that is not very legible anymore either, the marker seems to soak into the plastic sheathing over the wire and turn into a blob of colour. Edited January 12, 2023 by coachJC (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dship Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 Yeah, I know what you mean. Two years ago, I finally re-labeled my panel legibly after 27 years of wear and tear on pencil/marker/pen/bad handwriting on the old stick-on sheet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachJC Posted January 17, 2023 Author Share Posted January 17, 2023 Over Christmas holidays I bought the trim pcs I decided to go with to fill in the gap that was left on my garage door as the metal trim and the garage door seal did not overlap. I took a pc of metal to our local Home Hardware and they colour matched some paint for me . I got them installed the other day and they look pretty good. You almost can't tell I messed up ...LOL 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dship Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 Now that you came up with a solution, don't tell anybody you messed up! Tell everyone you planned this construction setup. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted January 18, 2023 Share Posted January 18, 2023 My lips are sealed! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachJC Posted January 18, 2023 Author Share Posted January 18, 2023 Unless my neighbours and friends read the forum no one will ever know.😁 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachJC Posted January 18, 2023 Author Share Posted January 18, 2023 Last weekend my first car repair job came in for some work. A 1915 Model T touring that has been restored and the engine has been rebuilt but it has a small knock in it. It looks like it needs #1 rod tightened up which is not very difficult job. But what surprised was the oil slick it left under the car......all Model T's leak a bit of oil but this was more than just a small drip. I called the guy to ask him about it and he says he parks it on some capet so he has not noticed the leak. One fix looks like it has turned into a couple more things he wants looked at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3macboys Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 I'd say that the garage floor has officially been christened! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachJC Posted January 20, 2023 Author Share Posted January 20, 2023 This past weekend my electrician neighbour came over and we pulled the #3 wiring thru the conduit and he hooked up both my panels. He checked all my outlets and switches and everything looked good. It is nice to finally be able to put the 2 extension cords away that I have been using for power in my garage for the past 6 months, On Tuesday I had my rough-in Electrical Inspection, and it went better than expected. The only thing he got me on is that I have to change the covers on the outside GFCI outlets. He said the ones I have are only water proof when the lids are down and not when in use, and they have to be waterproof even when you have a cord plugged in. He told me they should not be selling the style I bought as they are not up to code. I have to go and by different covers at my local big box store to replace what I have, the covers are a big bulky clear plastic that covers the outlet at all times and cord goes in underneath. My final inspection will come when I have all my lights up and all the cover are installed on the outlets and switches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachJC Posted January 20, 2023 Author Share Posted January 20, 2023 (edited) This will probably be my last regular post in this thread. Most of the things at this point are completed for me to be able to use my new garage on a regular basis. Their are obviously some jobs that are not completed yet, and they include setting up my boiler for the infloor heat, putting metal on the ceiling and finishing the interior walls and bringing in more stone to level off my driveway to the height of the building. All these things will be completed as time and money permits with the stone in the driveway most likely getting done in the spring and the infloor heat getting set up before next winter, they will be priority over the ceiling and walls. I could never of even of thought about tackling a project like this without the support and help from my wife Katherine and my 2 kids Ryan and Jason, My boys always came out when asked to help and took many Saturdays and Sundays to help, and when they are 22 and 20 they have the ability to do anything I can do and in not have as many aches and pains as me at the end of the day. I also had a brother-in law, one of my best friends, and 3 neighbours who lent a hand and equipment when needed to help get some projects done. I could never of done this without all of them. I want to thank everyone for following along, it was your likes and comments and all the views that kept me taking pictures and adding to this tread 2-3 times a week. I hope you all enjoyed the last 8 months of this build. Down the road I will add a few things as I get to some of those projects I mentioned above, but it will just be sporadically. Thanks Jeff Edited January 20, 2023 by coachJC (see edit history) 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dship Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 It was great to be able to follow along. Good luck in your future projects. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 Thank you for taking us along on the adventure, Jeff. Now, enjoy the fruits of your family's labor. Ben 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 Now enjoy it! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now