DIY Underground Electrical Service

Trenching, gluing conduit, running pull tape, inspection, & cable pull
260 feet from transformer to house
skid steer, trencher, vacuum

[@thepressedpig5397]

I'm doing this now as a 54yr old female. I really liked how you put the wood on top to glue your conduit! That is going to help me as I'm finding it hard to glue in the trench! So Thank you for making the video!❤❤

[@LewisRenovation]

Good luck! Hope it goes well. Feel free to reach out if you need anything else

[@mikepagan7529]

Fixing to do 450’ thank you for sharing this!! Was a great help!!

[@dustinphillips3664]

That vacuum trick was pretty genius! I will definitely be giving that a try in a few weeks.

[@LewisRenovation]

Good luck with your electrical project!

[@alfonsoaguilar9612]

Love the Voice over over edits and the fact you had fun. Appreciate your time and sharing the video.

[@LewisRenovation]

Thank you for the great comment! Take care

[@morepower3242]

Thanks for the video very thorough I like it man I appreciate it because I needed some of that information for myself

[@LewisRenovation]

Good luck with your project. Thanks for commenting

[@dash1482]

Awesome job!! Ill be doing the same thing in a few months and this really helps!!

[@LewisRenovation]

Good luck with your project

[@JustAnotherDudeOnYoutube]

Great video ! Str8 forward Appreciate it Doing this now in southern Oklahoma

[@LewisRenovation]

Good luck with your project.

[@fixitman8028]

Great video. Thanks for posting

[@LewisRenovation]

Thanks for commenting!

[@TheSpatulaCity]

Cool. That was a neat tip to use a shop-vac and a plastic bag to pull the string through.

[@LewisRenovation]

Thanks for the comment. Are you working on a similar project?

[@Yougotthis104]

Thanks your video taught me a lot

[@LewisRenovation]

Great! Good luck with your project

[@roush211]

Ran 1/2 mile 4" water pipe in floresville tx with my dad when I was about 19-20. Thought hey man it's a cloudy day so took shirt off. Longest day of my life followed most severe sunburn ever lol

[@LewisRenovation]

I seem to make the cloudy day mistake once every spring. Someday I'll learn. You still in Texas?

[@roush211]

@@LewisRenovation I am, actually selling house in san antonio next month and building on my land in floresville.

[@LewisRenovation]

Good luck with the new house. I'm sure it will be nice to get out of the city

[@roush211]

@@LewisRenovation ty, looking forward to getting back out to the country and not driving back and forth since my son finally finished school. Good luck as well

[@The11AMARK]

Thanks! I’m considering this on my build

[@LewisRenovation]

Good luck. Hope my video helps

[@flowerpt]

You made an excellent video. Thanks for recommending the Cobra pliers! Also, tell your wife the Internet thinks she's amazing. 😊

[@LewisRenovation]

Thank you! Good luck with your projects

[@darinjuliesims354]

Dude you crack me up. Great video though. Love the DIY attitude. Ya my inspectors didn't even stop, it was a drive by I got the all clear....LoL

[@LewisRenovation]

Wow, great comment! Thank you

[@tonkatoytruck]

Nice to not have to worry about gas lines, internet, fiber optic, power lines, landscape plumbing, etc. AND have to do it by hand. You make it look so easy. haha

[@LewisRenovation]

Everything looks easy with the right right video editing. 😀 Thanks for the comment

[@tori5977]

Love this video!

[@LewisRenovation]

I had a great supporting cast

[@BubbaIXI88]

awesome video

[@LewisRenovation]

Thanks for the comment!

[@idahoduckhunter]

Very good info, thanks

[@LewisRenovation]

Your welcome. Thanks for commenting!

[@joseenriquez1328]

2:10 😂😂😂 I’m sure you did a better job than professionals!!! I’m sure they do a lot of wrong things just to save time and a few dollars!!! Great job Man! 👍🏻

[@LewisRenovation]

Thank you for the nice comments!

[@greenharvestproductions6743]

Wonderful video wonderful video I don't know what state you're in I'm in the state of Florida and usually go up to 3 ft deep because we have a lot of sand what size wire were you putting underneath the ground excuse me let me make correction on that what size wire did the power company put in there size 1 three wires

[@LewisRenovation]

I think the cable was 1/0 but I'm not 100%. Thanks for the comment!

[@bethlewis4500]

Yay! The wires didn't get stuck. Like the aerial shots.

[@LewisRenovation]

Thanks. I had an amazing helper!!

[@phillipwhittaker2389]

That sucks that you were going to be liable if the wire got stuck in the conduit, you would think you could pull the wire without having the conduit buried...

[@gladdenhandymanllc962]

This guy seems like an absolute riot.

[@LewisRenovation]

Thanks! Life is better when it's light hearted

[@BayAreaElectric]

Nice video. In my area of California we would have had to use swedge couplings, which are much deeper. Also, we would have had to install 3" PVC. Well, anyway it worked. Good job.

[@LewisRenovation]

Thank you. I've visited California a couple times. Beautiful place but I understand there's lots of regulation.

[@Amarillobymorning777]

GR8 VIDEO CLIP

[@LewisRenovation]

Thank you for the comment!

[@liamsilver4843]

nice job Lewis Renovation & Repair. So Basically the electric co takes care of the rest? you just put all the pvc pipe?

[@LewisRenovation]

Yes, I had to install the pipe and pull tape, get it inspected, and the backfill the trench. The utility did the rest

[@SUPERHEAVYBOOSTER]

So progressive of you to have your wife be the head of your household (the boss).

[@LewisRenovation]

Yeah. Just don't let my fellow Texans know I'm "Progressive"

[@Dallasburtonmusic]

can you tell me what kind of wire you used? 4 aug? how many? 3 or 4 wire. Thanks!

[@LewisRenovation]

I’m sorry. The utility contractor ran the wire so I’m not sure

[@jfromtn7410]

hey fixing to do the same thing.i plan on using a ditch witch.only 70 ft though lol.wat do you think

[@LewisRenovation]

Really depends on soil type but should work fine

[@greenharvestproductions6743]

How deep did you have to bury the electrical PVC two and a half inch how deep was it required to bury the underground

[@LewisRenovation]

I was required to bury the conduit 24 inches deep

[@mikepagan7529]

Did you have to buy the electrical cable???

[@LewisRenovation]

I got the cable for "free" because it was from an existing transformer within 300' of the house. But I had to pay for 2200 ft of high voltage from the street to the transformer when I had it put in 5 years ago

[@dave_in_florida]

How much amp service did you pull through?

[@LewisRenovation]

200

[@timwilson3150]

So you didn’t have to pull a mandrel through? Not 3” conduit? Not 3’ deep trench?

[@LewisRenovation]

No mandrel, 2.5", 2 feet deep. All specified by the utility

[@timwilson3150]

@@LewisRenovation In CA it’s 3” conduit buried 3’ deep and we have to pull a mandrel through it with the utility watching. It sucks.

[@LewisRenovation]

I've visited California a couple times and it's a beautiful place, but I hear all the regulations are difficult to deal with. Take care!

[@timwilson3150]

@@LewisRenovation Minimum 3’ trench which PG&E actually has to come out and measure. Then a 3” substrate of special PG&E sand, which they also come out to check. Only then can we run our 3” conduit. Then we have to cover it with another 6” of pre approved PGE sand and they check it again. Only then can we backfill the trench provided there’s a warning electrical tape buried above the conduit run. It’s ridiculous.

[@ammonautele3804]

Hawaii mandrel is required as well. Also 6in clearance on both sides of the conduit…. Every state differs I guess

[@rudyardgomeas6042]

Why is it the glue and primer lids always get stuck, can't they make better caps, like everyone else.

[@LewisRenovation]

I know right. There's got to be a better way

[@farmerbob728]

Great video.. Seems your contractor really didn't want the job??? Seems to tell you a lot of what he won't do. Then after he runs the wire... you're responsible for his mess up ??

[@LewisRenovation]

The contractor works for the electric company so they get to do almost whatever they want. Thanks for the comment

[@william.shilling2969]

Be glad you didn't have to use 36 in dia. rigid sweeps.

[@LewisRenovation]

I bet, that sounds expensive

[@toddwikel3849]

I'm getting ready to do the same thing outside of Dallas. How much did you save by running the conduit yourself? What was your cost breakdown and Oncor i stallation allowance? Thanks, great video.

[@LewisRenovation]

It cost me roughly $400 in materials and $200 to rent the trencher. I think Oncor world have done it for free but they would have put the meter in the front of the house. When I ran electricity to my shop next door, they didn't charge anything for running from the transformer to the building. I did have to pay $22k to get electricity 2000 feet off the road to the transformer.

[@toddwikel3849]

@@LewisRenovation was the 22k after you ran the below ground conduit? How much did they charge you per foot for the primary cabling?

[@toddwikel3849]

@@LewisRenovation it appears Oncor ran the 2k feet above ground. Did they give you an above ground cost breakdown or just a cost per foot?

[@LewisRenovation]

I had to pay for the electricity to get from the existing line on the county road back 2100 feet to near where our house was going to be. This was 4 years ago. Once I paid the $22k for this, Oncor ran the wire from the last pole with the transformer underground to the shop for free (~250 feet) and also ran the wire to the house for free (~220 feet) but I did the conduit since I had a location that wasn't direct.

[@LewisRenovation]

I got a flat quote, but it was basically #10 / ft. I think the number of poles they have to put in is number 1 factor. For mine, they had to put in 6

[@lancec6342]

Schedule 80 is better protection if someone decided to dig in the future it would be less likely to penetrate

[@LewisRenovation]

I’m sure that’s true. Thank you for the comment

[@robertbloodworth6342]

What do you figure that cost you per foot??

[@LewisRenovation]

The utility paid for the actual cable, I probably have $600 in rental and material cost. So cost me $2/ft plus cable

[@Brandon-td2sm]

@@LewisRenovation That's awesome. Prolly saves yourself 10x that doing it yourself.

[@cityslickerf1507]

What they run? 4/0 4/0 2/0?

[@LewisRenovation]

Sorry, I don’t remember

[@ElevatorWasher5000]

Can this lower power outages too

[@LewisRenovation]

Unfortunately no

[@flowerpt]

well, if you have trees that could fall on an aerial wire from a pole to the house.

[@ElevatorWasher5000]

@@flowerpt I have a lot of trees and get random power surges when branches fall

[@bigtroll8249]

The pros would trench w an excavator and 36 - 48" bucket

[@itsbigdon]

no primer?

[@LewisRenovation]

It's not required with conduit

[@william.shilling2969]

The primer actually eats away the pvc. It's not like plumbing. Plus you should use only pvc conduit cement.

[@timothyshirley5918]

I would have ran the wire while putting the conduit together. Save some money$$$$

[@LewisRenovation]

I didn't have the choice to run the wire myself

[@william.shilling2969]

You have to run conduit till completed. A complete system, then you pull wire. It is stated in the NEC.

[@warren-e-dee2671]

[@LewisRenovation]

Thanks!

[@timothyletwin5911]

Underground cable would have been way easier and cheaper no?

[@LewisRenovation]

They wouldn't allow underground cable without conduit

[@timothyletwin5911]

@@LewisRenovation That's too bad. Is that an earth quake thing in your state codes?

[@LewisRenovation]

@@timothyletwin5911 no earthquakes here since the dinosaurs. I was given a spec sheet by the utility distribution company and I just followed it. don't really know the reason why.

[@tylerguillory9348]

Peep the crawfish @1:50

[@LewisRenovation]

Not sure what that means but thanks for commenting

[@tylerguillory9348]

Looks like i saw a crawfish at 1:50 lol

[@airmsylenam954]

Can Americans do the job without wife permission? 😂😂😂

[@LewisRenovation]

Happy wife ... happy life