add a light in bedrooms

[tweety]

I am building a new house and I have to work with the developers subcontracotors. The electrician is going to be charging me an arm and a leg for electrical work. Of course they are giving me a basic min required. For the bedrooms, living, family rooms, they are going to have one switch with one outlet that is switchable. In the kitchen, garage and dining rooms, one light in the ceiling and a switch.

I have 2 stories, Living area downstairs and bedrooms upstairs with a basement as well. I have a bunch of quetions and I appreciate if you can help answer them.

1. I intend to install a fan in each bedroom and family room. At minimum I like a light with a switch. Can I later on install a light in the ceiling easily from the power comming to the outlets? What Would I need to get done? He is asking me for a fan box and for a switch in each room.

1. Eventually, I want the fan and the light to be operated with the same switch ( I think, can this be done?

2. In the kitchen I like to install recessed lights, but the chage is 0 each with for a switch. Can I easily install recessed light later on in the kitchen? The other option is to install track lighting later on and is that something that I can do easily later on?

1. In the bathroooms, I will ahve one switch and light. i like to install a vanity light as well and of couse he is charging me for it. I think this is a real ripoff, since he just has to install few feet of cable and attach a light bulb to it. I think eventually, I am going to want to install an exaust fan which currently will cost me 5 +50 for the fan and additional 0 for the venting.

2. In the garage they are going to install a light with one switch. I like him to install a switch at the other end of the garage as well () and a light on the outside of the garage.

I am assuming since, there will be outlets all over the house, I can use the power or the cabling comming through them to do some of this.

I am also going to install 2 PVC conduits so that I can take wires from basement to attic easily.

BTW, all he gives me is a light bulb at those ceiling lights.

Please help me figur out what I can do later on fairly easily and cut the costs out. Also, If you can point me to where I can readup on how to do someof this myself would be great.

Sorry for the long post.

[John Grabowski]

Here is an earlier posting from someone who already did what you propose:

Just wondering here from other home owners...

I bought a brand new house (now about a year and a half old), and even though I regret it completely now, I skimped on some stuff as I was building to save money thinking I could do it cheaper later. For example, the builder was charging $600 / 4 recessed lights when I saw ads in the paper daily for people doing it for half that or less.

Little did I realize at the time, that I would pay more then that in drywall repair. Either that, or I didn't think I would find such lazy retrofit electricians who refused to cleanly snake wires rather then cut holes.

Anyways, if I haven't bored you yet :), I had recessed lights put in 3 bedrooms, downstairs in the living/family room, bathroom fans installed and rear surround in-ceiling speakers and a cable outlet moved.

This resulted in a hole in my bedroom wall, a hole in one of the walls of the office and a hole in one of the bathrooms and TEN holes in my living room wall and ceiling.

The electricians recommended "great" drywall guys and said I wouldn't even notice the patch work.

Of course the patch work is quite obvious, the textures don't match, some of the patches are horrible, etc. and the patches were spot painted, so the paint job stands out.

So now that I am done with all the electrical stuff, I wanted to bring in a pro to skim coat the damaged walls and ceilings and prime and paint everything to match.

I had wanted to do this to 4 or 5 walls and a one or two ceilings. I expected a ball park figure of about $1500 to $2000 and a 2 or 3 day job. And was quite happy to pay that to fix all the damage since it was driving me nuts.

ANYWAYS... I brought someone in this morning to give me an estimate, and when he saw the damage I wanted to repair he basically said I was wasting his time, picking the job apart and that I wouldn't be happy with any job they did, and he refused to even give an estimate and walked out.

Is what I want to do "done"? Am I being too picky or would other home owners in the same boat do the same? I talked to a few friends at work, some said it would drive them crazy too, others said I was being picky. But no one new if this was a normal thing to do???

My feeling is the guy was unprofessional to put down what I wanted to do even if he didn't agree. If I want to pay him $2000 to waste his time for 3 days, he should shut up and let it be wasted.

I have another guy coming in for an estimate on Wed. and I will take a different approach with him... I will not point out anything. I will just say I want this,, this, etc retextured... how much?

I have tried two drywall guys and both were horrible. I figured just pay the two thousand, have a perfect texture and move on with my life.

I am not expecting the entire house to match perfectly and be flawless, since the whole point of orange peel texture is to hide the flaws of lazy / sloppy construction, but I don't think I am "out of my mind" as this contractor put it, to expect wall surfaces to have a matched texture across the entire surface...

[Joseph Meehan]

Don't plan on doing any of that later. It will cost you twice or more than it will cost you now. Work your best deal with the one doing the work now and get it done right and get it done now.

[SQLit]

Check your contract with the builder. You MAY have the ability to do some work yourself though in my experience is it limited to low voltage only. They will get pretty pissy about this.

Your going to want 3 wire ( 2 hots, neutral and a ground) to the ceiling boxes, and a double switch at the very least. If you add a switched outlet then you going to need 3 gang box.

The kitchen already has a switch, unless your adding an 3 way.

No fart fans? If you do not have windows they are required. Seems pricey to me.

God help you if it is KB Homes, but that is another long post.

[HA HA Budys Here]

That's chump change. Pay them to do it now. Tell them you want 2 switchlegs in each fan box and a 2-gang switchbox by the door.

Ideally, you want the fan on a speed control, and the light seperately switched or on a seperate dimmer, unless you want to lock yourself in always having both either on or off.

You're obviously clueless as to the world of business other than your own, I'll leave you with that thought, transmit what I've wasted my time on already, and be gone.

[AJScott]

(snip)

Are you saying that you only have the choice of putting a room light in the ceiling or a fan, and you're going with the fan? If that's correct, how do you plan on seeing anything at night -- by candlelight and oil lamp?

Why go thru all that ceiling light-fan separation rigamarole when they make some pretty spiffy ceiling fans with room lights built in to them? Fan and room light all in one package; convenience doesn't get any better than that. But otherwise, yes, a ceiling light can be installed later; it just gets wired into a new two-switch wall switch that'll replace the original single switch.

Matter of fact, you can even put a lighted fan on a slide dimmer wall switch. It's got the normal off-on flip switch with a tiny little slider (which operates the dimmer and, consequently, make the fan itself run slower or faster as you dim down or turn up). We've got one of these in our bedroom on a single wall switch and it's pretty peachy keen.

"Easily" is a relative term. It's easiEST to just have them installed by the builder when the house gets built and the ceilings are wide open. Otherwise, "easy" depends on how equipped you are to cut holes in your ceiling for the cans, nail the cans up to the joist spaces, run conduit, and wire the whole thing into your circuit panel. And do it without burning your house down or electrocuting yourself or something.

Personally, I don't screw with anything in my house that has pretty good potential to kill me, and electrical work is one of 'em.

Unless your bathroom is going to be huge, it might be bathroom lighting overkill, IMO. Vanity lights throw off a ton of light on their own without needing any help from a ceiling light. Otherwise, unless you know how to wire it all up yourself and properly to code, $85 might not be the ripoff you suspect.

Also, you mean to say you intend to build a new house without an exhaust fan venting to the outside of the house in the plan? Moisture is a home's worst enemy, and showers and baths put up a rainforest's worth of it every single time.

Unless of course you just happen to be a big fan of mold, mildew, and peeling paint. Then nevermind.

I'm no electrician, but seems to me that a better practice would be to feed off the circuit/run of the first switch instead of sucking juice off an interior outlet. Tying into an outlet that serves and entirely different part of the house just doesn't seem to be the best way to do it.

(snip)

They only do that for their cheapskate buyers. Just kidding. That's pretty much what all builders everywhere give ya. People who spring for the million-dollar homes probably get better than that, but even there it wouldn't surprise me if they didn't.

Dude, there's a reason they invented the phrase, "Pay me now or pay me more later." You'll almost certainly pay far more to add on later -- or have a pro fix what you screw up because you dont know what you're doing

-- than you will to just bite the bullet, have it done when the place is going up, and get on with your life.

AJS

[Minnie Bannister]

On 02/24/04 04:08 pm AJScott put fingers to keyboard and launched the following message into cyberspace:

Our bedrooms have neither lights nor fans on the ceilings. But there are plenty of duplex wall outlets, one outlet of each pair being controlled by the wall switch and the other always live. IOW, ceilings aren't the only place to have lights.

I do agree, howver, that if the OP wants both lights and fans, it will be cheaper and more convenient (and probably prettier) to do it now than to do it later.

MB

[AJScott]

Actually, I'm waiting for the developer to tell the fellow to go build his own damn house somewhere else and find someone else's subs to nickel and dime to death ;)

AJS

[barry martin]

Tweety:

T > I am building a new house and I have to work with the developers T > subcontracotors. The electrician is going to be charging me an arm

Good: beforew the sheetrock is installed is the best time to do electrical (and any other wiring like that for television, telephone, and computer networks).

T > 1. I intend to install a fan in each bedroom and family room. At T > minimum I like a light with a switch. Can I later on install a light T > in the ceiling easily from the power comming to the outlets? What T > Would I need to get done? He is asking me $95 for a fan box and $50 T > for a switch in each room. T > T > 2. Eventually, I want the fan and the light to be operated with the T > same switch ( I think, can this be done?

Sure, but what I would do is have the electrician run three-conductor cable: black, red (or blue), white and ground. The red lead is for an additional switched device. The switch box (the one in the wall) can either be a single-gang (for one switch) or double-gang (for two switches side by side, or switch and dimmer). They also make small switches in the layout of a duplex outlet (that's the type normally used, located a foot or so from the floor). I'd install the double-ganged switch box if I was doing the project.

T > 3. In the kitchen I like to install recessed lights, but the chage is T > $110 each with $50 for a switch. Can I easily install recessed light T > later on in the kitchen? The other option is to install track T > lighting later on and is that something that I can do easily later on?

As long as the wiring is there before the drywall it's easier.

Takes lots of pictures before the drywall is up! Take pictures of where the plumbing is, where the ductwork is, where the electrical is.... Take pictures of the ceiling and walls! We had a minor problem here, basicly the wire is here, no, it's over here. Got out the photographs.

T > 5. In the garage they are going to install a light with one switch. T > I like him to install a switch at the other end of the garage as well T > ($50) and a light on the outside of the garage.

Three-way switch.

T > I am assuming since, there will be outlets all over the house, I can T > use the power or the cabling comming through them to do some of this.

Yes, you could. Need to connect inside a junction box or outlet box - no cutting the wire and taping back up!!

T > I am also going to install 2 PVC conduits so that I can take wires T > from basement to attic easily.

Make 'em large diameter! May be easier to drop a nylon string with a weight attached (washer or nut) and then pull up the wire than to try to push the wire down.

- ¯ barry.martinþATþthesafebbs.zeppole.com ®

• Cuckoo clocks psychoanalyzed cheap.

[I-zheet M'drurz]

General tip for ALL conduit work: You should always leave a "pull line" in the conduit. Whenever you pull a new cable through an existing conduit, it should have a new piece of line pulled right along with it (you can re-use them, but you need -two-). So you always have a pull line in there when you want to insert a new wire. The pull line can be a thin nylon rope, clothes line, or even just a piece of 16 guage single conductor wire. I wouldn't trust twine or kite string, etc.

[Peter Yao]

Toll Brother charges $250 per ceiling fan rough (it does come with a wall switch), $95 sounds like a bargain...