OT - OMG Has Anyone Bought Wire Lately?

Question

As I prep my kitchen for a new counter top, one of the tasks is to raise six receptacle/switch boxes up about 2". Of course, there's not enough wire in the boxes. Plus I need to bring one of the circuits up to code anyway. (20A vs 15A)

Timing wise I need (hope) to get this done this weekend, so I was stuck going to Home Depot instead of the lighting store with the parts counter in the back that I usually buy this kind of stuff at.

50' of 12-2 NM-B is $78, 100' is $109. Holy crap! (I bought the 100' 'cuz you know if I bought 50' I'd need 55')

Besides the price, they keep the stuff locked up now. Besides locking it up, they won't hand it to you after they release it from it's cage. They have to walk it up to the cashier for you. This wasn't some inner-city HD. It's in one of the most affluent areas of our county. I guess even the rich folk and/or high-end contractors steal stuff these days.

Had I known the price was so high, I would have ordered it on Amazon for $90 earlier in the week. It probably would have shown up in an armored truck. ;-)

(UF-B is actually cheaper than NM-B right now, but I hear that it's harder to work with and I'll be dealing with some with tight spaces. If anyone knows that it's *not* harder to work with, let me know - quickly. Maybe I'll exchange the NM-B for UF-B.)

Michael Trew · Accepted Answer

It was expensive last time I bought a roll about a year ago, but not

*that* expensive. Larger rolls were locked up, but smaller rolls weren't, and they let you take it into your cart... That's just madness. For small projects, I keep a 5 gal buck or two of romex "chunks" from a foot up to 12 feet or so.

Michael · Answer

Yep. I rewired lights in the basement, and I also felt the sticker shock at the price of romex. I wish I had kept the leftovers from past projects Like Michael Trew.

Leon · Answer

I noticed that yesterday in Home Depot, the locked up wire.

Scott Lurndal · Answer

Or perhaps the thieves just go to the affluent areas hoping forlighter security.   Seems there isn't much evidence to accuse richfolks /contractors of theft here.

DerbyDad03 · Answer

Nor to accuse the thieves of traveling. Just speculation from both of us. Either way, it’s still a PITA.

DerbyDad03 · Answer

Locked up *and* walked to the cashier. The wire basically has to be thelast thing you buy, unless the employee is nice enough to leave it by thecashier for you. I plan to plan better and avoid the next time.Thing is, you can’t blame HD. It’s the f’n lowlifes that make it hard oneveryone else - customers and employees.

Markem618 · Answer

On Sat, 1 Apr 2023 16:42:21 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03    wrote:Can you order either online or at the contractors desk and have itready for pickup?

DerbyDad03 · Answer

Don’t know. I do know that I can get it cheaper elsewhere, including Amazon ($30 less). In this case, it just ended up that I didn’t know until Friday that this weekend was the best time to get this done. I’ll be pulling wire first thing in the morning and Amazon wouldn’t have gotten it here in time.

Today was spent pulling all the old wire out and rearranging the panel a little.

Markem618 · Answer

On Sat, 1 Apr 2023 18:31:20 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03    wrote:Good luck and may all the wires pull smooth and easy, if not a bit ofcussing is apropos.

OT - OMG Has Anyone Bought Wire Lately?

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