"Nate" wrote in message
...

"Jeffrey J. Kosowsky"

The job involves:
1. Attaching to existing electric company service at the
drop (about
20 feet above ground where it enters the house from the
street)
2. Running new cable/conduit from the drop to a new
outdoor ground
level electric meter with new 200A main breaker
3. Running cable into basement and then about another 25
feet to
current location of old 100A box

Standard stuff. No big deal.

4. Installing new 200A 42 circuit panel alongside old 100A
panel
5. Making existing 100A panel into a subpanel of the new
panel and
connecting to new panel. I believe this involves
separating the
grounds from commons on the subpanel and adding a 100A
breaker to
the new main panel.

Half assed shortcut, IMO. Rip out the old panel, stick in a
new one with
modern hardware and breakers. This should be no big deal.
By leaving your
old panel in place, he's saving a lot of time - time that it
sounds like
he's quoting you anyway! Further, you just paid


3 freak'n grand and you're
still stuck with a bunch of (100 year?) old gear.

Na... the house is old but a 100 amp panel could easily be
only 1=20 or 30 years old.



6. Sinking new grounding bars to provide ground service
(since the old
water pipe method is no longer to code)
7. Ripping out the old 100A main breaker switch and wiring
that
originally went from the drop to the old panel

Still no big deal.

Sounds to me like this job should be 800-1500 bucks, but I
can't see your
basement from here, nor your 100 year old wires.

Not many quality guys I know would dream of going that
much work for such a small amount of money. But yes one can
beat himself into the poverty class with low ball bids if he
wants...Ive done it on occasion. its not bright though. and
does not sustain a top quality operation ...for very long at
least..

The wiring may well be 100 years old, but it may not be..at
that age wiring would not support our living styles even 40
years back... the place has probably been rewired as evidenced
by the 100 amp panel... 100 years ago 30 amp buzz fuse boxes
and 110 service was all you got.

You can always find a cheaper guy..around you can get
chinese guys who have just snuck off of freighters working for
underground chinese contractors who will do that job for parts
cost and two bowls of rice.

In the US historically we have had a live and let live as long
as its reasonable way of doing business...thats been viable,
everyone makes money.. the cash flows...its a good thang.

In the third world with half the people starving its a
different scene, every single penny is worth a screaming
match, accusations of fraud etc.

Another contractor sent me a Korean customer, slum lord sort
of property, a triplex with 45 people living in it.. black
mold... rotten sils, holes rusted in the bathtubs. ... I
sent a man to start the job to see if if could fly... day two
I get a call from the Korean... he had been utterly sweet two
days prior... I arrive at his laundry business and he is still
sweet...doenst speak much english so communitcation is hard
until we get to the pricing my guy put on his invoice for
calking... $2.27 a tube, one tub.

The Korean guy screams at me...T000 DOLLAHHH! TWENNY SEBEN
CENZ!! I BUY DOLLA NINEY ATE!! YOU **** ME! YOU **** ME!
..... that went on for a while as the man tried to get the
material below the retail sticker price on the tube... I had
quoted him 30,000 dollars for the work he needed two days
before... we lasted one day on the job.



29 cents worth, my guy billed him the calking at cost though
for various reason..it was a two bit item etc.. That
philosophy of utter ruthlessness and human stress and strain
over pennies creates a non viable business environment and
that creates third world conditions...and we have those in
many of our US cities today... trade rates are going lower...
sone trademen get to have no retirements now, no savings for
the kids education..and no health care. But yes, one can
still drive the prices lower, particularly if his kids start
going hungry... you can get him down another 400 dollars.


the mentality that one can always drive the price lower, with
no regard for others or the man doing good work for you is
*not progress.



Phil Scott



I'd get another quote.

Using the Yellow Pages? It's a sure way to get a get a
greedy moron over to
your house.

Maybe call a HVAC contractor or two and see who they use for
their
electrical. He's probably unlisted. People upgrade their
panels all the
time to handle new air conditioners.


- Nate