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My New Studio Build (perhaps overly detailed)

#1,341
So unfortunately @beans-on-toast was spot-on with his jackhammer prediction. My electrician thought that it would possibly slip by an inspector, but evidently with all of the development boom happening in Seattle they've hired a ton of new inspectors who are all sticklers for adhering exactly to the code with no allowable or practical deviations. I'll be renting a jackhammer on Friday morning to wreck out those two little pieces of concrete.

In brighter news the electrician is on-site today getting everything wired up short of the connection back to the panel in my house.
 
#1,343
beans-on-toast said:
It might not be that bad. Makes you wonder how the concrete got there in the first place.
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It won't be bad at all. It's a relatively minor amount and in easily accessible locations. Should come apart quickly. It's just one more thing is all. One more rental fee. One more round of running a rented tool back and forth. Fortunately the rental shop I prefer isn't far from my house.

How the concrete got there is a partial mystery. The piece by the studio is just a remnant from destroying the old garage as depicted on page 1 of this thread. The piece by the house is a serious mystery. Not only in how did it get there, but also why is it so smooth (it appears to be a perfectly rectangular, broom-finished piece of concrete rather than some blobby thing that got put in the ground for an underground utility)? What purpose did it serve as it's removed from the structure of the house and not aligned with any of the foundation elements? If it were part of an underground utility, why didn't it show up on locates performed by the utility companies before I started working? If the locates just missed something, why isn't there an easement on my property for a utility company's appurtenances? Very mysterious indeed.
 
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#1,344
Electrical progress!

Here's the penetration through the wall for the sub-panel. My electrician refers to this as an "el-bee" but trying a number of phonetic combinations (elbee, LB, etc.) didn't turn up anything, so... Here's this doodad.
IMG_0459.JPG


Penetration for the entry light outside the door.
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100-amp sub panel
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Entryway light switches. The double box is for the exterior lights. One at the front door, and one for the motion sensing security light going on the side of the building. The single box is for the interior lights which will also include a dimmer.
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One pair of outlets. There are six outlets in this space spread out over three totally independent circuits. Nothing else will ever live on these. The north wall is for nothing but the studio computer, monitors, interface, screen, etc. The west and southwest circuit is for instruments, amps, etc. as is the east and southeast circuit. My electrician has built studios before and has a grounding scheme that he assures me will result in a completely grounding buzz free environment. My house is very buzzy despite having all new electrical circuits in it as of a couple years ago, so I'm very excited to have a buzz free place to make music.
IMG_0463.JPG


Center starts for four sets of track lighting spread out across the main room. There will be a single two way mini spotlight type fixture in the vestibule which will be great to light up the storage bays without obnoxiously shining a big beam through the door into the main room.
IMG_0464.JPG


Not pictured are some pedestrian stuff like exterior outlets for when I'm working in the backyard, or the stub out and disconnect for the future hot tub. There's still plenty more to do, and he'll be back on Friday to hopefully wrap things up. Very exciting.
 
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#1,345
A lot of progress. Buzz free is good. Separate circuits depending on the application is a good idea.

You had it right. The doodad is a type LB conduit body. There are different types defined by the shape.

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#1,346
I once had a room at work with test equipment in it, done it EMT tubing to solve a problem with electromagnetic interference that the power lines were throwing off. Everything from the breaker box, the tubing, the outlet boxes and special fittings had to be metal and sealed.

It worked very well, the lines were very clean, but it was pretty expensive.
 
#1,351
So the jackhammering went pretty smoothly. It was definitely raining while I was at it, but it never turned into a full blown storm or anything. Got both pieces of concrete hammered out (the one closest to the house was much deeper than I had anticipated), and the trench lowered to a full 20-21" across the whole thing to get the minimum 18" of cover required by the City.

My electrician has the connection to the panel finished, the conduit in the ground (inspection for that is happening on Monday, and if it passes I'll be able to close/fill the trench), the sub panel installed, and about 90% of the studio wiring wrapped up. All that's left is installing the exterior lighting, getting power to my sauna, and stubbing out everything for the mini split, HRV, as well as future lighting and power for the hot tub area we're hoping to construct in the next few years.

This coming week I'm going to tally up all of the Whisper Clips and hat channel, Green Glue, and flexible sealant I think I'll need and get that ordered, as well as ordering the mini split and HRV. Progress!
 
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#1,353
silky smoove said:
So the jackhammering went pretty smoothly. It was definitely raining while I was at it, but it never turned into a full blown storm or anything. Got both pieces of concrete hammered out (the one closest to the house was much deeper than I had anticipated), and the trench lowered to a full 20-21" across the whole thing to get the minimum 18" of cover required by the City.

My electrician has the connection to the panel finished, the conduit in the ground (inspection for that is happening on Monday, and if it passes I'll be able to close/fill the trench), the sub panel installed, and about 90% of the studio wiring wrapped up. All that's left is installing the exterior lighting, getting power to my sauna, and stubbing out everything for the mini split, HRV, as well as future lighting and power for the hot tub area we're hoping to construct in the next few years.

This coming week I'm going to tally up all of the Whisper Clips and hat channel, Green Glue, and flexible sealant I think I'll need and get that ordered, as well as ordering the mini split and HRV. Progress!
Click to expand...
When do you think it'll be done?
 
#1,354
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#1,355
I've used a putty around electrical boxes and conduit entries to seal leaks.

Never tried a putty pad but it makes sense for covering surfaces. Small air leaks in feed throughs for instance can be a problem. I've found that using incense sticks to generate smoke can be a usful and inexpensive tool for identifying these type of leaks.
 
#1,358
My wife just sent me a picture of the work he did today, and it appears that he put the grounding rods in a location where they'll be tripping hazards for anyone walking around the front of my studio or my house's back steps. I'll need to get that rectified (electrical pun) before he returns on Wednesday. Not rectified in that I'll do any physical work, just that I need to make sure he knows not to put them where they'll be a problem.
 
#1,359
silky smoove said:
From my electrician: The inspector called me and said "Bob, I'm swamped today. You do good work. I trust you. Take some pictures of the work you did and send them over to me so I can get everything signed off."

The benefits of hiring a licensed electrician that has a good working relationship with the city inspectors :p
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And then Bob's relationship with the inspector went south after being exposed on TB
 
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