My New House & Workshop

[Curious Hound]

Dear Mr. Oaks,
I apologize profusely for ever mentioning your threshold.
I can't stop laughin

He knows all about our thread drifting tendencies. Some people think the first post in any new thread is a mere suggestion and license to discuss anything under the sun.

 

[Jim Oaks]

Dear Mr. Oaks,
I apologize profusely for ever mentioning your threshold.
I can't stop laughin

My plan all along has been to fill it in with cement. I was just curious why people were suggesting mortar. I'm just filling the hole, not bonding them together.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Y'all didn't really answer my question though. Why can't I just put some left over cement in the holes to fill them in?

Cement is the glue.
Mortar is cement plus sand plus water.
Concrete is cement plus sand plus gravel plus water.
Terminology matters.

 

[Jim Oaks]

Good grief Charlie Brown.

Ok, why can't I just fill the holes in the block in with CONCRETE?

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Good grief Charlie Brown.

Ok, why can't I just fill the holes in the block in with CONCRETE?

It may not be thick enough to fully encapsulate the gravel.

Mortar being more sand based wouldn't have the larger chunks of gravel that may not get coated well enough by the cement to stay in place.

That is my theory anyway...

 

[Jazzer]

Mortar has lime also.

I guess people ass u med that you wanted to increase the height of the threshold.

If all you wanted to do is fill the holes, your concrete will be fine.

 

[Jim Oaks]

There's only a 1/4" height difference between the block and the floor. I'd fill the block openings with concrete and maybe add an aluminum threshold plate under where the door stops just to help seal it.

 

[Shran]

If you're going to cover it up then it doesn't matter a lot, just mix up a little concrete and send it. You can get concrete mix that's made for coating over the top of existing concrete in thin layers to do repairs...that might work best...

Kind of on that same topic I have little chunks of cement popping off my shop floor occasionally because my concrete guy did a shit job. Is what it is now but it's annoying to roll across on a creeper. I have been filling them in with short strand Bondo Glass body filler. It would be very expensive for a big repair but it works super good for little ones, it bonds like crazy to the concrete and then you just sand it smooth.

 

[Rick W]

There's only a 1/4" height difference between the block and the floor. I'd fill the block openings with concrete and maybe add an aluminum threshold plate under where the door stops just to help seal it.

I did assume that you were trying to add a threshold, and not just filling the blocks. That was a little hard to tell from the one picture. Having said that, I would still go back to mortar mix and tight bond. It’s more sticky and dries up harder than concrete mix (with the gravel). And sand mix is usually the mix you would use for something thicker, like the slab under an air conditioner that might be two or 3 inches thick.

What does it say on the bag from your “cement?” Is it sand mix, concrete, mortar mix, Portland cement, what?

You’ve done a super nice job fixing that shop up, a built-up threshold would look fine, and you’ll save a couple of bucks for the aluminum plate. Just make sure it drains outward from any rain that might hit the door.

 

[Jim Oaks]

Where are my electricians??

I want to start working on running the wire from my house to a subpanel in my shop.

The only thing that's 220 is my tankless water heater in my bathroom. I plan to have an air conditioner mounted in a wall open in the rear 'shop' portion of my building, and one in the front room of the building. I'm just using A/C units that run off a regular 120V outlet, and they will be on their own breakers. I also have an air compressor on its own breaker, and a 120V outlet for my welder.

I've been torn as to if I should have a 100 amp or 125 amp sub-panel in the shop.

I measured and it looks like I need 104 feet of wire. I may go a couple extra feet just to be safe. I'd rather have to much than come up short.

For 125 amps, Google is telling me I need:

• Aluminum wire: Use #1/0 AWG for the two hot and neutral conductors.
• Copper wire: Use #2 AWG for the two hot and neutral conductors.
• Ground wire: Use #4 AWG aluminum or #6 AWG copper.

For 100 amps, Google is telling my I need:

• Copper: Use 3 AWG copper or larger to minimize voltage drop over the 110-foot run.
• Aluminum: Use 1 AWG aluminum or larger.
• Ground wire: A #8 copper or #6 aluminum ground wire is the minimum size required.

So, for 125 amps it would be (2) 2 AWG wires for hot, (1) 2 AWG wire for neutral, and then (1) 4 AWG wire for the ground. Am I understanding correctly that this ground runs back to the main breaker box, and then there's the additional ground that goes to a copper grounding run outside of the shop?
I see the term 2-2-2-4 wire which sounds like it's what I need, but all of the 2-2-2-4 I find is stranded aluminum, not copper.

Lowes has some Southwire 1/0-1/0-1/0-2 Stranded Aluminum SER By-the-foot (not in stock) that sounds like it might be what I need.

Does it matter if it's SER or URD if it's going underground in conduit?

I saw someone on YouTube running wire, and they were measuring out 100 feet of wire from a spool and cutting three lengths of it and then putting white tape on the wire being used for neutral. It seems like buying 110 feet of 1/0-1/0-1/0-2 Stranded Aluminum would be easier than getting individual lengths.

My plan is to run the wire through the conduit as I lay it. I plan to bring it to the breaker boxes, but I was going to have a local electrician make the connections to the panels. I figure I'll save a lot of money doing most of the work and then paying a licensed electrician to connect it.

So, my questions are:

1. How many amps of service do you suggest for the shop?
2. What wire would you suggest running 110 feet?
3. Does it matter if it's SER or URD if it's underground in conduit?
4. Should I try to find copper instead of aluminum?
5. What size ground to the copper rod in the ground? (6-10 feet away)
6. Anything that I need to consider that I'm forgetting?

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I would contact the electrician you want to use. He will know the local rules you need to follow.

 

[Curious Hound]

1. How many amps of service do you suggest for the shop?
2. What wire would you suggest running 110 feet?
3. Does it matter if it's SER or URD if it's underground in conduit?
4. Should I try to find copper instead of aluminum?
5. What size ground to the copper rod in the ground? (6-10 feet away)
6. Anything that I need to consider that I'm forgetting?

1. Either 100 or 125 amps should be fine for your shop.
2. I would buy 2AWG THHN single conductor copper wire on a spool and cut the 3 conductors you need from that. Get extra. It's a pain to cut 110 feet and figure out it needed to be 111.5 ft. Then you have to go buy another long piece. Mark the neutral with white electrical tape in both ends before pulling. Buy a length of 6AWG stranded THHN for the ground coming from the house. Buy a few feet of 6AWG solid wire to go to the ground rod at the shop. Solid works better on the ground rod clamp and might even be required by code.
3. Forget that. Use the individual conductors mentioned above and put them in PVC conduit all the way. I'd have to check the tables to make sure of conduit size. But I know it will legally fit and be easy to pull in 1.5" PVC.
4. Yes. See above
5. 6AWG solid copper as mentioned above.
6. There are all kinds of little incidental items to think about - conduit clamps, ground rod clamp, all the individual PVC fittings come separately (male threaded adaptors, 90 degree sweep elbows, couplings, locknuts for the threaded adaptors, primer and cement, etc.). Take your time and think through it. The conduit needs to be 18" deep.

If there is a local electrical supply house nearby, get your stuff there. It could be cheaper than Lowe's/Home Depot. Plus, they are more likely tp be able to help you and answer questions. Often, they'll look at your shopping list and say "Do you need 'blah-blah'?" And when you look at them like a deer in the headlights they can explain why you might need blah-blah. Then you dutifully say "yes. Give me some."

This seems daunting. But it's really a simple project. We'll get you through it.

 

[Curious Hound]

When you get ready to pull your wires through the conduit, get some strong nylon cord, a plastic grocery bag and a shop-vac. Tie the string to the bag. Fluff up the bag and push it into the conduit. Put the string on a stick so it can spool off easily. Then go to the other end of the conduit with your shop-vac and suck the bag and string (often called a mouse) through the conduit. Use the string to pull your wires through. You do not need a fish tape.

A little bit of liquid hand soap, body wash or shampoo on the first foot or two of the wires will help them slide through the conduit easier.

 

[2011Supercab]

You'll need to check with your local electrician,

Codes can vary by location, some cities can have stricter regulations than the county they are in.

 

[bobbywalter]

Cement is the glue.
Mortar is cement plus sand plus water.
Concrete is cement plus sand plus gravel plus water.
Terminology matters.

he is very very right, and depending on what you do....regret can follow doing steps with the wrong shit.