Looking for electrician recommendation in Hudson WI

Having an outbuilding/poleshed installed next month and while it started as “just a storage shed” it’s now been increased in size and height and concrete added so budget is reaching its max.

I do think it would be nice to get a panel and 1-2 outlets out there at least for running battery tenders. I can then always add lighting and what not later.

I was phone quoted ~$2500 to run a line from the house to the outbuilding, install a 100amp panel and 1 outlet next to the box.

I have no idea if that number is even reasonable. This is just the electrician the builder had call me. Can anyone recommend an electrician in my area they think I should reach out to?

Thanks.

How far is the outbuilding from the house/existing power? Do you need 100amp service out there (of course it would be nice if you plan to make it a big workshop)? I’m not an electrician and didn’t need 100amp service but ran my own line to a new garage (~150′ away from house). Pulled permit, trenched, pulled wire, installed a 40amp subpanel and 8 arc fault/gfci protected circuits thru conduit. I had a connection for bulk heavy gauge wire and trencher which saved me a bunch of money but guessing I still spent $750 (about half on the fancy dancy breakers!). But man I spent a lot of time doing it. And burned a lot of equity with the wife! It may not have been a fiscally sound decision to diy (opportunity cost) but I still don’t regret it. BTW my garage is lit up like a Christmas tree with LEDs, has two electric overhead door openers and I have chargers and home owner/hobbyist power tools running all the time and doubt I’ve come close to exceeding capacity.

HTH in some way.

Seems like a fair price. I did mine myself also, easy enough, just takes a little time. I also put my pvc pipe in the ground for my wires before the concrete so that I didn’t have to drill a hole through the wall, make sure to use a larger pipe than you think you need, makes pulling wires much easier.

Twins-
I agree 100amp seemed a little excessive but that’s what the electrician suggested. That or a 12/2 20amp wire for “just a couple low draw outlets”. In planning for long-term use and upgrades, that seemed the wrong way to go right now.

The building is about 40-50 yards from our house. I hear you on sweat equity and wife equity. We have 2 young kids so finding a weekend to get it done without being interrupted is a major challenge.

onestout wrote:

Seems like a fair price. I did mine myself also, easy enough, just takes a little time. I also put my pvc pipe in the ground for my wires before the concrete so that I didn’t have to drill a hole through the wall, make sure to use a larger pipe than you think you need, makes pulling wires much easier.

Good idea about burying pipe prior to concrete and the oversized PVC.

Trenching 50 yards through the lawn and woods is starting to make the $2500 reasonable. He’s going to stop by in the next couple days to check the site and give me a proper quote. Hopefully, it doesn’t swing in the wrong direction.

Jamin wrote:

Twins-
I agree 100amp seemed a little excessive but that’s what the electrician suggested. That or a 12/2 20amp wire for “just a couple low draw outlets”. In planning for long-term use and upgrades, that seemed the wrong way to go right now.

The building is about 40-50 yards from our house. I hear you on sweat equity and wife equity. We have 2 young kids so finding a weekend to get it done without being interrupted is a major challenge.

In your situation I would probably go with the 100amp panel too-gives you lots of options down the road. The only reason I saved money sticking with the 40a subpanel is that I was gifted all the wire I needed and would have spent a fair bit more for wire capable of carrying 100a. And my main panel is only 100a;) Guessing you might have 200a?

The 2500 isn’t sounding too bad to me either. In the process of trenching I didn’t hit many roots but uncovered a concrete graveyard with pieces of old sidewalk, slab and stairs-some of the pieces weighed hundred of pounds. I had to hand dig about 50′ of the 150′ run and rented a jackhammer to break up some of the big pieces. It was ridiculous! I wonder what the garage builder would have done had I let them handle the electrical in the first place. Guessing I would have been asked to throw in more money for unexpected trouble digging the trench.

I agree 100amp seemed a little excessive but that’s what the electrician suggested

If you ever go to sell the house that 100amp panel could be a huge selling point to the right buyer. And is definitely something that would get listed on the home features if it were my place.