Duke Energy Flags – Ready for Power?

This morning we walked the dog over at the new house. Cliff had done some repairs on a culvert and we wanted to check how it did in the storm last night.

When we got there we had flags marking from the power pole to our meter.

I thought we were going to have overhead power like every other house I have ever lived in. And every other house in the neighborhood.

I vaguely remember them asking the question. I am pretty sure we answered “whatever costs less.” That was our response to a lot of things.

It looks like they intend to bury the wire. I thought maybe it’s a new rule, but it doesn’t look like it. The latest rules, from a white paper on the Duke Energy website, Requirements for Electric Service and Meter Installation North Carolina and South Carolina dated April 2018 states:

RESIDENTIAL SERVICE: PERMANENT OVERHEAD (Site-built, manufactured and modular homes, townhouses and duplexes)

Note for single-family homes: The electric meter on a single-family residence should be located on the exterior of the structure on the side closest to Company’s equipment (pole, padmount transformer or service radial).

Which looks to me like you can still have overhead power.

I don’t mind either way, but the route they have marked goes right over the downspout drain lines they just buried. I hope they don’t dig right through them…  Electric utility lines are buried 24” deep. I googled. That is deeper than the gutter drain lines.

The power box looked different. I don’t know if they actually did something.

This is what is inside.

This is the box they put up for the power.

Other Changes

The contractor inspected and had the framers come back and make some changes. I think it may be because of the changes we made to the house plans. They had to add more 2 x 4s to support the trusses. The electrician is not going to be very happy about this. They had to pull his wires out.

They added these metal things where the trusses tie in. They are Simpson Strong-Ties.

The opening for the French doors is not big enough. They started working on that, then left. We measured. It is about an inch too tight for the door. If they go to the right, we won’t have room to put the doggie door where we want it. It is going to be tight as it is. The power is in the way everywhere else now. We’ll figure something out. I would really like the doggie door there. That way Geordie and Gigi can lay in front of the glass and look out. When they see something that has to be barked at, they can run right out instead of tearing across the room to the door if it is somewhere else.

When they framed the walls, they used a single piece of wood at the bottom and top to be sure the wall is square. This is a normal thing to do. When the framing is done, they come back and cut thru the bottom plate of the doorways.

Next: We Have to Put In Sidewalks >