The Big Dig

We needed to bring additional power to the cottage and only had 100 amp service to the main house. PG&E advised that if we were in any way able to keep the total service to less than 200 amps they would consider it a like for like upgrade and not require a new feed. However, after working with one electrician to find a 175 amp panel, then having my calls go unreturned, I contacted another electrician who said that it simply wasn't doable and that the right way would be to upgrade to 200 amps.

The problem (read $$$) was that we had only a 2" underground conduit coming into the house and needed a 3" conduit for 200 amp service. This meant digging up the street and putting in a new conduit.

After waiting 3 months for PG&E to produce a 'trench package' I went to four companies for bids. The highest was $16,000 and lowest $7,000. Fortunately the low bid came from a very reputable company and a week later the work was on. (On top of this were PG&E's administration, engineering and cabling fees of $4,500)

First, the dig area was marked so that service companies like the water department, telephone, cable, and gas, could come out and identify where their pipes and cables run.


There was a power pole closer to the house however according to PG&E there were not enough connections available on it, so instead of a 50' dig we had to go 112'.


I installed the new panel on the side of the garage.


Cutting the concrete.


Jackhammering the sidewalk


The last section had to be dug by hand


Asphalt removed


I should mention that this job created a bit of chaos in the neighborhood. We're lucky we live on a cul-de-sac so there's not a lot of through traffic but while some parts of the project went quickly, all of the above photos were done in a day, the entire project from start to finish was over two weeks. J. Johnson & Company, the contractor, were experienced and capable and covered up the trench with steel plates, even putting asphalt around the steel plates to make the bump less dramatic.

4' trench dug by backhoe.


Covered up and paved.

The Amazing Kevin Schromm

I asked Rick Wilson for a recommended tile contractor. Rick said that the one guy he would want on any job is Kevin Schromm because Kevin (like Rick) is super meticulous and really cares about his work.

I called Kevin in late February and he told me that he would not be available until April, that he was taking March off to be with his wife and soon to be born child. The timing worked out fine as sheetrock was just wrapping up (One sour note on the sheetrock guys - while I had informed every other work crew that if they needed to use the bathroom they could use the one in the main house as long as I was there and that there is a park nearby with public restrooms if I was away. The sheetrock finish crew showed up unannounced while I was at the hardware store and, in need, peed into the shower drain - which was plugged up as the drainpipes were not yet connected. Kevin showed up soon after to set up for tile work and found a puddle of urine on the shower floor. By the time I got back the sheetrock guys were on their way out after being confronted by Kevin, swearing that they had no idea were the pee came from and having hastily finished up. I cleaned out the pee and gave Joe Faria a call who said that he would deal with the guys.)

Most tile guys use hardirock or cement board for backing. Kevin prefers the old-school method of floating the entire backing with mortar. He has an array of wood slats in various lengths to screed the walls perfectly smooth and square.


Together with Kevin we had picked out a composite of recycled glass and slate, 1" x 1" tiles in 12" x 12" sheets. However the sheets come with the front side of the tile glued to paper so you can't see what the exact pattern will be and the problem 'we' ran into was that some sheets would have mostly light colored slate while others had mostly dark colored slate. Being the perfectionist, Kevin picked out tiles by hand and re-arranged to make the color pattern even across the entire shower stall.


Re-fixing individual tiles


It was a big job and while we both thought that the finished product looked great when asked Kevin said that because of the inconsistencies in the color patterns he wouldn't work with tiles from that manufacturer again.





The final look.