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.