I Got the Powah!

When the house was inspected we discovered that the original electrical wiring was still in use here at The Nest. And needless to say, a lot has changed in terms of electrical wiring since the early 20th century! The nest was running on Knob and Tube wiring which is severely outdated for all our 2015 toys and gadgets and appliances. Not to mention dangerous! This 100 year old wiring was heavily worn and melted in some places. We heard from neighbors that the previous owners had had some trouble with it, arcing and so on. Yikes! There was also only one outlet in each room. Having the option to plug in electronics on opposite sides of the room is one of those things you take for granted in newer construction. The house was going to have to be completely rewired. A BIG job!

So we called in a few contractors and started to take bids on the job. I called about 10 different electricians and many of them said the job was just too big for them! We had four companies prepare official bids for us and wow, the difference in price and the difference in professionalism of the contractors was pretty mind blowing. We had one bid for under &15k (but we watched this bozo crash into a street sign while pulling out of the driveway). And the highest priced bid was almost $40k!! We finally settled on a relatively small local company: Conor O'Keefe Master Electrician.  

I was impressed with how eager they were for the job and the level of experience they had with jobs like mine. They also worked with us a bit on the price, given that Bill and I agreed to do some of the prep and finish work (well, let's be honest, Bill was the one who ended up doing said work... but I handed him tools and did some very important cheerleading!). I signed on the line and the guys showed up the next week start giving The Nest her brand new Romex nervous system!

That was Sept 21. That was 13 weeks ago. We went through three months of having the crew in our space almost every day. I grew pretty accustomed to the "knock knock knock GOOD MORNING" announcing their arrival at about 7:05AM. The guys probably spent more waking hours at the nest than we did! We got to know each other pretty well, Ryan and Brian were the primary crew working at The Nest. I got a kick out of their matching names and the fact that they've been best friends since childhood. They were respectful and professional and very hardworking! Ryan has been with Conor's company since he was 16 years old! 

We had our work cut out for us too. Since we agreed to pitch in on the prep work, occasionally Conor would let Bill know about a crucial carpentry task that needed to be completed before they proceeded with part of the project. So Bill had to squeeze it in on nights or weekends, between his full time job, a side project he was working on, and his music. No time for rest! And I had to take frequent trips to the hardware stores to select and purchase the ceiling fans, sconces, and overhead lights to be installed. I spent hours staring up at this sight at Home Depot. A little overwhelming!

All in all, Conor's crew installed seven ceiling fans, two bathroom fans, 4 overhead lights, six sconces, and dozens of outlets. I often left The Depot with a cart looking like this!

We never knew what new surprises would be there when we returned home after our workday. A new hole in the wall with horsehair plaster spilling out? A new outlet installed? Then finally new fixtures, room by room? But there was always dust! Fine white dust that was generated every time the guys cut into the walls. It was a slow process. And hard to keep morale up because so little of the guys hard work was actually visible, except for new openings for outlets and rare glimpses of brand new wires that they fed through twisting passageways in the walls and ceilings. 

Not gonna lie, they guys were great, but it was getting a little old having them in the house, the dust, not knowing which outlets would be working on any given evening, having to ask if it was ok to use the crock pot (wouldn't want power to be cut midday and come home to uncooked dinner!) And you must be wondering what Simon thought about all this stomping and cutting and activity in his space. Well, he handled it quite well actually! He never seemed to be spooked by the noise and they guys said he "just stares at us" all day! A resilient turtle he is. 

But just when I was up to "here" things started to move a bit faster. The guys started installing the fixtures. And my favorite part: dimmer switches everywhere!

(If I was Queen I would make dimmers mandatory on every light switch in the land. Trust me, dimmers are a serious game changer).

Finally Conor let us know that the guys had finished feeding the new wires through the walls and it was ok to start closing up all the surgical sites! We started patching holes right away. Of course, the tenants came first. And then we started our patching and painting jobs, room by room. Stay tuned on that one, that huge job is still in progress...

Once all the wires and fixtures were installed, The Nest was ready for the big finalle: updating the service from 60 amps to 200 amps. This update would bring her up to code and allow us to run higher powered appliances without tripping fuses all the time. Bring it. So Conor showed up with his bucket truck and went skyward to get the job done. 

He worked his magic and ta-da! We were in business! There were a few more odds and ends to wrap up, and the guys were hustling to get it done. It reminded me of the last phase of a big move, where you walk around a mostly empty apartment picking up odds and ends, seemingly a never ending job. The very last step was for Conor to come and haul away the dozens of contractor bags of construction waste that were stashed in the basement and attic. He swept the basement and left the keys in the mail slot. Lee, the company CFO and also Conor's mom, came to collect my final payment and we celebrated with a hug. Hip hip hooray!!!

We will need them to come back again in the future when we reno the kitchen and add living space on the third floor. But for now we can check that OFF THE LIST! 

Big thanks and high fives to Conor, Ryan, Brian, Jeff, and Lee. You were respectful, diligent, patient, accommodating, and generally GREAT through this saga! I think I'll kinda miss my extra housemates! But I'd rather see you in the grocery store  than at 7:05am when I'm still in my PJs ;)