I'm looking to buy an older home soon. Everything is fine with it except for these low hanging power lines coming to the roof of the house. These lines cross over the driveway at approx 10 feet. I'd like to put a basketball goal there in the future, but the lines are too low. Has anyone had success raising the lines or moving them somewhere?
thanks
2007-02-03 16:34:49 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
The clearance of your service drop conductors over your driveway is too low. In the 2005 edition of the National Electrical Code (NEC), article 230.34 references clearances for service drop conductors. Specifically, 230.34(B)(2) requires 12 ft (3.7m) vertical clearance from the ground over residential property and driveways.
The is the utility company's wire and they are responsible for moving this. However, you will probably need to hire an electrician to raise the mast on your electrical service to get the clearance you need.
If you are going to go through the trouble of moving this wire, I recommend putting it underground.
If you need further assistance, please visit:
http://electricalblog.gilchrist-electric.com
2007-02-04 03:46:25 · answer #1 · answered by gilchristelectric 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You needed a professional electrician YESTERDAY. With the insulation disintegrating, you have a major fire hazard, and this wiring should be replaced immediately. The conduit should NOT be hot, and if the fixture is wired to that instead of the wires IN the conduit, that means two things. 1 - the wiring is shorting out on the conduit. Bad news. 2 - Amateur Andy has been working on your wiring. I shudder to think what else he's screwed up, hence the recommendation for a full inspection/rewiring. There are three systems in a house that should always be handled by a competent and knowledgable repairperson. Electrical, plumbing, and HVAC. You sound competent enough to learn how to do this, but it's not your property, so I would avoid anything that will leave you open to liability if you miss something. I would talk you your landlord to see who needs to hire him, and make sure that payment is arranged before anything is done. You don't want to be stuck with the bill if he decides that it's too high. As far as the pipes being electrified, this is probably a sideline from the electrical system being grounded to the plumbing, that was a fairly common way to handle grounding during that time period. The electrician should install a copper grounding rod and transfer the ground to that.
2016-05-24 01:41:18 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The 2002 national electrical code states in section 230.24 B 2 that over a residential driveway the service drop shall not be below 12 feet. What that means is the power company is not required to make it any higher that 12 feet. It is important that you communicate with your electrician, or the power company if you want it higher that that. Probably when this service was installed the code was different that now. You will definantly incur charges from an electrician, and probably will from the power company. Under NO circumstances should you attemt to do anything yourself. Those wires are probably fused very high or not at all. and may have bare spots you won't see. You could very easily be killed messing with them.
2007-02-04 03:35:35 · answer #3 · answered by Sparky 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
call the power company, they are the ones who take care of the lines coming into your home. But don't tell then you want to put a basketball goal, they proably will not waste there time. Give them a more logical reason along with how unsafe it is for them to be that low.
2007-02-03 16:56:16 · answer #4 · answered by 1TON 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you install a new service panel and back feed the old panel the power company will give you a new service drop. Then you can drop the pill in the bucket, if you got game!
2007-02-03 18:18:08 · answer #5 · answered by ron dawg 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The lines aren't too low , your backboard is too high.
I hope you really love B-ball because I think that you are opening a huge can of worms and it could get really expensive really fast.
Talk to the power compamy and see what's possible.
2007-02-03 17:14:19 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
yep just call the electric company they will move them for you we had ours moved to the garage the electrician hooked up the new box and the power company came and disconnected and connected the lines to the new box
2007-02-03 16:44:13 · answer #7 · answered by youhoo it's me 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Those lines belong to the power company. You will need to call them to have them relocated, probably at your expense.
2007-02-03 17:08:06 · answer #8 · answered by Papa 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Call the power co. the power will have to be off at the pole and you can't do that
2007-02-03 16:48:36 · answer #9 · answered by Timothy J 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋