Construction: Remodels
I have been doing remodels my entire career. In fact my first job included a major kitchen remodel. The biggest concern you generally face when doing a kitchen remodel is whether your electrical service is large enough, adequate to accommodate additional circuitry necessary any additional appliances you may want. Obviously kitchens nowadays have appliances that didn’t exist when most of the houses in the Boston suburbs were built. Most homes in which the kitchen hasn’t been remodeled don’t have sufficient circuitry or enough receptacles, and they aren’t built to today’s stricter, safer electrical code. In order to allow for appliances such as garbage disposals, dish washers, microwaves, sub-zero refrigerators, instant hot water heaters, beverage centers, professional grade ranges, multiple ovens, warming drawers, additional lighting, and more, I need to make sure that you have the electrical service and circuitry you need to accommodate your needs.
Lighting: General
An issue you may face when upgrading the lighting in your home is that, unless you’ve seen and liked someone else’s remodeled house, you might not have any idea what types of lighting can be used in modern, up-to-date spaces: recessed lighting, under cabinet lighting, hanging pendant lights, in-cabinet lighting, cove lighting, ambiance lighting, etc. My job is to explain the benefits of different types of lighting and try, when possible, to take my customers to visit jobs I’ve done in the past so that they can see firsthand the types of lighting that may be best for their home. I have to become sensitive to your needs and use my experience to figure out what you want and what lighting will make your home warm and inviting.
Construction: Kitchen
Two issues you often face when doing a kitchen remodel are contractors who don’t adhere to a schedule and who can’t coordinate with other contractors to get the job done in a reasonable amount of time. You want to know that you are going to be inconvenienced for the least amount of time. Kitchens are particularly tricky when it comes to scheduling. If you are talking about a bathroom remodel, most houses have more than one bathroom, so having one under construction may be a minor inconvenience. Most houses have only one kitchen, so you want to know that I am going to stick to a committed time frame and complete the job on budget. Many customers want to know if I can set up a temporary kitchen somewhere else in their house – in the basement, for example. I often do this so that the customer is not totally inconvenienced. In addition, many kitchen remodels involve an addition or expansion of space into another room in the house. Because of this, kitchen remodels can take up to several weeks to complete. Therefore, I need to have a rapport with the general contractor, carpenter and other trade’s people. You don’t want to hear that their job has been held up because of the electrician. You need to feel that your kitchen remodel is the most important job I have and that I’ll drop and run, if need be, to accommodate your project.
Construction: Baths
Often when remodeling bathrooms, other electricians will lay out the switches, receptacles and vanity lights where it is most convenient for them- which ends up ultimately being in the wrong place for you. In order to do the lay out correctly during the rough, I make sure to take many things into consideration: the size of the vanity, the size of the backsplash, the size and shape of the mirrors, any possible tiling, anything that may be mounted to the wall – towel bars, soap dishes, etc. This way I ensure that there will be no issues with the finished product – it will be up to my standards.
Construction: Baths
Before starting a bathroom remodel, it is important for you to know what “luxuries” you might want: heated towel bars, tile warming floor, hydro massage bathtub, steam shower. You also need to know, especially in the case of a master bathroom, exactly what your desires are with regard to small appliances: blow dryers, curling irons, electric razors, etc. There is nothing more aggravating than trying to get ready in the morning and having a circuit trip. Even a bathroom that is wired to the standards in the National Electrical Code may not have enough circuitry to accommodate the customers’ needs. Many electricians save their own time and costs by wiring bathrooms just to code. You need to understand that electrical codes are a minimum requirement and bathrooms wired this way may not work for you on a day-to-day basis. I make sure to communicate with clients and give them a bathroom that functions for them.
Lighting: General
When I’m designing lighting, the first thing that I take into consideration is how each room is to be illuminated with regard not only to lumens, or brightness, but also with regard to energy efficiency. There are many options when it comes to lighting: surface mounted lights, recessed lights, paddle fans with lights; the list goes on and on. If I have a customer who likes a “clean ceiling look”, I recommend half constant/half switched receptacles where table and floor lamps are controlled by one or more switches. There is also the option of wall sconces. However, wall sconces can limit wall space and, once they’re in place, relocating them could be a major project, so you need to be sure that is the best option before making that decision. I’ve found lighting design to be one of the more challenging, but also more rewarding parts of my job.
Power: Switches
It is important to think out the layout of a room before determining the layout of the switches. Although switches have to be at every entrance or exit of a room, by code, there is the choice of which side of the door to install them on; the switches can be on the inside of the room or outside the door. I also work with my customers to decide the number of switches they want at each location. For example, in a bedroom, there may be cove lighting, recessed lighting, ceiling fan lights, closet lights, etc. Most people don’t like multiple ganged switches – most people don’t like more than two, maybe three switches in one place. If it’s a larger bedroom, you may prefer to be able to turn off their bedroom lights from the bed without having to get up. This is just one of the many decisions that need to be made before the job begins.
Power: Plugs
Some people, specifically with regard to rooms in the front of their house, want receptacles under windows so that during the holidays they are able to install holiday lighting without using extension cords. Even though the National Electrical Code has a “six foot rule” - meaning that there is a twelve foot maximum distance between receptacles - that may not be enough. One of the things that I do not want to see is that you end up with an inadequate number of receptacles, forcing you to use those hideous and unsafe extension cords. I also work with you to take into consideration what you are going to use different receptacles for. Are they going to be general use receptacles or will they require separate circuits because they are going to be used for specific purposes such as window air-conditioning or electronic devices that require surge protection? All of this is best determined before starting a job.
Life Saving Devices: General
Customers need to know that when putting on an addition or doing a renovation that involved adding or substantially changing a bedroom, the entire house, including existing bedrooms must be brought up to the present standard with regard to life saving devices according to the Massachusetts State Building Code, regardless of the age of the home.
