Temporary Power Pole: Final Wrap-up

Yesterday we got our final statement from the power company billing us for our meter placement which means the temporary power pole installation is complete.

I had no idea that so many steps went in to getting power on a building site (which is what makes it "temporary", once we have a house we'll convert to just "power") so I wrote it all down and asked Mr. Nick to doublecheck me.


In case you're wondering, here's the process:

• Purchase temporary power pole: We bought ours off of craigslist (you can read about it here) used from someone else who was done but you could buy from either Home Depot or Lowes (you would buy the pieces and assemble yourself). Once you purchase it (or build it) you install it based on where you're going to build (remember you're going to run extension cords from this). Also, remember you're going to pay the power company for labor to install the line from the transformer to the temporary power pole when it's time.
• Dig the trench and the hole for the transformer (you can see us doing it here) and for the big conduit that will run from the transformer to the power pole. We did this ourselves but you could hire an earthwork contractor to do it for you. Afer you dig your trench you'll have an informal inspection from the utilities company. This is where we were told that we needed to line the base of the transformer with 5/8 crushed gravel rock minus fines and put sand in the bottom of the trench (after clearing it out, which you can see here). In order to find the gravel rock we went to a quarry and they just dumped it in the back of our truck (as a side note, you should always sweep off the back of your tailgate EVEN THOUGH THEY SAY YOU CAN'T GET OUT OF YOUR TRUCK in the yard. Somewhere between the yard and the road you have to find a place to pull over and clean up anything that could fly off while you're driving. I didn't do this and had a very interesting conversation with a police officer ...
• Once the inspector approves your set-up they will install your transformer. We actually had three inspection visits and a half dozen phone calls from the power company before we had everything to their liking. The power company will probably have manuals or brochures with all the specs but the reality is with so many different pieces you're bound to misread or misinterpret something so my best advice here is to be nice and be patient.
• After the transformer is installed and the conduit is run you can cover up your trench and turn the power on (they'll do one last inspection to make sure the trench is "at grade" which means you didn't come back and pile a bunch of dirt on it or plant a vinyard on top or anything.)
• Finally, you'll get the bill in the mail for meter placement (which is what we got yesterday). Oh yeah, and you get to turn it on!

So that's that, if you're interested in knowing how everything broke down cost wise shoot me an e-mail and I'll let you know!

Photo Credit: Here's a pic of one of our inspection reports, we had to move our ground wire and clean out the temporary power pole (a job Mr. Nick reasoned I was obviously better suited for because my hands are so tiny, funny, that's the same reason my Dad always made me clean the spokes on our family car, I'm noticing a trend).

Power dance with special guest appearance by pink blowdryer

Success! The first major milestone since we bought the land...we have power!

Five acres after five years

Last night Nick and I celebrated our 5th Anniversary with the installation of our brand new transformer, meaning all the work we have been doing on the trenches is finally coming to a head. Today we filled the back part of the trench (that will run from the transformer to the barn) with the expectation that PSE will come on Monday to turn on our power.

Nick and I have never been that serious about celebrating our anniversaries but just for grins I looked up what the traditional gift is for a couple’s 5th. With a chuckle I learned that the suggested medium is “wood.” Fittingly we began our evening on our land, in our woods, with a toast to, who else, us!

Afterwards, we treated ourselves to a nice dinner in Downtown Olympia at Ramblin’ Jacks (praise the lard) before enjoying some local theater at Olympia Little Theater. The first time we went to this space we were newlyweds, living farther up north, looking for something fun to do on a Friday night. I remember getting all dressed up for our big date in the foreign city of Olympia only to find out, as we followed our carefully written instructions, that the theater is in the middle of a small suburb of houses. No flashing lights and no formal parking spaces just a small troupe of passionate people doing what they love. And I do mean small...the same man who played Macbeth five years ago played the father in last night's production of Neil Simon's Plaza Suite. The fact that we were sitting in folding chairs in the middle of what was probably someone's living room (before it was painted floor to ceiling black) made our night all the more perfect. You don't need fancy presents or big showy displays of affection to reinforce the happiness that two people share year after year.

Now that we live here, just minutes from downtown, Olympia has taught me a few key things: there is no such thing as being under-dressed in the Pacific Northwest, although how far you choose to take that allowance is up to you; people will always respect you if you are following your passion, although they will probably still judge you which may not be positive; and life is ALWAYS better when you have someone to share it with, kisses optional but highly encouraged for maximum enjoyment.

Photo Credit: Here we are on our brand new transformer enjoying a chilled bottle of Martinelli's (opened by Nick hitting the top against the concrete block, I forgot the bottle opener).

Conduit loop line, wrapping up the front trench

This weekend we finished up laying the power from the front of the property halfway down to the site where the transformer will go...about 350 feet of trench.

Now that the conduit is buried with the rope running all we have to do is give the power company the go ahead to pull their cable through.

The power company would have done all the trenching ... for a fee, of course. We estimate that by doing it ourselves we saved around $1,000 ... not to mention all the great bonding time that you just can't put a price tag on <3



Song Credit: Discovery performing "Osaka Loop Line"...how much do I love that they aren't one of those lame artists who mutes your music on youtube...rock on Discovery!

Nick cracks the whip and saves the day

What a weekend! I left town for a great bonding weekend with my niece and nephew but Mr. Nick stayed home to work on the land. He dug over 600 feet of trench with our new tractor and supervised the excavation and grading of the back acre for preparation of the barn site (more on that tomorrow).

We had a busy night tonight so it's a two-fer with videos...a closer look at his trenches and the very small part I played in them and then the second situation we've been in where our tractor saved the day.

Enjoy!

Temporary power pole: Just the basics

I've always prided myself in my ability to find a good bargain but Mr. Nick is blowing me out of the water with his deals lately...and the fact that what he's buying is actually necessary for the building of our house, well we won't get into that.

So what's that in the bed of our truck? It's a temporary power pole, nabbed on craigslist for just $50 (had we gone through Home Depot the price would have been $250!)

In case you were wondering why we need one of these here's the scoop: In homes that are already built the power comes in from the road into the house through a meter (underground). When you don't have a house you have to have some place to put the meter. Solution: A temporary power pole which distributes power through a circuit breaker (still underground). We're going to install it and the power company will come and connect it from the power that's in the road (after we pay a connection fee).

Once we build our house the power company will remove the temporary power pole and extend the wire to the house for our permanent power. Then maybe we can sell it to someone else just starting their building journey!

Interested in learning more? Here's a great site I found on HGTVpro.com about the basics of temporary power.

Photo Credit: I took this photo of Mr. Nick in the parking lot of our apartment complex...we're fairly confident no one will be tempted to steal it.