Siding/National Grid Question?

[BigFish]

So I am siding my house....and I need to have the electric meter removed from the side of the house so that I can put a piece of Azek behind it so we can mount the meter on the Azek! My question is this.....do I need to hire an electrician to do this or will National Grid do this task as a service??? Any input would be greatly appreciated from anyone who has had to deal with this??? Thanks!

[Slipknot]

an Electrician can do that Larry

[BigFish]

But will/should National Grid do it? I believe technically they own the meters?? I am going to call them Monday but just looking for insight!

Plus an electrician will cost me?

[spence]

I'm not sure if NG would remove the meter for free. Usually with the meter the electrician would do the exterior work and the power company would come by and make sure the line was connected properly to the house for free.

I wouldn't half ass it though. If you monkey around something very bad might happen.

-spence

[BigFish]

Thats my concern and where the wires also mount to the house on the rake board I will need those handles as well....later. Thats the tricky part as they cross the street overhead?

[spence]

Originally Posted by BigFish

Thats my concern and where the wires also mount to the house on the rake board I will need those handles as well....later. Thats the tricky part as they cross the street overhead?

Yes, definitely electrician territory.

Is the service up to code as to how it's mounted? i.e. I'm assuming the attachment point is lower than the feed? If not it may be time to fix if you're going to muck with things.

-spence

[BigFish]

Oh there was never a question is I was going to do it or not......I don't "F" with electrical! Just a matter of the proper way to do this.

[spence]

Originally Posted by BigFish

Oh there was never a question is I was going to do it or not......I don't "F" with electrical! Just a matter of the proper way to do this.

I would think the proper way would be for an electrician to pull the hanger and meter off and temporarily affix to something else while you replace the boards. I'd think they may want to disconnect the service line that runs to the house but the rest could probably be left intact. This assumes it's already good to go and up to code. If somebody thinks you've mucked with it after the fact it would be a good idea to make it right.

I'm guessing though, I've only replaced one service and my assistant was a master electrician

Call an elec and get an estimate and advice.

-spence

[Pete F.]

I thought we were going to get the story of peeing on the electric fence.

[Jackbass]

Ok national grid owns the wire up to the drip loop. Electrician owns the service drop and meter socket installation.

That being said call your town hall ask to speak to the electrical inspector. Tell him what you are doing. He may allow you to pull a permit to remove the meter socket and re install it.

If you need help I am a contractor in MA with a Masters license. Depending in travel etc. it will probably run you about 350 bucks including permit. That is if you have the backboard cut and a pie e of flashing ready to go.

It is probably 4 screws just depends on how you feel about working around live unfused voltage. A lot can go wrong with primary voltage. I took an arc on a residential service at the beginning of the summer it was awful. Facial burns and metal in my chest. I got it wet and cooled fast enough that I avoided scarring but the pain was intolerable. It is a 2 hour job
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[Raven]

Recent research has shown that memories are not unchanging physical traces in the brain.

Instead, they are malleable constructs that may be rebuilt every time they are recalled,
MIT Technology Review reports.

[macojoe]

I had it done at my old house, The contractor had to do it with one of his guys that was a lic guy! And i needed to get a permit from the town!

[BigFish]

National Grid has sent an arborist out to trim some of the limbs however yesterday I discovered the bark at the bottom of the trunk buckling out...so as I pulled it away I discovered an infestation that has the base of this tree in poor condition which heightens my concern about this tree! The arborist told me he would file a report and try to get it taken down...I will wait to hear on this but I will be calling the Town Tree Czar to meet with them personally and point out my concerns....the town owns the tree so I want it gone!!!

[Raven]

Can't blame you there....
most of the deeper loam has been taken away
leaving tree's with very shallow root systems unable to
withstand winds like their deeper rooted counterparts can.