I’m in need of electrical outlets outside, for my work area! Help
by
A Stone
I’ve moved to a small home, which has no garage, just a carport. I’m making it into a work area for all of my projects. However I need electricity, I am very capable of almost anything and hoping I can somehow get outlets to the carport instead of using extension cords from house! Any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated!! Will add photos later.
Anna
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You need to decide where you want them, how many you want, and of course how many circuits you'll need. As it is a carport, outlets and boxes rated for out doors. All that being said, you should have a bonded and certified electrician run the wiring from your main fuse panel to at least the area of your install. I emphasis this because electrical work of this type IS DANGEROUS! You can mount the boxes and outlets yourself, it is not hard. Just remember to have the circuits turned off.
My suggestion would be to pull from the main electrical box.
https://m.wikihow.com/Install-an-Electrical-Outlet-from-Scratch
https://www.familyhandyman.com/electrical/wiring-outlets/add-electrical-outlet/view-all/
https://www.constructionprotips.com/jobsite-tips/installing-an-electrical-outlet-anywhere/
Electricity is nothing to fool with. If you are the least bit unsure, call in a licensed electrician. Not worth fire risk if not installed properly. Here is how to hire a contractor if needed.
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0242-hiring-contractor
This is a straight forward project. You don’t say if you have cinder blocks at the bottom of the house as the foundation, but I’m going to proceed on that premise. You also don’t say if you have a basement or a crawl space under the house. It really doesn’t matter because the job will be the same. To begin, buy a long concrete drill bit to use for drilling through the cinder block wall. Drill through the wall from outside the house. This is very important because when the drill bit breaks through it will knock out a hole larger than on the outside. Take your Romex (shielded wire with 3 wires inside) and run it through the wall. Take the other end and run it back to the service panel to pick up the power. Make sure you avoid any power sources! The best way to do this is to turn the main breaker off. Connect to a new breaker that you install. Make sure you use an exterior box to put the outlets in. Before you mount the box, seal around the wiring with caulking, and don’t spare the caulk. Mount the box to the wall and wire up the outlets. I would recommend using a box for 4 outlets so you can have more outlets than using just 2. Sometime in the future you will thank yourself.