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Underground power wire cut to garage.

5K views 14 replies 10 participants last post by  Duckweather 
#1 ·
I just bought a home that has a detached garage located 20 feet from the home. The garage was wired with lights and outlets. There is a wire coming out of the ground enclosed within a metal sleeve at the corner of the garage. The wire appears to be coming from the direction of the home. The wire was cut off at the ground so it's no longer connected to the garage. I measured the wires and there is no power on the line. The area between the home and the garage is covered with concrete. I went under the home and I can't find any wire that looks like it is going from the breakerbox to the garage. All breakers are turned on.
I don't really want to tunnel under the concrete to bury a new cable. I am wondering what other options there are for getting power to the garage. Could I run an extension cord up higher (maybe 9 feet high) from the home to the garage? Anything else I should consider?
*Note: This is a rental property.
 
#2 ·
If only needing 120v for lights and a couple of outlets, get digging. I just ran 10/2 UF to my garage since it was about 80 feet from my house. You can get by with 12/2 UF. If going to go with 240v and looking at anything higher in voltage, and use, need to post what all you plan on doing out there.

If just lights, the garage door opener, and like I stated before a couple of convenience outlets, you can get by with 12/2 uf.
 
#4 ·
I went under the home and I can't find any wire that looks like it is going from the breakerbox to the garage. Anything else I should consider?
*Note: This is a rental property.
Invite your electrician to come by and look it over.
Odds are he'll find how/where the feed to the garage is.

Whether that feed can be re-established is at best "iffy".
Beyond the PITA aspect of the concrete is the Q of wire and conduit and grounding.

hth
 
#5 ·
If the wire was cut, especially to an unusable length, there is a good reason. Either there was a problem with the wire itself/feed, or a problem within the garage.

Most people won't cut power to a garage for no reason, whether they need it or not because of the work involved to repair/replace.

Since you note you are on a rental property, you can't do electrical work yourself. Owner has to hire an electrician, or do it himself.

Now if you need a temporary solution (few days to a week, max a month) then you can use an extension cord. But in no way is this permanent. This means, plug it in, roll it out, use it for a few days to a week, roll it up, and store it. Roll it out when you need it again. You cannot mount the cord, hang it, staple it, nail it, or in any way connect it to the garage. Your also limited to 15a of power.
 
#6 ·
Combining the OP's first and last sentences, I believe he/she just purchased this place to rent out. Still many areas only allow owners to do the work if it's their primary residence, and not a rental. So timerec, you should check with you're local building department to see if you need to hire an electrician.

Now, I've seen homes where power has been permanently run via an overhead line from the house to the garage. Would this be a possibility, or was this practice banned in a NEC revision?
 
#13 ·
I think you need to know where the cable enters the house before deciding. Suggesting you have to dig up the concrete presumes there is a cable break underground. I don't think you know that.

I would try to see where a stub of conduit is going down the side of the house closest to the stranded conduit by the garage. They probably chose shortest trench length so use that to dial in your house side search. If you find that end maybe it was just disconnected before it routes to panel or was maybe just slaved off of an existing circuit and is sitting disconnected within a box.

Best case scenario you solve the connection issue at the house side and chip out around the garage pipe and splice the cable there and rerun to the garage. A bit of work but a lot better than a new driveway.
 
#14 ·
thanks for all the replies. I think I will check to see if the garage is coming off an existing circuit. I was tracing it back to the fuse box, but it may be going to a junction box.
if I have to run overhead, what type of wire is used?

thanks again.
 
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