Going from the old overhead lines to the underground service was a long project that took a lot of planning, elbow grease, and back breaking labor. Brad suggested, since the work was spread out over several blog posts to make one summary post. Also, since he’s the knowledgeable one, he would be working on this post too instead of just proof-reading. (With the technical stuff, I know what I’m talking about and can usually convey the general idea, but he knows the technical terms and how things operate.)

Service Entrance Before & After

Main House Before & After

Guest House Before & After

Underground Well Vault Before & After

Also added a well house heater to keep the vault’s temperature at a minimum of 40 degrees.

Granary Before & After

Machine Shed After

The machine shed never had electricity prior to our project.

Barn Before & After

Garage Before & After

Prior to us purchasing the property, the garage did not have electricity. Last fall Brad pulled out his 1954 copy of Wiring Simplified, flipped to the farm wiring chapter, and ran a temporary feed overhead from the barn.

Not pictured are the 14 – 8′ ground rods that were required (2 at each building and 2 at the service entrance) driven so they are completely underground, and the 600+ feet of trenches.

And so completes an ambitious DIY project that from submission of the application to the power company to completion took a bit over 5 months.