The removal and reinstallation of an electrical meter base in Chestermere was a very interesting job.
We received a phone call from an exterior contractor who we do work for. He is working on a house where water had been penetrating behind the stucco. The eavestrough had been poorly installed which had led to the water issue. The contractor had removed as much of the old siding as possible but the water damage progressed further than hoped and the sheeting behind the meter socket was also rotten.
Panel Upgrade Experts were tasked with removing the meter socket, removing all the rotten house sheeting, and replacing with new OSB.
Before we could start work we scheduled with Fortis (The power supply company) to disconnect power for us the day we planned to do the installation. The lineman arranged directly with our site technician the best time for the disconnection. The power was disconnected just as we arrived to site so we could get started right away.
We used an angle grinder with a diamond blade to cut away the old stucco to expose the rotten sheeting. Stucco dust is very fine and contains silica, which can be very harmful if inhaled. We always carry full PPE in our work vans and it was definitely needed on this job.
After cutting away the stucco around the electrical meter socket we then removed the rotten sheeting. We actually needed to remove more than expected and had the contractor there to provide insight as needed.
Once all the stucco and rotten OSB were removed we cut to size and installed. We installed extra support behind the meter socket as OSB doesn’t have much strength to screw too. We also added some building wrap between the sheeting and the meter socket. This provides the water barrier once the job is finished.
When installing electrical meters we always use washer roofing lag bolts. This gives extra protection against water getting into the electrical meter.
Once the job was complete Forts returned to reconnect power to the house. At this point, we were all finished and were able to vacuum the surrounding area of dust and debris. Even though this is an outside job we still want to leave the work site as if no one had even been there.
Both the customer and contractor were super happy with the job and commented on how easy dealing with Panel Upgrade Experts was.