I didn't pay enough attention to outlets. I got extra outlets by my A/V equipment, but still not enough. I also asked for extra outlets behind the bed in the master, but still not enough. I didn't get an outlet on the mantel and I probably should've for xmas decor. I didn't want a remote for the gas fireplace...I wanted a switch. I got a switch. But the electrician hooked it up to the blower instead of the on/off switch, so now I still have to have a remote. Grrrrr. Similar thing happened with the security system. We told the guy installing it that we were having the house spray foamed and that the wires would not be accessible once sprayed. He didn't pull them out far enough, they all got buried in the foam and now we have to run around and change batteries every so often on all the sensors. Grrrr.

If your husband is insistent on a 4 car garage, then look at making the garage rear entry instead of front or side entry. It wouldn't look like a commercial auto repair place with a small house attached then. It would also give you the turnaround space as a private "party" patio without having to construct an extra patio. It will only be minimally more expensive for your driveway paving to construct it like that and it keeps the facade looking like a house at least. You will have to have a large enough lot for this, but if you're looking at a 4 car, you're not looking at 50 foot wide lots. Our workshop/garage is side entry and the single and double doors are basically in line with the house's side entry garage. Like all side entries, it's at least only partially visible to the street. We've had the "auto shop attached to the house" comments, even though the house is in front and they are separate structures. We had to do the shop in the rear because of codes, but we have a great view to the rear of the property, so building it in a "L" orientation to the house was our compromise to keep as much of the view as possible and still have the shop. I only wish we had had other more aesthetically pleasing options. Starting from scratch gives you a lot more options.

You can use a 20A duplex and feed it with a 12X3 W/G wire. You remove the shorting bar between the hot side (brass) side of the duplex and put the red wire on one screw, the black wire on the other screw, the white wire on the metallic screw and the bare wire on the green screw. With this configuration the red and black wires MUST be on different phases in the branch panel and both breaker trip handles should be connected together so if one trips the other goes with it. A simple 220V 20A breaker would work just fine. You can then draw up to 20 amps from each receptical at the same time. The nuteral (white wire) current would be the difference between the plugs. I have done this in many locations in my home, it passed inspection. The parts are available at any home depot or lowes. The simplest solution is to simply use it as is because only one of the two loads would be on at any one time so no overload.

Sounds like some electricians want to jump to the defense of a fellow electrician, but trust me, you guys don't want to associate with these crooks. First of all, I hired the same electrician a couple years ago when he worked for a different company. At that time, he charged me $45 an hour and then added another $20 for some guy to assist (not an electrician or journeyman). He did satisfactory work and didn't mind if I pitched in to save money so we called him again. This time he says the job will cost about $1300. Wife and I are are just framing in an outbuilding/shed and tell him that's too much for our budget, and thank him for his time. So he suggests that since I'm around and reasonably handy,if I do some of the work it would be cheaper. Okay then, what is your hourly rate? we ask. He says $65. I'm thinking his price has gone up quite a bit but then he says he would bring his assistant. So he realizes this job is quoted on an hourly basis and I will do some of the work. Then he says he has a sudden opening two days away (bad sign). So next day I go about drilling all the holes in the studs and installing half the plug and switch boxes (my materials). The next day, he and some guy who can barely speak english show up. I work with them for about 5+ hours and we get the job done - over head wires from the neighboring building, wiring - all pretty easy stuff. When we get the invoice the next day we have been charged 65$ per hour for EACH of them (per person - total $130 per hour)! They also over-charge for 14+ hours, and include a bunch of driving time- total labour over $900. Worst of all, they actually charge us 1.5 hours for the guy to come out three days earlier to look at the job!!! He spent most of the time complaining about how his wife had a concussion! In other words, according to them, we were out $95 before we even hired them!!!!! On top of all this, as mentioned in my first post, the materials costs were through the &^$%$+* roof - total bill over $1600 - way more than any other quote we got for the job (without me working). He refuses to provide a materials list with prices too - just says wire is expensive. Now c'mon.... I've hired contractors on and off for 20 years and I know when I'm being screwed.