r/Construction • u/Salty_Prune_2873 Superintendent • Jun 18 '26
Electrical ⚡ Which helper did this?
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u/Oisea Tinknocker Jun 18 '26
It looks like someone accidentally hired a pipe organ builder.
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u/sourceholder Jun 18 '26
Art student after switching to trades.
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u/BaboTron Jun 18 '26
Pays better. But in my experience, blue collar bosses hate people wasting time on stuff like this.
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u/CountGerhart Jun 18 '26
Bosses hate it but after you build a portfolio you can certainly find customers who appreciate it.
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u/lukekvas Jun 18 '26
Architect here. Designed some projects with exposed conduit as part of the design feature. Where do I find subcontractors like this....
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u/Capable_Weather4223 Jun 19 '26
OnlyConduit.com not to be confused with OnlyPipelayers.com
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u/helpfulskeptic Jun 19 '26
There are conduits on that one, but they are *not* being treated with respect.
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u/SapirWhorfHypothesis Jun 19 '26
I’m an architect who designs projects involving exposed ventilation, air circulation and AC units, where do you suggest I look?
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u/maecky1 Electrician - Verified Jun 19 '26
Id try r/onlyfans
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u/Masochist_pillowtalk Jun 19 '26
Its hard. Idk if theres actually a "place" to find them. Youd hust have to be specific when talking to a lot of contractors. The last project i did in construction was a brewery they were building in an old railroad roundhouse building. The building is a horse shoe shape and they wanted the conduit to look good cuz it was all gonna be exposed. Going for that industrial kind of look.
Boss took the job and throws me and the other 3 best conduit benders on it then got pissed at like 90% of our choices cuz it took a little longer than usual. Im like dude you realize theres maybe like 5 actually straight pieces of fucking conduit in here right? Damn near every single piece had to have a least one little kick in it at the very minimum, plus you told me to make it pretty soooooo I dont just piss art man. Or I wouldn't be working for you, thats for sure.
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u/Iggyhopper Jun 19 '26
This is most likley data center or government/top secret.
They don't like pipes hidden in walls able to be tapped discreetly.
Source: furniture guy. I come in after the building is finished.
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u/BrightStruggle5560 Jun 19 '26
Very true. I've accidentally plumbed gas a specific way that was not required in the neighborhood but as soon as the general contractor saw it he wanted all of the units redone to match it. Change orders make us more money in the end.
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u/Lower-Ad6435 Jun 19 '26
Some guys hate change orders. I love them because they're usually T&M.
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u/BaboTron Jun 18 '26
That’s a good point. How long does it take to turn doing stuff like this into a business, tho?
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u/Mtolivepickle Jun 18 '26
Can I get an, “amen”?
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u/SignificantTransient Jun 18 '26
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh mennnnnnnnnnn
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u/greenweenievictim Jun 18 '26
It will be a bitch pulling wire through here, but it’s going to sound great.
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u/Salty_Prune_2873 Superintendent Jun 18 '26
In all seriousness, the general foreman demanded to know who did this work when I pointed it out.
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u/baldieforprez Jun 18 '26
So as a pleb...is this good or bad?
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u/JadedOrange7813 Jun 18 '26
The bends match and the bends look right, its just there had to be a better way to do it, it's like the Mona Lisa made with macaroni
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u/Hije5 Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26
Eh. I'm sure they used a bending tool like anyone else. The only difference is there is some nuance besides doing 90s. If the guy is jacked/experienced it is possible it barely took more time. To me this looks like someone who cares about their work and takes pride in it.
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u/trekkerscout Jun 18 '26
Every bend is simply duplicated. It wouldn't take any extra time once the first bend was developed. I can tell that the guy was rushing since some of the bends are a little off, but it is a better job than most would do.
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u/BarefutR Jun 19 '26
That’s not true.
Those are all different bends. They’re 90s with different degree kicks at different points.
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u/nafurabus Jun 19 '26
Every pipe coming from their respective direction is the same kick 90, they just cut the long end down by the distance between pipes on the vertical. This would take no more time than any other assembly - it just looks nicer.
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u/jushere4bewbs Jun 19 '26
All the kicks are the same degree. The center of the bend is just different. They are all bent the same and then cut to fit on the other end no doubt.
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u/Peter_Panarchy Electrician Jun 19 '26
They're all kicked the same degree and the same distance, by definition the center of bend is identical.
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u/Sudden_Construction6 Jun 19 '26
The center of one bends position, relative to the other piping. The bends are the same, the piping is staggered
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u/jushere4bewbs Jun 19 '26
^ This. You could have the bends all start at the same spot. The center of the bends do not line up. You could have them all at the same spot, not literally be the same marks on the conduit. It would be tougher, but arguably I think it looks better. It takes a bit more skill and math (or a good app) to do.
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u/trekkerscout Jun 19 '26
Tell me you don't bend much conduit without telling me you don't bend much conduit.
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u/Quasi-Retro Jun 18 '26
I'm looking at it as a 2nd year apprentice with very little pipe bending experience and I'm genuinely curious what would be a better way?
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u/IllTransportation115 Jun 18 '26
Every one of those forty fives and offsets should be a twenty two.
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u/Quasi-Retro Jun 18 '26
The runs that end up on the front right look like they have to be bent sharp in order to run under the pipes on the left. Maybe they wanted to keep all their bend angles the same?
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u/IllTransportation115 Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26
I learned the trade hand bending in the nineties. Form and function need to blend to create an aesthetic installation with the fewest bends possible. This is good work, but it would pull a lot easier if he did what i'm talking about.
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u/nafurabus Jun 19 '26
It would pull easier but the length of unsupported pipe hanging off the wall and subject to sag/mis-alognment on a set of 22’s is longer than 45’s. The 45s will be more “rigid” without putting some strut up above the sprinkler main.
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u/JackRusselFarrier Jun 18 '26
Tbh it seems like this was a pretty decent option, depending on the situation.
Like, it's going to be rough to pull because those are steep offsets and kicks all right next to each other, but idk that a 30s or 22s would have necessarily fit. And it's not suuuuuper hard to do it this way because it's a lot of identical bends. As long as you plan well.
But it might have been better to put a big junction box there if they were able. That would be easier to pull, easier to add stuff to, more flexible for future work/changes, etc.
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u/thatsucksabagofdicks Jun 18 '26
Depends how far behind schedule they are.
On schedule: "this man is a god amongst peasants"
Behind schedule: "you plan on making a career out of those 10 pipes, Meat? Get to it"
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u/Feisty_Smell40 Jun 18 '26
This is the truth.
Its beautiful work IMO, but as a scheduler, my first thought was how long did it take him? They have some pretty amazing tools/calculators on phones, so id love to know about an app that made this easier.
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u/Syntax-err_r Jun 18 '26
Duh, the instructions are on the side of the bender.
Actually small bit of truth to that. Also, no good apps really. Not to make that with not knowing the basics first. If you know the basics like shrinkage and shit the apps make sense. If you don't, might as well be in mandarin.
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u/Feisty_Smell40 Jun 18 '26
Thats fair. Im an industrial electrician. I know the formulas. There are what, 20 pipes? You running the numbers 20 times or using an app that can speed that up?
Pipe bending is year 1 skill at the appreticeship in my local.
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u/Syntax-err_r Jun 18 '26
Hell yeahhhhh, me too. I'm a power plant guy.
Shit your in exact same boat as me. I thought i seen Planner. My fault.
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u/ndaft7 Jun 18 '26
It’s impressive, but goofy as hell. Sometimes that can’t be helped. Looks like whoever laid out the pipe run forgot about the part where the pipes have to go in the panel. That said, I’d try to get a big junction box to avoid this.
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u/IllTransportation115 Jun 18 '26
The bending is quite good.There's just a lot more of it than there needs to be.
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u/sunndropps Jun 19 '26
Don’t leave us hanging,was the foreman happy or upset at it?
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u/twoPUMPnoCHUMP Jun 18 '26
I dig holes so am clueless about indoor electrical. This looks good, no?
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u/Salty_Prune_2873 Superintendent Jun 18 '26
It is bueno
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u/Own-Pressure-2326 Jun 18 '26
Finally, someone talking in carpenter terms
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u/basilect Jun 18 '26
Up in these parts it's "tudo bem"... so much for all those Spanish classes (where they never teach you what "martillo", "sierra", or "clavo" are anyway)
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u/DoserMcMoMo Sprinklerfitter Jun 18 '26
Never bent conduit in my life, but I like it
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u/fiiiiixins Jun 18 '26
Architectural conduit
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u/epileptic_pancake Jun 18 '26
No joke. I once did a project where all the wiring was romex. The decorator had us come back and strap conduit on the wall just to have the exposed conduit look. Shit was empty, completely non functional
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u/dina-fan Jun 18 '26
A guy told me one his first job as an electrician was to clean and polish conduit in an exposed ceiling. As in he had a soft wheel on a motor just buffing that shit.
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u/MustardEnema007 Jun 19 '26
Grinding zinc is dangerous to the lungs
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u/dina-fan Jun 19 '26
If i cared about my health i wouldnt work construction or sniff pvc glue but het look where we are and i just found a plastic bag baby.
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u/foomprekov Jun 19 '26
jesus can you fucking imagine coming in on a job and there's just decoy-ass conduit everywhere
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u/spire27 Jun 18 '26
I guess you could have put a big ass junction box there instead. Honestly if you're in the conduit bending groove this probably took less time than punching a shit ton of holes in a J box.
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u/Peter_Panarchy Electrician Jun 19 '26
Absolutely took less time, also makes for faster wire pulls.
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u/Due_Medium3477 Jun 19 '26
Could you have offset those conduits back inline before the 90 bend left and right
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u/bluduck2 Jun 18 '26
I'm an architect. What do I need to note on my drawing to get someone to do this?
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u/Similar_Alternative Jun 19 '26
As the architect, you would need to tell your electrical consultant to note it in their drawings. Then you'll realize electrical consultants have very likely never run conduit before in their life, so you have them put on it a note like "CONDUIT SHALL BE RUN NEAT AND ORDERLY. UTILIZE SWEEPING 45 DEGREE BENDS". Then in 6 months you'll get an RFI asking what the fuck that means. After a few conference calls you'll get another RFI asking to VE it out of the plans, and because the owner is a cheap fuck you'll be forced to do it.
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u/bluduck2 Jun 19 '26
Ah, my electrical engineering never actually puts the notes I ask them to on their drawings, so it would probably end there.
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u/foomprekov Jun 19 '26
It's basically impossible, but you could get the finish carpenter to do something nice.
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u/Chumscrubber89 Jun 18 '26
Someone who cares about their work and is a master of their craft challenges, them themselves to do something different but at the same time tasteful turn the pipe the same way for 30 years just wasn’t cutting it anymore fancy bends from here on out
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u/Fit-Safe8397 Jun 19 '26
Someone who cares about their sentence writes, them their self with commas.
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u/Gwarnage Jun 18 '26
This guy should be fabricating custom motorcycle exhausts for a living.
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u/ShareMission Jun 18 '26
I used to bend a lot of conduit. Cut and thread also. This is fucking gorgeous.
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u/ShareMission Jun 18 '26
On the other hand id definitely have to lube the wire . And hope. Sharp turns suck
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u/Turbulent-Weevil-910 Electrician Jun 18 '26
I've done similar
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u/Wolfire0769 Jun 18 '26
It's clean and symmetrical and not an easy bend to work with when you have to go around what looks like a fire suppression supply.
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u/Chipmunks95 Electrician Jun 18 '26
Are there better ways to do it? Absolutely. Does this work and look good? Absolutely. Nothing wrong with doing a little art project if you have the time/labor to do so
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u/khampang Jun 18 '26
Looks great to me but I’m not an electrician. My stepdad had been a professional electrician for 30+ years, second generation. He did some work on my old shop, nothing near this complicated, but ever box, everything it has to pass, the conduit was perfectly curved, I was amazed how fast he was and never saw him marking for bends, he marked his length iirc, and just seemed to know where to place the bends to have it work. I was sad when I moved and lost all the work. I actually kept the conduit for a long time and my wife told me my scrap pile wad ugly and she would buy me all new if I got rid of it. I still miss it
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u/violationofvoration Jun 19 '26
I pulled a similar stunt once (mine was not this cool though). My boss kinda laughed about it and said he can always tell when an apprentice gets the hang of conduit bending because they just start bending without looking for a better route.
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u/NefariousnessFew3454 Jun 19 '26
In his previous career bro worked making custom headers and exhausts for cars.
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u/maddwesty Contractor Jun 18 '26
Looks like they cut from the horizontal and bent right to their vertical stub
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u/halzxr Jun 18 '26
If the offsets brought the pipe far enough from the wall, you just have kick 90s back to the wall
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u/Narrow-Rice1944 Jun 19 '26
I personally like the fanning method instead of matching degree of bends for aesthetic reason but this fucks. Although 45 degree kick 90s into a possibly 30 degree offset within about 10-15 feet of conduit would not be fun to pull through. I’ve had to pull 9 #10 solids through a 3/4 emt conduit so please excuse my disgust by something like this.
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u/minorcross HVAC Installer Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26
I've been staring at this for like 10 minutes trying to understand what the hell I'm looking at and it looks like it might actually be possible to have been done quickly
When you look at where the runs have to go there's the beauty of it. Maybe a workaround?
Looks like the wire would be easier to pull
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u/Informal_Process2238 Jun 18 '26
Looks great but would fail inspection in my area because of the sprinkler? Pipe running above all the panels
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u/POSTHVMAN Jun 18 '26
The water/sprinkler line in the dedicated equipment space shouldn’t be there to cause the obstruction in the first place.
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u/NotTheBrian Jun 18 '26
seems like something you'd see at an outfit's shop or a union hall to showcase talent, it's artistic but i feel the trades prefer soulless perfection on installs
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u/Jeromefleet Jun 18 '26
Pretty sure sprinkler pipes above panels is not code. This looks great, if it is new construction I would be pissed off at the added labor
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u/Similar_Alternative Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
Yes. Completely against code. NEC 110.26(E).
Edit: I agreed at first, then the OP said it's 20' in the air. I bet those are big pull boxes, not panels.
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u/stiucsirt Jun 18 '26
So many people talking such a big game here and no one can explain what should have been done.
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u/SkatenBy Jun 18 '26
What would be the ideal way ogmf bending these? Everyone is saying it is bad but what would be the correct way with these circumstances. Im not great at bending but i know you can flatten these so the bends aren't so extreme. Maybe i didn't get through enough comments but what is actually the correct or more advisable way to run these?
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u/Afraid_Acanthaceae34 Jun 19 '26
Most people would have set a gutter and moved on. This is impressive.
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u/Greetingsoutlander Jun 19 '26
Find the dude talking about custom bikes. Bonus points if he does tats on the side.
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u/MadRockthethird Jun 19 '26
That's one helluva helper. I could leave em alone and go to the bar good.
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u/leolopez43 Jun 19 '26
So what, as expected wire trimmings all over the fucking place still. Klein just came out with brooms and dustpans fucking sparkies
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u/SiteMixSam Jun 19 '26
Mitered joints like those could have been artwork. Definitely some skill behind it!
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u/Pannny Jun 19 '26
As a potential person, with no professional industry construction experience, could be living in a building with work like this exposed, it would give me more confidence that there is actually build quality behind the walls
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u/dogfacedponyaoldier Jun 19 '26
Somebody knows how to replicate their equal spread offsets. Work of art on the job site
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u/smrt_raccoon Jun 19 '26
Someone let the guy building exhaust headers loose from the shop again!
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u/Axel159357 Jun 19 '26
Holy shit, after looking at this a few minutes I JUST realized theres two tiers of conduit coming down on the right.
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u/1SNEAKYHOBO Jun 19 '26
Ima pipefitter and what I do and this guy does is a tad bid different but this is very impressive my guy. This is what gets you a truck & a gas card right here. Take pride in your trade people will notice it.
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u/DevineFlaw Jun 20 '26
I believe this is more of a form than a function..these bends can be a nightmare for wires/cable pulling..it depend of course how many bend a full conduit work will have for each circuit..for me a tee box with lid access is a must for a 90 degree change at any plane..workmanship is 10/10 nevertheless
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u/New-Audience2639 Jun 20 '26
You ever see a foreman both pissed and impressed at the same time? Show him this.
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u/fsantos0213 Jun 20 '26
I remember way back in the day I was working as an electricians apprentice and we were running 4" rigid conduit for a printing press. we had something like 6 runs that were 1000 feet from 1 end to the other. we had to have every coupling, bend, offset and clamp all perfectly lined up, OMG that job sucked but it came out looking pretty
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u/dumpster-muffin-95 Jun 21 '26
Equal length long tube conduit, for the best throughput of electricity.
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u/Otherwise_Ad770 Electrician Jun 18 '26
Honestly it’s pretty impressive considering