Posted: 8/23/2026 3:06:55 PM EDT
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I recently had a free standing deck/pergola built in the backyard. It is about 12 feet from the house. I would like to run electricity to it to power an outdoor ceiling fan, some lights, and a couple of outlets for accessories while grilling. My options are as follows: 1: Dig and run conduit between the pergola and house, run romex through the conduit, then drill through the wall of the house and tie into an electrical outlet in the master bedroom. 2: Same as #1, but hire an electrician to do the actual wiring, with me doing the digging and burying (if an electrician would be cool with this). 3: Same as 1 and 2, except have the electrician run the wire all the way to the master panel on the other side of the house and garage, with a dedicated breaker. Obviously, #1 would be on the down-low, and 2 and 3 would require permits. I live in suburbia (no HOA), so I am a little hesitant to do non-permitted work. What would be a ballpark fair price to have this done in Florida? Thoughts? |
"You see? It's like I've always said; You can get more with a kind word and a two-by-four than you can with just a kind word." - Marcus Cole
Direct burial wire will work. No, standard indoor Romex (NM-B) wire is not rated for direct burial. However, Southwire (the owner of the Romex brand) manufactures UF-B (Underground Feeder) cable, which is explicitly rated and designed for direct earth burial. |
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Originally Posted By -Obsessed-: Actually, none of those. Step 1 is read the NEC. NEC says no Romex in wet locations.  Outdoor (UF-B) wire, then. My original question still stands. |
"You see? It's like I've always said; You can get more with a kind word and a two-by-four than you can with just a kind word." - Marcus Cole
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Originally Posted By Kitulu: Outdoor (UF-B) wire, then. My original question still stands. Option 3. But pull the permit and do the work yourself. You will learn a lot, and stay safe along the way. And you will save a fortune. Hell Im doing electrical right now as the one contractor I hired in my life didn't pull permits and didn't install to code. So I get to redo it so the inspector doesnt fail me for an unrelated spa circuit Im doing. |
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Option 1 but direct burial inside gray PVC conduit and use all outdoor/weatherproof rated boxes, cover and outlets. Easy DIY project. If you want to add some protection from any future gardening/digging mishaps, add a layer of stone/pebbles atop the PVC. OR Hire an electrician to install a new outdoor outlet on the side of your house on a new dedicated 15 or 20 amp line and extend off of that yourself. |
Member Garand Collectors Association http://thegca.org/
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After doing a quick search, it sounds like doing a Homeowner's Electrical or Owner-Builder permit in Florida is at the county level and pretty common, but maybe requires applying for the permit in person? If you can take the time off to go the Building Department, and can present as confident/determined, you should be able to work with them and get the forms filled out. I did my own permit applications for Structure, Septic & HVAC (in my free state), and always made sure I was informed enough to not take "No" for an answer. It can be a fine line of being very polite, just a tiny bit pushy, and playing dumb to the usual red tape. As for the method: conduit it cheap, oversize it so you can add more wire in the future, pull the wire through the conduit before backfill, and if you've never putzed around in a panel before, just wear rubber boots and only use one hand 
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| Just as an FYI OP, make sure if you use Gray PVC (which I prefer myself), ensure it is schedule 80 PVC. Schedule 40 isn't up to code in this application. If you bury it, it must be 18" deep. Unless you have 30A breaker or less, 120V only (not 240V) and it is GFCI protected BEFORE it goes below ground, then you can reduce to 12". |
