Subpanel installation for garages, shops and additions
A second panel for a garage, workshop, addition or outbuilding with its own breakers.
Short answer: A subpanel is a smaller breaker panel fed from your main panel. It adds circuit space where you need it, like a garage workshop, a backyard office or an addition, without running every circuit back to the main.
When the main panel is full or far away, a subpanel is often cleaner and cheaper than many long circuit runs. It also gives an outbuilding its own shutoff, which the code requires for detached structures.
We size the feeder for the load you plan, choose the right wire and conduit for indoor, attic or buried runs, and set up grounding and neutral separation correctly. That separation is where many DIY subpanels go wrong.
Subpanel Installation: signs to watch for
- Your main panel has no open spaces
- You are building a garage shop or a backyard office
- An addition needs several new circuits
- A detached garage or casita needs power
- You want welding, compressor or kiln circuits
How we handle it
- Plan the loads and size the feeder breaker and wire
- Route the feeder through attic, wall or trench
- Mount and wire the subpanel with isolated neutral and grounding
- Permit, inspection, and labeled circuits
Typical subpanel installation
Long trenches to detached buildings sit at the higher end.
Subpanel or service upgrade?
A subpanel adds spaces, not capacity. If your main service is already near its limit, a subpanel will not add the power you need and a service upgrade is the answer. If the service has room and the main panel is simply full or far away, a subpanel is usually the cleaner and cheaper fix. A load calculation tells us which.
What moves the price
- Feeder length and route
- Trenching to detached buildings
- Number of circuits planned
Subpanel Installation in Dallas homes
Dallas lots with detached garages behind the house, common in Kessler Park, Winnetka Heights and the M Streets, often have one old circuit run to the garage. A subpanel there lets you run a freezer, a shop and lighting without tripping the house circuit.
Questions people ask us
Do I need a permit for a subpanel?
Yes. A subpanel is a permitted job, and the feeder size is checked against your load.
Can a subpanel fix a full main panel?
Often it can, as long as the service itself has enough capacity. We check the load first.
How deep does a buried feeder need to be?
It depends on the wiring method. Direct-burial cable and conduit have different depth rules, and we pick the one that suits your yard.
Related services
Lights out, breaker tripping, or a burning smell?
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