The room where our main power supply comes into the house is actually an old converted porch.
Several inches of the wooden frame, including the sill plate and band board, are buried below grade and over the years it has suffered some serious rot. The walls appear to be built out of random scraps of material, including pieces of round fence post. The floor joists are not properly built and need to be replaced. The roof sheathing has a lot of mold and fungal damage on the inside, and there may be some rainwater intrusion. Nothing is level with the rest of the house.
At this point, I am thinking we may want to just completely demolish and rebuild the room. With the exception of the electrical panel, and rebuilding a portion of the foundation, I believe this is well within our DIY abilities.
The question is, what do we do with the main electrical panel while we rebuild the wall pictured above? It connects directly to the supply meter, which is immediately on the other side of the wall. I'm actually happy with its current location as its forever home, but it's in the way right now. What is the cheapest way to temporarily relocate it? Or, is there any chance we can demolish and "build around" it in a safe way?
Best Answer
The only reasonable way I can think of is to buy an outdoor rated panel and put it on a wall outside right next to where you will be working, with some temporary duct work for the conductors going back into the house. You will at some point need to call your utility for a disconnect / meter pull to move the main conductors, but wait until the last minute for that and be totally ready for it first.