A journeyman at the supply house changed my thinking on using MC cable in residential

I was picking up some 12/2 Romex last Tuesday at Platt Electric in Tulsa, and this older journeyman looked at my cart and said 'you know you can run MC a lot faster in old work, right?' I've always just used Romex for everything because that's what I learned 10 years ago. He explained that with MC, you don't have to staple every 4 feet, and you can bend it around joists way easier in attics. I tried it on a 1500 square foot rewire job this week, and I swear it saved me about 3 hours on the rough-in alone. The only thing I'm not used to is the extra weight in my tool bag from the cutters and connectors. Has anyone else made the switch from Romex to MC for residential work and found it worth the extra material cost?

3 comments

3 Comments

sandragrant16d ago

Had a buddy who swore by Romex for years, tried MC on a reno last spring. He called me up after the first day, sounded like a different guy on the phone. Said he pulled wire through an old house with knob and tube leftovers and didn't have to fight with stapling every joist bay. The real kicker was he forgot his connectors at home and had to drive back 20 minutes, but he still finished the rough-in faster than his normal Romex pace. He's been using MC ever since on any old work job he gets, even started keeping a spare box of connectors in his truck.

williams.luna16d ago

I was always a Romex guy too, but trying MC in an attic this last month changed my mind real quick on that. That weight in the bag is annoying but the time savings make up for it.

craig.olivia16d ago

Honestly I used to be all about Romex too, but @williams.luna you might be onto something. That extra weight in the bag had me second-guessing at first but the time you save stripping it makes up for it.

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