Part H · the register

Your Kirkwood Garage Charger Conduit Needs a Line in the Roof Bid

The wall box and its conduit often run up the garage wall under the eave, so decide who moves them before the tear-off starts.

If you charge an electric vehicle in a Kirkwood garage, the charger is probably mounted on the garage wall and fed by a conduit that climbs from the panel, runs along the wall, and disappears into the soffit or the eave line. That run sits exactly where a roof crew works. A roof bid that never mentions it leaves you with a choice you did not know you were making on the day the dumpster arrives.

Where the conduit usually runs

Garage chargers in older Kirkwood houses are often fed from the main panel through a surface conduit. In many homes the line rises along an exterior wall, passes under the eave or through the fascia, and reaches the wall box. Some installers drill through the soffit. Others route the cable through the attic and down an interior wall. You will not know which one your house has until you ask the electrician or look at the install record, so look now, before the bid is signed.

The reason it matters is simple. A roof tear-off removes the shingles, the drip edge, and sometimes the fascia board. If the conduit is clamped to the fascia or pinned in the soffit, the crew can pull it loose, crack a fitting, or leave the cable hanging. A loose conduit on a wall you plan to keep is a problem that often shows up weeks later as a charger that will not hold a steady connection.

What to ask the roofer

Ask each roofer in writing how the crew will handle any conduit, wire, or box on the wall at the eave. The answer should name who disconnects power, who moves the line, and who reattaches it. A roofer should not touch live wiring. If your charger is hardwired, the electrician shuts it off at the breaker, and the roofer works around a dead line only after you confirm that in writing.

• Does the bid name the EV charger conduit, or does it only say electrical in general?
• Who disconnects the charger, and will that person be on site on roof day?
• Where will the conduit rest while the fascia is off, and who holds it?
• Who reinstalls the strap or clamp after the new drip edge is on?
• Will the crew photograph the conduit before and after the work?

Keep the answers in the same written scope as the shingles and the flashing. A verbal assurance from the crew lead does not travel with the job if the foreman changes. The written scope, with photos and measurements, is the document you keep.

Who moves the electrical

The roofing contractor and the electrician are usually different businesses. Keys Roofing does roof work and documents what it finds, including conduit and boxes at the eave, but the charger itself belongs to whoever installed it. If the conduit has to move, that is an electrical job. Ask your electrician to plan the move before the roof crew arrives, so the two schedules do not collide on the same morning.

Ask the electrician whether moving the conduit or the wall box needs an electrical permit. Kirkwood issues its own building permits, and the permit question for an electrical change is separate from the roofing permit. Call the city's permit desk and ask what the work requires before you book either trade.

What the electrician should write down

Before anyone touches the line, the electrician should record the circuit amperage, the wire type, the conduit size, and the exact path from the panel to the wall box. That record lets you check the route after the roof is finished. It also tells the roofer where the conduit is fixed and where it is only resting. If the electrician cannot describe the path, ask them to trace it with the power off and photograph each leg before the fascia comes down.

Ask the electrician to note whether the charger has its own disconnect on the wall. Some installations have one, and it makes a shutdown on roof day faster and safer. If there is none, the breaker that feeds the charger should be labeled in the panel before the crew starts, so nobody has to guess which switch is which.

Freeze and thaw at the garage wall

Conduit that sits against a garage wall takes the same freeze and thaw cycles as the shingles above it. Metal straps can corrode where water runs down the wall, and PVC conduit can crack in a hard cold snap if it has been stressed by a crew that leaned on it. A roof replacement is a good time to see how the conduit was supported in the first place. If it hangs on a single strap, add a second strap now, while the fascia is open.

Ice at the eave also matters. If the garage roof dams in winter, meltwater can run down the wall behind the conduit and stain the wall or rot the fascia board under the strap. That water goes to the same place as the gutter water, so the gutter run and the conduit route should be checked together before the job closes.

Before the crew arrives

Give the roofer a list of what sits on the garage wall, including the charger, any outdoor outlet, the meter base, and any cable or phone line. Photograph each item from three sides. Put those photos in the same file as your roof photos so the record is complete if anyone asks later.

If your bid does not mention the charger at all, ask the roofer to add a line for it. A line that says the conduit will be inspected, protected, and reattached is a plain commitment the crew can put in writing. A bid that says nothing leaves the question open until the morning someone is standing on a ladder with a cable in one hand.

To talk through a Kirkwood garage roof before you sign, call Keys Roofing at (314) 220-2333. Ask the office for the written scope, and ask them to note the charger, the conduit route, and the electrician who will disconnect and reconnect it.