“I framed the shop myself. They walked it before the inspector came and showed me where one cable run needed a nail plate and a box was set too deep.”
Hans B.Shop and well house, Ronan
Off-grid and net-zero wiring · Kalispell, Montana
Build your own place. Know what the inspector checks.
Rattlesnake Creek Electric is two electricians who wire off-grid and net-zero homes for owner-builders and cabin owners. We draw your system on one sheet, do the work that needs a license, and walk the inspection with you.
- Licensed and insured in Montana
- Permits pulled where they are required
- A one-page drawing before work starts
Owner-builder guide
Four stops, in the order they happen
Inspectors differ by county and by code year. We ask yours before we start, and write down what they say.
- 01
Step 1: Before the walls close: rough-in
Boxes and cable are still open to see. A mistake costs a few minutes to fix now and a few days later.
Boxes set where you can reach them and fixed to the framing
Cable run through studs, with nail plates where it sits close to the face
Wire size matches the breaker it will sit on
- 02
Step 2: At the service: grounding and the main disconnect
Where the power comes in, or where your own power is made.
Ground rods or the foundation steel, clamped to the panel
Clear working space in front of the panel
Every circuit on the directory
- 03
Step 3: On the sources: solar, battery and back-up
Off-grid homes have more than one way in, and the inspector wants each one to be easy to find and shut off.
Each source labeled at its own disconnect
Wire sized and fused for the source that feeds it
A one-line drawing that matches what is on the wall
- 04
Step 4: At the finish: the final
The walk-through when the house is ready to be lived in.
Outlets and switches tested, covers on
GFCI and AFCI protection where the code asks for it
Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in place
The one-line drawing
One sheet, drawn by hand
Before we order a single wire, we draw your whole system on one page: the panels, the battery, the inverter, each switch and each breaker, with the wire size written beside every line.
It is how we check our own thinking, how you see what you are paying for, and what your inspector gets in their hand.
Sources, switches and loads on one page
Wire and breaker sizes written beside each run
A copy for you and a copy for the inspector
Jobs
What we wire
Off-grid power
Panels, a battery bank, an inverter and a back-up, sized to what the place really draws.
Off-grid power
Cabin and shop wiring
Rough-in for new frames, so the inspector sees every box and cable run.
Cabin and shop wiring
Battery and solar tie-in
The wiring side of grid-tied solar with a battery, for houses aiming at net-zero.
Solar and battery tie-in
Service entrance and meter
A new pole, a meter base and a main panel where the line comes in.
Wells, pumps and outbuildings
Power to the well house, the barn and the shop, buried below the frost.
Winter back-up
Inlets, interlocks and transfer switches, so an ice storm is a bad night and not a bad week.
Licensed in Montana
Whose license is on the work
Montana licenses electricians. The number is in the footer of every page, and you can check it with the state.
License
Electrical Contractor
MT Lic. 000000 · Montana Department of Labor & Industry
The Montana license that lets a company take on new wiring and pull the permits for it. Look the number up with the state before you hire.
Insurance
General liability insurance
A certificate of insurance on request, before work starts, for you, your lender or your county.
How pricing works
No price list: off-grid jobs differ too much. Here is what moves the number, and when you see it.
What decides the price
Most jobs here are priced by how far the work is from the road and the power, more than by the size of the building.
How far the site is from the road and from the nearest pole
Trenching through rock, roots or ground that freezes
How many sources feed the place: panels, a battery, a back-up
The loads you want to run: well pump, shop tools, electric heat
Permit and inspection fees, which differ by county
What the estimate includes, and what it doesn't
The estimate is written and names what it covers: labor, wire, boxes, the panel and disconnects. It also names what it leaves out.
Left out unless the estimate says otherwise: trenching, drywall repair, painting
Panels, batteries and inverters are listed by line, whether we buy them or you do
Permit fees are passed through at cost, on their own line
What happens at the visit
A site visit is how we see the land, the framing and the road. We walk the route the wire will take and look at where the sun reaches in winter.
The visit has a fee, stated before we drive out, because the drive can be long
If you hire us, the visit fee comes off the work
We do not price a whole-house system on the spot; the drawing comes first
What the design fee covers
For a whole-house or off-grid system we draw the one-line diagram and a load worksheet first. That drawing is the design fee.
One sheet: sources, switches, breakers and loads, with wire sizes
You keep the drawing, and your inspector gets a copy
The fee is credited to the work if you hire us to build it
Materials and who buys them
You can buy panels, batteries and an inverter yourself. We tell you before you order if a part is one we're not willing to install.
We write the list of parts with sizes and ratings
Lead times for batteries can be long, so we ask early
Anything you supply is listed on the estimate as owner-supplied
How and when you pay
A deposit comes before we order materials. Progress payments follow the rough-in and the final inspection, and the balance is due when the work is done.
Check, card or bank transfer
No financing offered through us
Each payment is tied to a stage written on the estimate
What owner-builders say after the final
“The drawing is taped inside the battery room door. It was the first page the inspector asked for, and it matched what was on the wall.”
Oksana T.Off-grid cabin, Eureka
“They told me the road in would decide when they could start, and it did. They were straight about what the battery can run in January and what it cannot.”
Dakota R.Net-zero house, Libby
Sample reviews.
Two electricians
Who comes up the road
Zuri Greaves
Owner and electrician
Draws the one-line diagram, runs the site visit and does the service work.
Katja Dekker
Electrician, batteries and controls
Builds and tests the battery side: inverters, charge controllers and the panel that ties them together.
Service area
Where the road in begins
The Flathead and the valleys around it. If your land isn't on the list, send the nearest town and the road, and we'll say.
Flathead County
- Kalispell
- Whitefish
- Columbia Falls
- Bigfork
- Hungry Horse
- West Glacier
- Martin City
Lake County
- Polson
- Ronan
Lincoln County
- Libby
- Eureka
Sanders County
- Thompson Falls
- Trout Creek
- Noxon
We don't take jobs east of the Continental Divide or over the Idaho or Canadian line.
Questions before the site visit
Do you work on places with no utility power?
Yes, that is most of what we do. We size a system to what the place draws, draw it on one sheet, and wire it. If a utility line is coming later, we leave room for it.
What will the inspector look at?
It depends on the county and the stage. The guide walks through the four usual stops: rough-in, the service, the sources, and the final. We ask your inspector what they want before we start.
Can I do part of the wiring myself?
Where your state and county allow it, owner-builders do some of the work. Ask your inspector what your permit lets you do yourself. We can do all of it, or the parts that need a license, and look over the rest before the inspection.
Do you work nights or weekends?
No. We are two people and we work weekdays. If you smell burning, see sparks or find a hot panel, call 911 for a fire, and if it is safe, turn off the breaker. Then call us in the morning.
How do I check your license?
The license class and number are in the footer of every page. Look the number up with the state before you hire anyone, us included.
Contact
Tell us about the site
Where it is, how you get there, and what is built so far. We call back on weekdays to book the visit.
Call or text(406) 555-0103
Office hours
- Monday – FridayToday
- 7 a.m. – 4 p.m.
- Saturday – SundayToday
- Closed