How to Finish an Electrical Panel

Place the electrical panel against a piece of 3/4-inch plywood and trace the panel outline with a pencil. Cut the outline, using a wood saw. Locate the wall where you want to install the panel and determine the exact spot where the panel should be mounted. Detect the location of the studs behind the spot with a stud finder and mark the stud locations with a pencil.

Nail the plywood upright onto the studs, using hammer and 1 1/2-inch nails. Remove the panel cover and punch the knockouts on top and along each side of the panel with needle-nose pliers. Plug a cable clamp into each knockout and secure the clamp with its lock nut. Mount the panel onto the plywood, using screws supplied with the panel.

Plug the main circuit breaker into its appropriate slot in the panel board. Most main circuit breakers are positioned in the topmost level. Plug all secondary circuit breakers into the slots in the panel board. Flip the switch of each circuit breaker to its "Off" position.

Slip the tip of the three feeder cables running from the electric meter into the knockout on top of the panel. Pull the cables from inside the panel and strip off 1 inch of insulation from the tip of each cable, using a utility knife.

Plug each black/red (hot) cable to the terminal lugs in the main circuit breaker, in any order. Plug the neutral (white/black with white marking) cable into the terminal connector on the neutral buss bar. Plug the cable running from the ground rods to the terminal connector in the ground buss bar. Tighten all connectors with an Allen wrench or slotted screwdriver. Slip the electrical cables running from each circuit through the knockouts on either side of the panel box.

Strip off enough sheathing from each cable to allow you to run the cable's inner wires neatly to their corresponding terminal screws in the following manner: white wires to individual terminals in the neutral buss bar; green/bare wires to individual terminals in the grounding bar; and black/red wires to terminal screws at the end of their corresponding circuit breakers. Strip off 1/2 inch of insulation from the tip of each wire, using a wire stripper, and plug each wire to its corresponding terminal screw. Tighten each terminal screw firmly to secure each connection.

Clear the inside of the panel of debris or pieces of cut wires, then replace the electrical panel cover. Call the city building inspector to schedule the panel for inspection once all wiring is completed. Call the power company to connect power to the feeder cables once the inspector has approved the installation.