Non-metallic sheathed cable · Georgia
We buy NM-B non-metallic sheathed cable in Georgia
Romex is the name everyone uses and NM-B is the cable on the coil: two or three conductors and a bare ground under a PVC jacket. Leftover rolls from a residential job are reviewed on jacket, gauge and length.
- 14/2 through 4/0
- Copper conductors only
- Colour-coded jacket
01Overview
What this page covers
NM-B is the cable behind most of the residential and light commercial wiring in Georgia: two, three or four insulated copper conductors with a bare equipment ground laid between them, wrapped in a paper separator and finished with a PVC jacket. It is sold in 250 and 1,000 ft coils, with 50 and 125 ft coils on the small sizes for service work.
Every coil that reaches a buying desk is a surplus roll from a house, a tenant fit-out or a stockroom that over-bought. The review is unusually simple, because there is no armor and no shield to argue about: the jacket colour gives the gauge, the print gives the rest, and the only real variables are damage and how much is left.
02Specification
What a coil of NM-B declares
- Construction
- Two to four insulated conductors plus a bare ground, 600 V
- Sizes
- 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1/0 through 4/0, copper only
- Insulation
- PVC insulated conductors, paper separator, PVC outer jacket
- Temperature
- 90°C conductor rating, ampacity limited to 60°C by the code
- Configurations
- 14/2, 12/2, 10/2, 12/3, 10/3, 6/3, 4/3 and larger
- Coils
- 250 and 1,000 ft standard; 50 and 125 ft on the small sizes
- Marking
- NM-B or NM-B-L printed on the jacket with the size and length
- Limits
- Dry locations only; not for wet locations or buried in conduit outdoors
The jacket print on NM-B repeats every few feet and includes the footage mark, so a coil can be measured from the print at both ends without unrolling it.
03Rolls we review
Rolls we review
14/2 and 12/2 branch circuit rolls
The bulk of what turns up. A part roll of 12/2 with two hundred feet on it is worth reviewing on its own; six part rolls of mixed gauge are worth reviewing as a group, sorted and listed.
Three and four conductor assemblies
12/3, 10/3 and 6/3 for multiwire circuits, ranges, dryers and subpanels. Less common as surplus and easier to place back into service, because the larger configurations are bought in smaller quantities and used less completely.
Large-gauge NM-B
2 AWG through 4/0 for service and feeder runs in residential work. Heavy, stiff and usually left in short lengths, so these rolls are measured rather than estimated and are often the most valuable single item in a house-wiring leftover pile.
Damaged and reclaimed rolls
Cable recovered from a remodel, with staples, jacket slices and paint on it. Reviewed as reclaimed stock, and worth listing separately from clean rolls because the two are not interchangeable.
04Evaluation
How an NM-B roll is reviewed
Gauge and configuration first, read from the jacket print or the colour. Then length, taken from the footage print at the cut end or from the coil tag. Then damage, and this is where most of the difference lies: a jacket slice that reaches the insulation matters, a scuff does not, and a staple driven through the jacket and into a conductor turns a full roll into a shortened one.
Rodent damage deserves its own line in any description. Mice chew NM-B at the jacket edge and leave the conductor insulation intact often enough that the damage is missed on a quick look. A seller who has opened a coil and found chew marks should say so rather than describing the roll as clean, because the damaged section has to be cut out and thrown away.
Storage shows up too. NM-B left in a garage for several summers goes chalky and stiff, and a coil that has been compressed under other material takes a permanent set that makes it pull badly. Neither is fatal, but both belong in the description, and both are obvious in a photograph of the coil as it sits.
NM-B is a dry-location cable, and a roll that has been used outdoors or pulled into wet conduit has been misapplied rather than merely stored. Cable recovered from a remodel should also be assumed live until the circuit is opened, since a roll can be tied into a junction box and forgotten.
05Seller terms
Before you sell: how it works
Four things a seller should be able to pin down before a truck is booked.
Verification
Footage is checked against the reel tag, the sequential marks on the jacket, the wrap count against the barrel, or a published weight per 1,000 ft — whichever the reel actually supports.
Payment
Payment method and timing are agreed in writing for the specific lot before anything is loaded or moved. No verbal number is treated as an agreement.
Paperwork
A bill of sale for the lot, and for utility material the owning utility’s release reference. Neither is optional and neither is created after the fact.
Freight
Collection is arranged as part of the terms. Say what can lift the reels and whether a 53-foot trailer can reach them, and the pickup is planned around that.
Sending a reel list and photographs costs nothing. A review is not a purchase, and nothing is bought, moved or scheduled until written lot terms are agreed for that material. Request a pickup when the lot is ready.
07Questions
NM-B cable questions
Do you buy NM-B with the jacket cut?
Yes, as damaged stock. The affected length is deducted, and the rest of the roll is reviewed normally. Say roughly where the damage sits on the coil.
Is aluminium NM-B accepted?
No. NM-B is a copper cable; the older aluminium branch circuit cable is a different product with a different review and should be described separately.
Can part rolls be grouped?
Yes, if they are listed by gauge and configuration. A written list of six rolls with approximate lengths reviews faster and better than one photograph of a pile.
How is length found without a tag?
The footage print repeats along the jacket, so reading it at the outer end and at the cut end gives the remaining length without unrolling the coil.
List the rolls by gauge
Gauge, configuration, approximate length and jacket condition for each roll. A photograph of the print at the cut end confirms the rest.