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This is my parents' house. I lived here for most of my 22 years, so these pictures don't horrify me as much as they ought to. I present them without comment for the time being. The house was built in the 1920s, as a rich doctor's vacation home. This is a very small fraction of the things I could post.                   
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Jun 27, 2014 05:17
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My (now former) boss almost burnt someone's house down once. We were moving the hot water heater that was in the attic so we could expand their living room and make it a cathedral ceiling. So we remove the heavy as gently caress chimney that took a while using the rotary hammer, and move the heater over about ten feet. We cut a new opening and move the vent, and move the vent stack. But, despite all this sawing and pipe moving and poo poo, he forgets that we have moved the hot water heater inboard - so the stack is about six inches shy of hitting the vent, and now it hits the ship lapped pine used to sheath the roof. All this happened on a Friday, so on Sunday I am at home and get a call - their house almost caught on fire. We go over and the sheathing has a good scorch on it after the family of five tried to bathe in the same two hour period, then do dishes. My boss shows up with a new hot water heater, we go to the store and buy the proper length of pipe, install it all. He apologizes profusely to the homeowners, telling them that he was in a hurry to get out, that he shouldn't have done what he did, and that he is sorry. Somehow that poo poo rear end didn't lose the job, but they did finally think to call an inspector for all the moved electrical, the moved fireplace, etc. So glad to not be working for him anymore. We also saw a bunch of lovely wiring in someone's attic once (I don't have pictures). This house has three sub-panels from the various additions plus the time when the homeowners added window units. Everything was so hosed to begin with, and then we got into the attic and saw that there were shingles - parts of the original roof, in the attic. You had to climb over a former roof to get to the asinine circuit routing. I know this is somewhat commonplace, but it still makes me frustrated to see. Also there were about five junction boxes in the attic of a 2,000 square foot house because the former owner or the last electrician was too loving lazy. The conduit out to the main panel outside was clogged because the previous guy pigtailed everything at the point where the conduit runs vertically up the siding to the main panel and service. He was nice enough to leave the paper from all the grounds on it. God
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Jun 27, 2014 05:58
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The fact that he copped to it and fixed it immediately still puts him well above a lot of contractors.
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Jun 27, 2014 06:02
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Mor-Flo, guaranteed 2 reduce ur lettr costs by @ least a quartr!!1
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Jun 27, 2014 06:15
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atomicthumbs posted:This is my parents' house. I lived here for most of my 22 years, so these pictures don't horrify me as much as they ought to. I present them without comment for the time being. The house was built in the 1920s, as a rich doctor's vacation home. This is a very small fraction of the things I could post. I call that a well paced set of pictures. I also appreciate the perfect finisher.
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Jun 27, 2014 15:26
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I just want to say that this thread has helped me sell probably half a dozen Square readers to electricians in my area. They'll ask about the reader, we'll get to the demonstration part, and the first thing I ring up is "Stab-Lok Panel Replacement". Every person I've done this with has laughed then asked how the hell a computer tech knows about Stab-Lok. So, besides giving me plenty of things to look for when house hunting, it helps me close sales.
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Jun 27, 2014 23:48
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Electrical chat the last few pages has me really wishing i had saved some photos off from the training Sharepoint server the linesmen at the electric utility I was with used. Besides some 'gear cabinet filled with bees/ants/snakes' and the odd 'watch out here cause there's a gator in that pond' the bulk was electrical theft jobs with any random piece of metal as a jumper, extension cords spliced between houses, the works. it blew my mind that any of it lasted long enough for someone to get a photo.
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Jun 28, 2014 02:28
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Stab-Loc coming back up made me check by new apartment's breaker for them and sure enough my breaker says Federal Pacific Stab-Lok on everything inside it and some of the levers have the red handles I'm seeing on google images. I live in an apartment, is there any way I can get them to replace this without letting them weasel out of it by hiring a shady electrician to say everything's fine?
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Jun 28, 2014 04:23
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Parallel Paraplegic posted:Stab-Loc coming back up made me check by new apartment's breaker for them and sure enough my breaker says Federal Pacific Stab-Lok on everything inside it and some of the levers have the red handles I'm seeing on google images. I live in an apartment, is there any way I can get them to replace this without letting them weasel out of it by hiring a shady electrician to say everything's fine? Rofl no. Maybe if you live in California? Get good insurance and make sure your smoke detectors have battery backup!
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Jun 28, 2014 08:14
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In that case anyone know a good renter's insurance company? I have a basic lovely plan with Geico and I assume they'd probably just drop me instantly if anything happened 
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Jun 28, 2014 08:29
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Parallel Paraplegic posted:In that case anyone know a good renter's insurance company? I have a basic lovely plan with Geico and I assume they'd probably just drop me instantly if anything happened StateFarm is decent, if you can weasel USAA, it's pretty awesome. Hire an outside electrician to show up for an hour and say "yep, that's 100% unsafe", and put that in a certified letter to your landlord/slum management company. Or just ignore it. As long as the breakers aren't tripping, and you aren't running space heaters, those old breakers tend to just sorta muddle through life getting unusually warm, but not Bakelite smoulderingly hot.
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Jun 28, 2014 10:00
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Methylethylaldehyde posted:StateFarm is decent, if you can weasel USAA, it's pretty awesome. Hire an outside electrician to show up for an hour and say "yep, that's 100% unsafe", and put that in a certified letter to your landlord/slum management company. umm..one of the main issues with those old FPE stab-lok breakers is they DON'T trip during hazardous situations when they should. you usually want breakers to trip..that means they're doing their job. crocodile fucked around with this message at 20:42 on Jun 28, 2014 |
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Jun 28, 2014 20:37
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Javid posted:The local mormon church sent some guys out to replace the deck and ramp for a rather large and scooter-bound member who couldn't afford to have it done professionally. He got what he paid for. I have so many horror stories because of this exact same thing. Terminal cancer patient needs kitchen painted? Let's send in the ex-con addict! It's not like he's going to steal all of her pain medicine, credit cards and valuables. Even if he does he'll do a good job, right?  Oh. Window panes rotting out? Just install a plastic shield, and don't bother sealing or replacing anything; it's important to share your home with all of god's creatures.  Speaking of god's creatures, should earwigs be able to crawl in through the gap between the floor and baseboard?  Wiring showing through the walls and ceiling? Another coat of paint will do!  Why bother rewiring when you can just add power strips:  Paint will also do the trick when you use the wrong materials to extend a bathroom wall:  Ants coming in through the attic? Why not use packing tape?  Okay, so they can't tell top from bottom, or measure the frame before buying, what's the big deal? It's stylized.  At least the lightswitch knows:  And finally (haha, I wish; haven't even gone into the bedroom or outside), it's a great cost saver to install laminate directly over concrete in the laundry/watery appliances room:  The house was built up from a shed-turned-office of a 1910(ish)'s rock quarry foreman.  I don't even know where to start, but I'm guessing with fire?
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Jun 28, 2014 20:56
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I saw this on twitter yesterday and thought of you guys:
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Jun 28, 2014 22:41
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Anther posted:Window panes rotting out? Just install a plastic shield, and don't bother sealing or replacing anything; it's important to share your home with all of god's creatures. Jesus Christ, somebody get that woman aluminum windows. If she still wants casement windows, fine, but goddamn 
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Jun 28, 2014 22:41
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killhamster posted:I saw this on twitter yesterday and thought of you guys: Someone hasn't seen the OSHA.jpg thread in gibbis.
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Jun 28, 2014 22:52
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killhamster posted:I saw this on twitter yesterday and thought of you guys: Is...is that an attempt to ground the engine? Is that an attempt to ground the engine in a bucket of rusty nuts and bolts!?
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Jun 29, 2014 00:17
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Alkydere posted:Is that an attempt to ground the engine in a bucket of rusty nuts and bolts!? No, it's dirt and rocks. You know, ground. 
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Jun 29, 2014 00:27
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Bucephalus posted:No, it's dirt and rocks. You know, ground. That's what I thought at first, but then I took a closer look at the "dirt".
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Jun 29, 2014 00:52
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killhamster posted:I saw this on twitter yesterday and thought of you guys: Good god  As for the crazy lovely service entrance next door, I submitted an anonymous theft report on the electric co's website. Now the wait begins.
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Jun 29, 2014 12:42
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Anther posted:I have so many horror stories because of this exact same thing. Terminal cancer patient needs kitchen painted? Let's send in the ex-con addict! It's not like he's going to steal all of her pain medicine, credit cards and valuables. Even if he does he'll do a good job, right? Holy loving poo poo! Yeah, fire and a bulldozer would be a great place to start. Even my house didn't have most of those problems.
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Jun 29, 2014 14:51
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killhamster posted:I saw this on twitter yesterday and thought of you guys: I've seen this more times than I can count in the military.
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Jun 29, 2014 22:46
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Just helped my sister-in-law move into her new student special apartment in Boston. Found this. Apparently when the super cleaned the place out, they didn't see a problem with this. Normally I wouldn't walk 3 miles back and forth to Home Depot for just an outlet, but I thought that maybe this should be fixed before anyone tries to inhabit this place. 
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Jun 30, 2014 01:01
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I'm jealous of your student housing with three-prong outlets.
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Jun 30, 2014 02:18
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The Twinkie Czar posted:I'm jealous of your student housing with three-prong outlets. A credit to the owner, the wiring is all up to date and more or less modern code. Why a $0.68 outlet couldn't be taken care of ahead of time, I have no idea. Though it was installed with the stab-ins. So there's still that.
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Jun 30, 2014 02:27
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Huh, you just made me look up "backstab" outlet wiring and it looks like it's pretty universally reviled compared to using the screw terminals. I'm sure I've backstabbed wires when replacing outlets and never even considered it as any worse or better because, like, it's right there on the outlet so why not? If they're generally considered worse, why are they allowed / why do normal consumer outlets have them? Because they save a whole minute?
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Jun 30, 2014 05:57
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Linguica posted:Huh, you just made me look up "backstab" outlet wiring and it looks like it's pretty universally reviled compared to using the screw terminals. I'm sure I've backstabbed wires when replacing outlets and never even considered it as any worse or better because, like, it's right there on the outlet so why not? If they're generally considered worse, why are they allowed / why do normal consumer outlets have them? Because they save a whole minute? Did you use the actual backstab holes, or was it one where you poked a straight wire under a plate on the side and screwed the plate down? Because those are OK. Also, there's a difference between "UL listed" and "a good idea". For instance, cheater plugs are UL listed. edit: the way I phrased that sounded like "UL listed" is always a bad idea. That's not true. In fact, a lot of the time electrical devices up to code depend on that certification. I'm just saying that it isn't 100% of the time safe and to not take that cert as gospel. kid sinister fucked around with this message at 06:25 on Jun 30, 2014 |
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Jun 30, 2014 06:18
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kid sinister posted:Did you use the actual backstab holes, or was it one where you poked a straight wire under a plate on the side and screwed the plate down? Because those are OK. UL listing means "if you use this thing in the exact way the manufacturer said to, and incidentally the only way we tested it, then it probably won't burn your house down". The lovely plugs with the backstab holes in them have a little /\ looking set of copper blades in them that you shove the solid wire through, they bite in and that's the only electrical connection you have between the wire and the plug. This is also a really crappy electrical connection, so when you run a lot of current through it, it tends to heat up some. After a few years of this the connection gets eve crappier, and heats up even more. Eventually you notice it not working right, and pull it out to fix it. You then notice the ~6" of burnt to gently caress insulation on the wire, and you wonder why the house didn't burn down. Then you have to demo out part of the drywall to chase the burnt wire back to the next plug over and re-run the terminally hosed section of 35 year old romex that was stapled 16 times to each and every stud. This is why when I redid my house's outlets, I used the $7 an outlet specification grade plugs, with the through the back screw clamp type terminations that you can use with stranded wire. Also, the fancy stranded wire with 150ish strands compared to ~17ish strands is amazing to work with. The wire is like shiny copper hair, and you can virtually use it like metallic yarn it's so flexible. It makes putting pigtails in boxes for electrical work so so SO nice.
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Jun 30, 2014 13:18
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So after reading this thread, I checked my rented apartment's breaker panel. Guess what brand I got! STAB-LOK So should I mention it to the management company or just pray there isn't a power surge at some point? 
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Jun 30, 2014 16:30
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I don't think circuit breakers protect against power surges. Circuit breakers work on amperage, not voltage. The danger is that if something short circuits or draws too much power (melted wire, bad switches, too many things plugged in) the breaker won't trip and it can cause a fire. No idea regarding your next steps, though.
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Jun 30, 2014 17:38
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Minarchist posted:So after reading this thread, I checked my rented apartment's breaker panel. Guess what brand I got! Sup Stab-Lok apartment buddy, I just discovered my dangerous friend a few days ago  Better yet, I just did a bunch of research and all the good renter's insurance companies refuse to insure me because I live in a "storm-prone area," hope you have better luck.
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Jun 30, 2014 17:42
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Parallel Paraplegic posted:Sup Stab-Lok apartment buddy, I just discovered my dangerous friend a few days ago That's insane. Where do you live? I pay something like $6/month for $15k + hotel in case of inability to use apartment with $500 deductible from State Farm.
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Jun 30, 2014 19:20
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I find that baffling. I mean, to the point where I refuse to believe you actually can't get good renter's insurance.
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Jun 30, 2014 19:26
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c0ldfuse posted:That's insane. Where do you live? I pay something like $6/month for $15k + hotel in case of inability to use apartment with $500 deductible from State Farm. Does your policy cover replacement cost and actually pay you on loss, or reimburse you after you replace? I'm trying to find coverage that does both plus hotel, and I'm having a hard time.
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Jun 30, 2014 20:23
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This isn't really "crappy construction", but I'm not sure where else to post it. Here's some rather impressive knob-and-tube for y'all: I guess the exposed knife switches could count as crappy? ijustam posted:I don't think circuit breakers protect against power surges. Circuit breakers work on amperage, not voltage. The danger is that if something short circuits or draws too much power (melted wire, bad switches, too many things plugged in) the breaker won't trip and it can cause a fire. They can weld shut, weld open, or just straight up come loose and fall out of the bus-bar or panel, if the panel itself doesn't cause a fire first! Wonderful things, those.
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Jun 30, 2014 21:51
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Not necessarily crappy construction, but questionable decisions indeed. We are building an exact copy of this same house a quarter mile down the street.    Two closets with windows. One closet has two windows... for reasons.  Narrow rear end hallway, good luck moving your furniture in there!  Not going to add a handrail onto that wall.  A tub for midgets.  gently caress using a square, I got this wall lined up right.  Tile taken from Jim (property owner's) basement and cut by someone inexperienced.  We're not removing this sewage vent either.
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Jun 30, 2014 22:31
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Is that four cleanouts within 6 feet? I guess you'd never have to go up on the roof to run a snake down the vent.
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Jun 30, 2014 22:48
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What goddamn home builder are you using?!
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Jun 30, 2014 23:23
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GreenNight posted:What goddamn home builder are you using?! I won't name names, but I work directly for a man who has a majority share in two construction companies that build 500+ homes per year in my state, additionally he himself owns 20+ rental properties. He's also cheap as gently caress. I'm guilty building here.
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Jun 30, 2014 23:34
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GreenNight posted:What goddamn home builder are you using?! This is pretty standard for most McMansion builders these days.
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Jun 30, 2014 23:36
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