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Papercut
Aug 24, 2005

The quickest substitution in the history of the NBA

Dalrain posted:

Man, this thread makes me feel so much better about mine. The previous owner just direct buried SE cable....under the driveway. At 12 inches. And then drove over it with their truck daily. I'm not sure if I'm more upset at them, or at the home inspector who didn't find anything wrong with the place.

No offense to any inspectors we have around here, but in my experience general inspectors are absolute poo poo when it comes to electrical work. I bought my place after someone else had already been in escrow and backed out; that person had 4 inspections done and NONE of them picked up on the fact that the meter for the house had no green tag. When I was in escrow, we had another inspection done and this guy also missed this. Even without the missing tag, just looking at the meters and panels it was obvious they were installed above allowed working height. In addition to this, the weatherhead on the service drop outside was installed upside down, so that it was literally like a little catchbasin for water. If I was an ordinary buyer I wouldn't have known any of this and the inspectors wouldn't have done jack to bring it to my attention.

The green tag thing is just crazy. Like literally the first thing a building inspector is going to do when they come to the building is check that it's there, because if it's not then there's no reason to go an inch further.

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Blistex
Oct 30, 2003

Macho Business
Donkey Wrestler

jackyl posted:

Holmes is awesome and I hope this happened, but only after a fifteen minute rant of "how could you do that? What were you thinking?". Also that it was taped and will appear on the Internet one day.

The only thing I didn't like about Holmes on Holmes was that a lot of the projects were just stupid rich people. "The contractor put in the wrong Italian marble flooring, I'm so sad!". Stuff like that is neither interesting nor makes you feel sympathetic towards the homeowners. I'd like it if he would help out more first-time home owners or younger couples getting screwed.

iForge
Oct 28, 2010

Apple's new "iBlacksmith Suite: Professional Edition" features the iForge, iAnvil, and the iHammer.
I'm currently working on a house remodel and I have found a TON of hosed up things in this house. Here is a short list of what I found so far...

On the dormer over the front picture window the idiot roofer flashed where the roof meets a rock wall but the flashing stopped about 5 inches from each side, so there is an opening for water to get in. I pulled it open a little bit and a lot the wood in there is roached. I will have to rip the shingles/sheathing off the dormer and replace wood, then flash it properly and re-shingle. loving morons...

Probably 25% of the 2-wire outlets were hooked up backwards.

Someone decided to ground the bathroom outlet, so they ran a wire from behind the wall plate and down the wall to the cold water pipe. I wish I got a pic of this one!

Automotive radiator hose used to connect a sink to the pipe in the wall. No trap so that bathroom probably always smelled like rear end.

At some point, the shower door needed to be re-hung so instead of patching+redrilling holes or using larger anchors in the tile, someone jammed a couple finishing nails into the hole to "tighten" it up and screwed the shower door back up to the wall. When I took the shower door off it drat near fell out of my hands because I wasn't expecting it to fall apart after 2 turns of a screw.

Caulk. I started scraping some cracked paint and the wall was squishy underneath. Someone loving used caulk in place of drywall compound/plaster on a bunch of repairs around the house. I can understand using it sparingly or on a spot that needs a little bit of flexibility, but not for large sections of wall! I spent the next 2 hours running a scraper over every wall to find all the caulk repairs I could. It really isn't that hard to mix up some plaster and do the loving job right. Hell, plaster is probably easier to skim than caulk!

Whoever installed the heavy rear end cast-iron tub in the house when it was built cut 90% of the way through (2) true-dimensional 2X8 joists to get the plumbing in. The kitchen ceiling was sagging and cracked so I ripped it out and found this mess. I jacked them up with lolly-columns and bolted 2x8 PT lumber to them every 8 inches staggering top and bottom.

On the plus side, the client has plenty of funds and is adamant about fixing everything and putting things back together properly, so the cost and scope of repairs isn't an issue.

kastein
Aug 31, 2011

Moderator at http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/and soon to be mod of AI. MAKE AI GREAT AGAIN. Motronic for VP.

iForge posted:

Someone decided to ground the bathroom outlet, so they ran a wire from behind the wall plate and down the wall to the cold water pipe. I wish I got a pic of this one!

Automotive radiator hose used to connect a sink to the pipe in the wall. No trap so that bathroom probably always smelled like rear end.

The first one - maybe that was done in the 40s/50s/60s? Hell, I think that was above code back then. poo poo was scary, yeah, but functional and legal at the time.

On the second, I hate that! Idiots shouldn't be allowed to touch plumbing. I found a few places in my house like that when I tore into it, for instance the grey water drain the previous owner installed for the washing machine in the back entryway/pantry. Black ABS pipe straight through the floor, elbow, straight across the basement ceiling, then they hacked into a cast iron vent riser and "spliced" (putting it nicely) a large radius ABS T-junction into it by gobbing silicone everywhere and jamming them together. The whole run of ABS was supported using prayers, luck, and in a spot or two, it was tied to a nail in a joist using chunks of old zipcord off wall wart transformers and telephone cable.

I said the same thing when I discovered that - "so that's why the back entryway always smells like poo poo..."

Darchangel
Feb 12, 2009

Tell him about the blower!


kastein posted:

The first one - maybe that was done in the 40s/50s/60s? Hell, I think that was above code back then. poo poo was scary, yeah, but functional and legal at the time.

On the second, I hate that! Idiots shouldn't be allowed to touch plumbing. I found a few places in my house like that when I tore into it, for instance the grey water drain the previous owner installed for the washing machine in the back entryway/pantry. Black ABS pipe straight through the floor, elbow, straight across the basement ceiling, then they hacked into a cast iron vent riser and "spliced" (putting it nicely) a large radius ABS T-junction into it by gobbing silicone everywhere and jamming them together. The whole run of ABS was supported using prayers, luck, and in a spot or two, it was tied to a nail in a joist using chunks of old zipcord off wall wart transformers and telephone cable.

I said the same thing when I discovered that - "so that's why the back entryway always smells like poo poo..."

Lots of folks don't seem to understand the function of a P-trap.

Root Bear
Nov 15, 2004

DARKEST SKETCH
Heading to the laundry room a while back, I discovered puddle of water on the basement floor:


And then I found another puddle :stare:


Here's a shot of the plumbing just next to the light fixture, this is the drain for the upstairs bathtub:



After several strict but respectful phone calls, our landlord had the plumbing/wiring and foundation checked and repaired "temporarily" because they plan on renovating the entire house in the Spring. Not that it matters, my lease is up at the end of May, and I can't wait to move out. :unsmith:

Root Bear fucked around with this message at 05:30 on Apr 6, 2013

neogeo0823
Jul 4, 2007

NO THAT'S NOT ME!!

I work for a bowling alley run by a VERY cheap man. About 6 or 7 years ago, he paid a guy to redo the roof off the books for about half the price it normally would be. I wasn't around then, but according to what I've been told, the guy installed some layer of material upside down, which quickly broke down under the rain and lead to dozens of leaks springing up all over the place. The guy who did the roof then died 3 months after it was finished, taking with him the service warranty and the company.

Last month, the roof buckled from rust and water weight. Just above the locker rooms. The owners solution was to put a bucket up on top of the cieling structure to catch water. Oh, and a tarp. I can't take pictures right now, but you couldn't pay me enough money to go in that room anyway.

In our party room, there's a leak directly over the light fixture. The room smells heavily of mold. I eagerly await the coming fire, which will hopefully level the whole building, causing a complete rebuild.

If one goes into the cieling and looks around, there's at least 2 dozen buckets, pans, and other containers holding rain water. Some of them overflow every time it rains and need to be emptied. I can't wait to transfer, quit, or get fired.

Eggplant Wizard
Jul 8, 2005


i loev catte
Holy hell :stare: Reading this thread makes me never want to own property. If you buy something older, it's probably full of tiny death/poop traps. If you buy a new one, it's probably cheaply made AND could still be full of deathtraps. If you have your own built, you have to breathe down the neck of every guy who comes through there to keep them from doing dumb poo poo. This is probably too far off topic but how the hell do you find a good contractor/inspector?

The only stories I have are things I don't perfectly understand, so I apologize in advance. My mom's house is this big thing that the previous owner added a bunch of random pieces onto. He added an extra room on to one side. The inspector said something about it needing foundation work, so she had a contractor* open it up. Turns on the vertical framing 2x4's weren't attached to the floor ones, and also had been cut into in places so they were functionally 2x2's or so. The rest of the additions to the house were the same. Sunroom (built directly onto exterior wall) with pipes, but no heating, so they froze and burst. Good thing she wasn't using it for anything like storing boxes of unpacked books. Oh. poo poo. The guy also added a "mudroom" (who builds a carpeted mudroom?) onto the exterior wall by the kitchen. The window was still there. I believe the door didn't close properly, either. There's probably other stuff I don't know about. She's thinking of selling sometime in the next year so uh we'll see how that goes.

* Independent guy who only wanted to be paid in cash for tax reasons. I'm not sure if he ever finished the kitchen, and my mom let him and his daughter live there for several months without a written lease :downs: WHY NO SHE DIDN'T GET PAID. This guy was recommended by the previous owner so I don't know how that seemed like a good idea in the first place.

Esser-Z
Jun 3, 2012

We called them "Ed Specials" at my parents house, after the previous owner. They included:

A fake fireplace (fake stone thing shaped like a fireplace, with horrible plastic logs that lit up with a lightbulb) secured to the wall with an extensive tangle of twisted wire. It was a pain and a half getting that out.

Carpet in the bathrooms. Not just any carpet. Deep, plush carpet. We changed that out as soon as possible. Who the gently caress puts carpet in the bathrooms?

Massively unsafe wiring in the kitchen. We basically had to redo it all.

Kitchen cabinets cut short to fit something--we don't know what--under them. Like, they literally sawed off part of the cabinet and the door, then put a new bottom in. They were ugly as poo poo.

Carpet in the kitchen. At least this was tight knit stuff, but still. Not exactly sanitary.



Oh! And one from my house! It used to be my grandparents; they bought it back in the 50s. Built another big room out over the garage and an addition at the back. They never updated the tiny 40s furnace. Or air conditioning.

We didn't know anything was wrong until after my grandmother died and I moved in. The electric bills were absurd. Four, five hundred dollars to keep the house comfortable. We replaced the climate control stuff and, welp. Now I pay like seventy bucks.

Esser-Z fucked around with this message at 17:59 on Apr 6, 2013

kastein
Aug 31, 2011

Moderator at http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/and soon to be mod of AI. MAKE AI GREAT AGAIN. Motronic for VP.

Eggplant Wizard posted:

Holy hell :stare: Reading this thread makes me never want to own property. If you buy something older, it's probably full of tiny death/poop traps. If you buy a new one, it's probably cheaply made AND could still be full of deathtraps. If you have your own built, you have to breathe down the neck of every guy who comes through there to keep them from doing dumb poo poo. This is probably too far off topic but how the hell do you find a good contractor/inspector?

I have no idea. I do all my own work and have actually read the building codes and have some concept of what's a good idea and what's a bad idea, but I really don't know how people who aren't good at building things can get stuff done without getting taken for a ride.

Liquid Communism
Mar 9, 2004


Out here, everything hurts.




kastein posted:

I have no idea. I do all my own work and have actually read the building codes and have some concept of what's a good idea and what's a bad idea, but I really don't know how people who aren't good at building things can get stuff done without getting taken for a ride.

Get ahold of your local inspector and just bluntly ask for a referral?

Shame Boy
Mar 2, 2010

Liquid Communism posted:

Get ahold of your local inspector and just bluntly ask for a referral?

But this thread has also established that a lot of inspectors miss things all the time too. I'm now terrified of buying a house thanks to the Internet :ohdear:

babyeatingpsychopath
Oct 28, 2000
Forum Veteran


Nyyen posted:



The horror...

The shed of doom from bcsportbikes.com went fully viral, and for good reason.

There are TIME LAPSE VIDEOS of the construction. I stared, mouth agape, at the construction techniques displayed.

Tora! Tora! Tora!
Dec 28, 2008

Shake it baby

Eggplant Wizard posted:

Holy hell :stare: Reading this thread makes me never want to own property. If you buy something older, it's probably full of tiny death/poop traps. If you buy a new one, it's probably cheaply made AND could still be full of deathtraps. If you have your own built, you have to breathe down the neck of every guy who comes through there to keep them from doing dumb poo poo. This is probably too far off topic but how the hell do you find a good contractor/inspector?

I get referrals from friends but half the time they don't know what to look for either. The guy that did my inspection when I bought my house seemed pretty competent (and steered me away from a different house that had some major problems) but missed that none of my bathroom plumbing had traps (that weird smell? sewer gas). When I hired someone to put in a new exterior door for me (not replace an existing, frame a whole new opening), I wound up firing them when a quick google check revealed that they had no idea what they were doing and the framing was completely wrong.

Recently, I've been taking classes at the local community college in woodworking and building construction technology (siding, framing, drywall, etc) so I know what to look for. Most of the guys in my classes are nice guys (mostly ex-military) but the prevailing attitude is "can't see it from my house". I don't think they'd intentionally screw someone over but they'd do a sloppy job to get it done faster. I don't trust anyone anymore.

ambient oatmeal
Jun 23, 2012

Eggplant Wizard posted:

Holy hell :stare: Reading this thread makes me never want to own property. If you buy something older, it's probably full of tiny death/poop traps. If you buy a new one, it's probably cheaply made AND could still be full of deathtraps. If you have your own built, you have to breathe down the neck of every guy who comes through there to keep them from doing dumb poo poo. This is probably too far off topic but how the hell do you find a good contractor/inspector?


It might be a bit out of the way, but try finding a residential architect. If they've been working in the area for a while they probably have some contacts and experience with good and bad contractors.

Papercut
Aug 24, 2005

The quickest substitution in the history of the NBA

Parallel Paraplegic posted:

But this thread has also established that a lot of inspectors miss things all the time too. I'm now terrified of buying a house thanks to the Internet :ohdear:

Home inspectors are generally poo poo (in my experience). Building inspectors, as in the guys in charge of making sure permitted work follows code, generally know their stuff.

A referral from someone you trust is definitely the best way to find a contractor, but aside from that you can generally get a good idea of who knows what they're doing by getting a few quotes. The guys who quote super low probably don't know what they're doing, and you'll probably be able to recognize when someone is throwing tons of extra stuff in their (and if you suspect they are, ask one of the other outfits that you're getting quotes from).

Dillbag
Mar 4, 2007

Click here to join Lem Lee in the Hell Of Being Cut To Pieces
Nap Ghost
Review sites are a good way to find trades, but always back check the users who have left reviews. Your company has 10 positive reviews, but every one of the users signed up on the same date and/or have only left that one review? :byewhore: Google is especially terrible for this.

I found the home inspector we hired through Homestars, a Canadian construction/trades review site. He was loving insane, but in a good way. It took him 3 hours to inspect the back half of our duplex and provided us with an 18 page report with pictures. We still ended up buying the place as most of the problems were fixable or just cheap construction (and the price was right), but he went way above & beyond the call of duty. I've seen and heard of other inspectors doing nothing but a 15 minute cursory walk around the property, mumble "mmm-hmmm" at the plumbing, then stab a moisture detector through the drywall somewhere inconspicuous to look for a leaky building envelope.

Blistex
Oct 30, 2003

Macho Business
Donkey Wrestler

iForge posted:

On the plus side, the client has plenty of funds and is adamant about fixing everything and putting things back together properly, so the cost and scope of repairs isn't an issue.

Only good news out of that whole mess.

I was doing a foundation for an addition on a house with my uncle and when we went into the basement of the actual house it was out of some sort of "contractor got pissed and decided to screw over the owner on purpose" scenario. Basically the walls were really out of whack and the idiot used cedar shims to try and make up for 2" of space within 15' of wall in several places. Naturally they were not up to the task and the house was settling unevenly. To make matters worse, the center supports were not even on rock, or even packed gravel. The 4 central supports had sunk 2-3 inches over the ten years the house had been up and it was so bad that doors were not closing upstairs and the drywall looked like it had been through a sever earthquake. When my uncle brought this up with the guy he explained that the situation was only going to get worse. The owner being a cheapskate, told us that he was going to cut up some 2x6 pt lumber and use jackposts on the joists and the ground. Naturally we insisted that the cash was up-front.

wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!
Funny and true, my work was being renovated and the electrical inspector came by and started bitching about all sorts of stuff from the original construction then ended with some comment about the 'dipshit that inspected the original construction', I smugly pointed out that dipshit was him and handed him a sheaf of ten year old papers with his signature where he had approved the electrical. He got so mad he walked out. I'm sure I was everyone's favorite person that day. The only people who laughed were the other city inspectors.

Casimir Radon
Aug 2, 2008


Blistex posted:

The only thing I didn't like about Holmes on Holmes was that a lot of the projects were just stupid rich people. "The contractor put in the wrong Italian marble flooring, I'm so sad!". Stuff like that is neither interesting nor makes you feel sympathetic towards the homeowners. I'd like it if he would help out more first-time home owners or younger couples getting screwed.
That's going to end up being the problem with a lot of home improvement shows. You've got to be kind of rich to have enough work done that you can base an episode around it.


Last fall the building I work in had the old flat roof stripped off, and a sloped metal one installed. Saying it was 'last fall' isn't exactly accurate since this dragged on for about 4 months, because they kept going off to do other projects which apparently our wonderful contracting office let them get away with. Trying to work in the building was really surreal when they were stripping the old roof off while we were inside. It would get incredibly loud whenever they ran their machine over, it wasn't really worth cleaning anything because of the constant debris falling out of the ceiling, and looking up and seeing the sky through tiny holes. Come December they were constantly bitching about how cold it was, well it wasn't 10 below back in October when you should have finished it. I think they finally finished at the start of January but I wasn't around to see it. Apparently the roof is leaking over on the other side of the building.

CuddleChunks
Sep 18, 2004

neongrey posted:

His newest show is currently airing in Canada, it's Holmes Makes It Right, where he goes in and fixes like disaster problems.

:swoon: I love his shows. I know he comes under fire for his methods and there are probably plenty of web pages griping about him but Mike Holmes is awesome television and he and his kids and the whole crew are just inspiring as hell with how they fix things.

Christe Eleison
Feb 1, 2010

CuddleChunks posted:

:swoon: I love his shows. I know he comes under fire for his methods and there are probably plenty of web pages griping about him but Mike Holmes is awesome television and he and his kids and the whole crew are just inspiring as hell with how they fix things.

Before he retires, I want there to be an episode where he just beats an ornery contractor's rear end.

Kilo147
Apr 14, 2007

You remind me of the boss
What boss?
The boss with the power
What power?
The power of voodoo
Who-doo?
You do.
Do what?
Remind me of the Boss.

I got all of you beat. By a mile. I could be cheap and say "SR 520 Replacement project," but that's too easy. Instead I'll go with the 126th St/405 overpass.

So it was designed to save ambulances the time it takes to drive like, 8 blocks around, hopefully save lives, and the city got the contract for dirt cheap. 8 months start to finish is what they said and the bridge was technically finished in just over 7. Except for one serious issue. Out of convince, or perhaps laziness, the plans for the bridge had the reinforcing rebar omitted. Once they finished the project someone realized their fuckup. They tried to hide it, and the bridge was nearly open to traffic when somebody called their asses on it and they had to demo the whole thing and start over. They ended up 9 months late, and made nothing off the project. These are the same fuckheads that are building the new SR520 bridge, that is so broken that they just fire anyone that won't sign off on it, a Goddamn bridge that has hundreds, maybe thousands of cracks, and it's not even half a year old, or built! They poured in such heavy rain all the concrete poured off into the lake, they poured concrete in 18 degree weather, and cut every corner they could. And the company is so powerful that they can push the DOT around.

Welcome to Washington. Hope you brought your life jacket.

MisterOblivious
Mar 17, 2010

by sebmojo
I live in the Minneapolis metro, was listening to news radio (and hit the MNDOT cameras) while the bridge collapsed and just finished ignoring the hour-long personal injury lawyer infomercial that's mostly testimony from successful lawsuits relating to the bridge collapse.
13 people died and 145 more were injured.

:eng99: Good luck with your wonderful bridge.

You Are A Werewolf
Apr 26, 2010

Black Gold!

I've never really ventured into this section of CC, but I'm glad I did. There are lots of great threads such as this one.

Story: my friend moved into a nice home built in the early 70s, and before she bought it, she had two house inspectors go over the home, one more anally than the other. Each house inspector was completely different in their findings, but luckily, there was nothing majorly wrong with the house, just nickel and dime things that are quick and easy to fix, and each inspector said it's in great shape considering its age. Now that she's moved in, I've found quite a few terrible electrical things wrong with the house the inspectors never mentioned. Examples as follows:

* one outlet in the master bedroom was finicky, and an outlet in each of the other bedrooms didn't work at all. I suspected the non-working outlets were daisy-chained from the finicky outlet, and come to find out, the hot wire was disconnected from that outlet and only made contact when you pushed on the outlet to scrape the wire :stare: I blame the lovely push-in method of wiring instead of screwing the wires on. I went to each outlet and made sure each wire was screwed on instead of pushed in, and that fixed everything. Both inspectors had used receptacle testers in each outlet. How the gently caress did they miss this?

* the bedrooms don't have built-in lighting, but instead work on switched outlets for lamps. Each bedroom had had those particular outlets and switches replaced prior, but whoever installed them didn't break off the tab on the hot side of each outlet to create a dual circuit outlet (one switched socket on top and one hot socket on the bottom). Again, testers. Did these dudes not flip the switch and see nothing happen or something?

* I hooked up the swamp cooler a few weeks ago, and when I looked at the exterior outlet for the motor and pump, it looked like poo poo. The weatherproof cover was broken and half-missing, the outlet itself was weathered and internally oxidized, and I poo poo you not, when I plugged the motor and pump into the outlet just to test the cooler, the drat outlet practically cracked and crumbled into several pieces. I bought a new weatherproof cover and outlet to replace the hosed ones, but the box was rusted and both screws that hold the outlet broke off in the box. With a new box added to the mix, everything is brand new up there and finally up to snuff and working. That is a huge goddamn thing to overlook since the cooler side of the outlet is 250 volts. You do not gently caress around with voltage like that, especially when it's outside. Pretty sure it was like that for years judging by how badly weathered everything was, too.

* several outlets were cracked and broken, but still working. That was probably good enough for the inspectors, huh? If it works, stamp an OK on the paperwork. I've since replaced them all.

So yeah, it looks like the inspectors around here don't really give a poo poo about electrical when doing their inspections. No crawlspace/wall inspections or inspecting wiring and boxes, either, it seems. If the switch turns on a light, that's a checkmark. if you plug a receptacle tester into one socket of an outlet and it says it's okay, that's a checkmark for each room and outlets within. Showerhead in one bathroom could use a little caulking on the wall to seal it properly? "You're gonna have to rip out all of the plumbing throughout the house and completely renovate both bathrooms if you want this house to pass inspection."

Shame Boy
Mar 2, 2010

My friend just bought a house that a bank had foreclosed on. The bank's inspector had found nothing wrong with it. He hired his own inspector, and his inspector found that the roof was literally sagging in two places from rot, and a bunch of other things were wrong with it. They called the bank's inspector back out, told him to go up on the roof and stand in the exact spot that was sagging that he said was fine. He put one foot on it and it sunk in almost an inch and he jumped back. "Oh, must have missed that :downs:"

IPCRESS
May 27, 2012

Nyyen posted:

Not entirely sure if this is the right thread for this, but here it is anyway. Something far worse than that other house that shall remain unmentioned...

<Redacted for size: a shed that might have felt at home in a Lovecraft tale>

The horror...

If you need something to cleanse the mind after seeing that:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7oO98eQYDI

kid sinister
Nov 16, 2002

kastein posted:

Idiots shouldn't be allowed to touch plumbing.

God, that reminds me of my own bathroom. My place was built in the '50s so it has steel stacks with lead branches. A previous owner changed out the vanity and sink then broke off the old lead branch at the wall. How do you join the new PVC drain to the old broken off lead line? Use an interior coupling then JB Weld the poo poo of the exterior!!! I had to smash open the wall under the vanity to put in a new elbow and proper coupling. It's alright, that 1950s peach tile had it coming.

No wonder it drained so slow.

kid sinister fucked around with this message at 17:16 on Apr 15, 2013

AlternateAccount
Apr 25, 2005
FYGM

Papercut posted:

The green tag thing is just crazy. Like literally the first thing a building inspector is going to do when they come to the building is check that it's there, because if it's not then there's no reason to go an inch further.

OK, as someone who's wondered for decades but has no idea, what is the green tag for?

Papercut
Aug 24, 2005

The quickest substitution in the history of the NBA

AlternateAccount posted:

OK, as someone who's wondered for decades but has no idea, what is the green tag for?

It's just an indication that the incoming electrical service (including meter box and the main disconnect) has passed inspection. Most (all?) local utilities won't actually connect conductors to your building without it.

dyne
May 9, 2003
[blank]

Papercut posted:

It's just an indication that the incoming electrical service (including meter box and the main disconnect) has passed inspection. Most (all?) local utilities won't actually connect conductors to your building without it.

I upgraded my electrical service this past summer and the power company did the disconnect/reconneect without an inspection; I just had to get it inspected within 5 days. It was great as I was only without power for a couple hours.

Rotten Cookies
Nov 11, 2008

gosh! i like both the islanders and the rangers!!! :^)

KozmoNaut posted:

I think I've read a book about that house. Did it seem significantly larger on the inside than on the outside? Did you hear growling that seemed to come from no particular direction? Did you check if significantly more time elapsed while you where in the house, compared to what you expected?

This is a pro post.

Skunkduster
Jul 15, 2005




Is that a reference to the movie House, or something else?

kenny powerzzz
Jan 20, 2010

SkunkDuster posted:

Is that a reference to the movie House, or something else?

Actually the TV series.

Slanderer
May 6, 2007

SkunkDuster posted:

Is that a reference to the movie House, or something else?

This post is not for you.

kid sinister
Nov 16, 2002

SkunkDuster posted:

Is that a reference to the movie House, or something else?

no, this book.

KozmoNaut
Apr 23, 2008

Happiness is a warm
Turbo Plasma Rifle



Definitely the oddest and most interesting book I've ever read.

Helena Handbasket
Feb 11, 2006

Esser-Z posted:

We called them "Ed Specials" at my parents house, after the previous owner.

I call them "Rex Eddy productions" after a family friend of my first roommate. It's caught on with many subsequent roommates because it's really satisfying to growl, "Rex Eddyyyyy" :argh: when you find one of these.

My current rental is in decent shape now, but was a little beat-up when we moved in. (Based on the tour we took before we signed the lease, it seems probable that the previous tenants were using the place as an unlicensed daycare, so they didn't make a lot of maintenance calls.) These are the two things left over that we didn't have the energy to make the landlord deal with. None of these are technically contracting failures, but they just ain't right.

Daisy-chained outlet extender things in the front porch light. That is a superball on top of the light. We left it there because we're unwilling to mess with the structural integrity of this specific nonsense.



Rusty pencil sharpener anchoring a long piece of plastic twine. You pull on the twine to turn on the exterior light on the corner of the house several yards away. The plastic knife is decorative.



Rex Eddyyyyy. :argh:

Shame Boy
Mar 2, 2010

Helena Handbasket posted:

Rusty pencil sharpener anchoring a long piece of plastic twine. You pull on the twine to turn on the exterior light on the corner of the house several yards away. The plastic knife is decorative.



Rex Eddyyyyy. :argh:

That pencil sharpener looks many many times older than that nice wooden railing you have there, meaning they pretty much went "How do I turn on a light far away? I've got just the thing!" :psyduck:

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cakesmith handyman
Jul 22, 2007

Pip-Pip old chap! Last one in is a rotten egg what what.

How do you turn the light off?

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