DIY Gems

sckeeth

Went to a house to fix a few "electrical problems". I was told about them on the phone and really didn't understand how bad they were until I got there.

First was a ceiling fan that the previous homeowner had installed with a two wire extension cord from the box through a hole he put in the ceiling and ran down the wall and had it plugged in to a switched outlet.

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sckeeth

Then in the kitchen, he took out the gfi's on the counters and hard wired the hockey puck lights by running them in the wall and into the box.

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sckeeth

And the best is if you need more outlets, just remove the GFI and hard wire in a plug strip.

And if you want to add a outlet for a microwave just run an extension cord through your cabinets from the vent hood.

These were among the worst in the house besides using cut up extension cords in the attic to splice into boxes instead of romex.
And he covered all three of those boxes with a sheet of copper for the back splash so you could not see them.

What an idiot.

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kevjob

holy smokes!

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Kevin
Basement Finishing Highlands Ranch Colorado
Littleton Colorado, Basement Remodeling
Kitchen Remodeling Denver

Thomp

I've said it before and I will say it again- "jake-legged"

Celtic

You didn't say it here

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firemike

Gotta love good-old American inginuity!

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-Mike-

excellencee

I wonder if his house is over-insured.

SelfContract

Boot-legged... j/k .. this slang term is for copy software/CD work I think?

Thomp

Jake-legged\jak’lag!\noun\meaning to do unprofessional, shoddy, not craftsman like \adj\bonehead

sniperelectech

ITS JACK LEGGED dag nabbit by the way my name is Jake and I DIDN't do that

sniperelectech

Please tell me that someone didn't buy the place wired like that. If not I think its funny that the owner has to pay you now to tear out there crap and to do it right. Make sure not to give them a contract price. T&M baby!!

Thomp

Sorry Jake, I didn't mean anything personal. Look up Jake leg in the dictionary it even gets funnier.

Celtic

It happens.

A friend of mine is buying a house...they did the usual HI thing...and then called me to give a number for a service upgrade (for negotiations )....while I did MY inspection of the property, I saw a zip cord plugging into a basement outlet - the cord then disappeared into the first floor wall

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Magnettica

Looks like a typical day at the office to me.

Nothing really shocks me anymore.

Hey, the bright side of something like this is that we get to make a living off of ignorant fools who install this garbage.

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Electrician service in Rahway, Cranford, Clark, Westfield, Mountainside, Scotch Plains, Fanwood, Roselle, Roselle Park, and New Jersey | Same day electrical service and repairs | Licensed and Insured Electrician in Rahway

mickeyco

Depending where your located that might be perfectly legal.

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Some people climb mountains. I take out the trash. But we both do it for the same reason.

Magnettica

Oh yeah, where, Mexico City?

Beruit, West Bank, Indonesia?

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Electrician service in Rahway, Cranford, Clark, Westfield, Mountainside, Scotch Plains, Fanwood, Roselle, Roselle Park, and New Jersey | Same day electrical service and repairs | Licensed and Insured Electrician in Rahway

Royal-T

Went to replace a door for a lady today and had to remove thedouble device that was in the trim of the door. When we took the plate of we saw something sticking out off the switch, it was newspaper from Nov 1969! Metal box, Double switched metal device with newspaper to insulate against the draft. I wont even get into that, but then the HO asked us to look at the other switches and one off them has a 9 position knob and a awitch above it, one switch controls 9 different lights, not 9 lights in series. Thats 27 wires to one device!

sckeeth

They bought the house that way. That's how they got a good deal for 650k.

Ponsse

I know this is a joke, but ------ I have heard that Iowa doesn't recognize the NEC and other states don't have licensing. Does anyone know if any of this is true?