Hello Guys
Just 2 weeks ago a came across the worst diy job i have encountered in 26 years..
I was workin away and got a call from a women who said i had been recommened to her..brownie points,, she had just moved in to her new house and the cooker wasnt working, so i sent my apprentice to call and see her, he rang me after an hour to say he had pulled the fuse on the cooker because he couldnt get it to work also it had no earth connection, and said we would call later in the week to sort it out.
We had to rewire the cooker circuit because in the old lathe and plaster wall there were 15amp connectors (chocolate blocks)extending the cable to the cooker isolator presumabley the live was broken or loose.
From the back of the cooker isolator it fed in 2.5, a socket that was under the worktop that the washing machine was plugged in to, also a 6.0 mm feeding the cooker.
I said to my mate i think i had better check behind the built in oven to see whats what, and there was some more 15 amp connectors and then a piece of 2.5 cable connected to a piece of 6.0mm cable then back to 6.0mm again feeding the oven and the hob.both electric.. also the cover plate on the terminals on the oven was missing, also the earth was not connected on the oven.
Now i know you have probably seen worse but apart from overloading the 2.5 and getting a shock from a fault, the house had a TT system with an old voltage trip, which fortunatley worked..
Now what brought things home, was when we turned up to sort things out the plumber was there fixing the waste on the washing machine (that was bodged as well)it had leaked on to the kitchen carpet, it was soaking.. you can guess the worst that could have happened.
She only bought the house because it had a new kitchen..
Now until the goverment put in place some sort of system that ensure only qualified people carry out electrical works this is never going to end, or maybe it should be law all house sales have to have an electrical test.
