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#117342 06/07/04 12:43 PM
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 2,498
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Member
Here the cable is only required to be covered by at least 4mm of plaster. That's _darn_ thin.
Anyway, doing so in a plaster & lathe ceiling is just ridiculous.
But horrors? *shrug*

#117343 06/07/04 04:10 PM
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 840
C
Member
Thanks for all the replies. More pics are on the way as soon as Scott posts them, since I forgot to attach all of them the first time.

As far as the "horror" goes, the wiring on every floor of this place (It's a 3-family triple decker) is in equally bad shape.

The good news? It's all being ripped out and replaced.

Peter


Peter
#117344 06/07/04 09:06 PM
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 4,294
Member
Here they are. [Linked Image]


[Linked Image]


[Linked Image]


[Linked Image]


[Linked Image]

#117345 06/07/04 09:27 PM
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 840
C
Member
Top pic- "fan rated" octagon extension box. Yeah, a fan was actually hanging off that. 2 sheetrock screws holding up the whole mess.

2nd pic. What do you need a box for? Old ac cable feeding a light, with most of the insulation crumbling off. 75 watt bulb in a 60 watt fixture. Insulation removed from top of fixture. I cut the other wire to show everything.

3rd pic- Out of sight, out of mind. Chime transformer sitting in a pile of crap in the attic. I don't even know why they bothered with the box. It's hard to tell, but the cloth insulation on the ancient NM cable left of the box is gone. Even futher to the left, the cable went from partially insulated to not insulated at all. It was down to 2 bare copper conductors sitting in the same dusty mess. [Linked Image] I think some rats chewed it up.

Last pic- another "out of sight, out of mind" found above a suspended ceiling in one of the bathrooms. No explanation required. I think the keyless had a 75 watt bulb in it. Nice and toasty. Besides the obvious, can you spot what else they did?

The sad part of all this is, until recently, all of this was energized and there were low income people living in these apartments. There were lots of other similar problems that I did't get pics of, but you get the idea.

As I said, this is all being ripped out and replaced. The apartments are also being completely renovated in the process, with all new plumbing and heating systems too. Urban renewal at its finest. [Linked Image]

Peter


Peter
#117346 06/08/04 01:38 PM
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,438
Member
Apartments??? [Linked Image] Are we seeing the works of tenants that did things on their own or a maintenace man gone wrong?? :sad: Maybe this is why renters insurance is so high!
Good to hear this is all going bye bye! [Linked Image]

Great pics Peter! [Linked Image]

-Randy

#117347 06/08/04 11:39 PM
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 1,143
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Member
Reminds me of the work I did @ my wife's grandma's 1950's era house prior to replacing the overloaded fusebox (see pics if you want).

About 6 months earlier, we "surprised" Grandma by buying new paint, outlets & switches; also light fixtures and plates in a bright brass finish. Started removing the old fixtures and found wood screws instead of machine screws... (BS alarm starts buzzing).

Dropped fixture, found ceiling, NM cable poking through a 1/2" hole and no box.

(To a Chicago conduit born and bred boy like myself, I was, to put it mildly, a bit surprised...)

Wound up installing the "winged" NM retro ceiling boxes throughout most of the house.

#117348 06/14/04 09:07 PM
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 840
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Member
Randy,

Sorry for the late response. Anyway....by my guess, the last time any work was done by an electrician in this place was sometime in the early '90s.

The crap you see is most likely the result of the slum lord that owned the place. Needless to say, I was pretty horrified when I started doing the demo on the electrical system. The keyless screwed right to the lath is a new one on me.

Just for general interest, the pics taken are in Providence, RI. As anyone from the area knows, many of the homes here are over 70-80 years old with the original wiring still in operation. A large number of homes in the city have wiring in the same bad shape. [Linked Image]

Peter


Peter
#117349 06/14/04 09:38 PM
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 11
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Junior Member
I live in a newer town home,only 2 yrs old.Being the worrier i am,I inspected the electrical with a fine tooth comb after i had a tripping brkr on my dryer and saw the mantanence man my lovely management sent to repair it.The problem was a week brkr easily fixed (BY ME).What i found later was evidence of prior rentors failed attempts at the trade i know and love.The repairs i made cost me approximately 50$ in mats..I did it all with a smile.Cause I new that sad excuse of a mantanence man wouldn't be visiting me ever again.

#117350 06/15/04 12:48 AM
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,438
Member
Ok... I take back never coming across the embedded romex.... I did today! with a strip of duct tape over it, above a fireplace mantle, with glass mirror tiles over it... (rats chewed the wires! [Linked Image] )


-Randy

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