ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area OK, one more question

Oh, I asked the realtor today about going under the new double, guess what she and my mother said, "NO!"

Ian A.

[This message has been edited by Theelectrikid (edited 09-09-2006).]

Seems a lot of money for a home. For that here I'd expect to get a nice new 3 bed detached conventional built house on a lotissement, [ small housing estate, usually 11 houses max ], with 1/5 acre garden. Or an old farmhouse for renovation with a barn bigger than 4 mobiles and a couple acres of meadow. There must be rural areas in the States with similar potential - after all building materials are the same price world over and labor here in France is an astonomical cost, [ US$15 an hour just for the social security tax, let alone compulsory liability insurance, 19.6% sales tax, income tax, etc. ]. How about Montana? Just saw a tv prog about a dude ranch - the folks there impressed me as really nice. Only the winter to worry about - I guess it gets cold?

Alan

Alan, there is, Western PA. The problem? No work.

Ian A.

I live in SW PA (McKeesport, outside of pittsburgh.) If you live in an urban area around here, it's cheap, but as witt all places, the cheaper you go, the worse crime gets.

We have 2 lots and out land is valued at $600, and the house is at $2000 because of the neighborhood. Butler county is more expensive, but it's a lot nicer! Cleaner, less crime, and more of a country setting. On of my ex-girlfriends lives there and I loved it there. Then again, I'm an old fashioned guy (even tho I'm only 21)

As for the doublewide question, my city's High School has a vocational school built in, and they do 1 or 2 doublewides a year. They run everything underneath and just leave spools of romex long enough to go to the panel without a j-box. They leave a 4' section of wall undone where the panel is, and after assembly, they wall it up. For a bunch of urban high schoolers, they do a hack of a job, usually better than many contractors around.

The plumbing in these particular houses are all on one side, and the heat vents are run underneath as well. These get donated for Habitat for Humanity.

I've been in the Belle Vernon/Rostraver Twp/Fayette City Area, and it seems nice. Like I said, no work. Great schools for me, no work for my dad.

Ian A.

Okay, while on the bus ride home yesterday, our bus had to stop in front of the new doublewide to wait for the contractors to move their trucks.
Anyways, I'm looking over, the door's open, and there's the park guy installing a ceiling fan. The bus stops moving, I look over and see sparks shoot all over the guy, and the whole "house" goes dark.

"Certified Workers?" (The manager's wife said that.)

Ian A.

(meant as compliment) Ian, you're gonna be a Superviser on the second day you're on the job....

BTW How old are you now...

(Taken as a compliment) Thanks Mark. 14 yesterday.

Ian A.

Hey Ian, my first post, so I wanted to wish ya a belated happy birthday man! Wish I could go back to 14 again....enjoy it while you can. Thinking back to when I was 13 or 14, my major electrical project was wiring my Dad's machine shed on the farm, using wiring and fixtures we salvaged from a house we tore down. I think the only cost was for light bulbs! Original wiring in the machine shed was one of those wicked open bladed knife switches with fuses, attached to a foot length of old style romex, and a duplex outlet attached, no box or anything. At least I substituted a safer fuse box with four 115 volt circuits, and permanently affixed wiring. I was in 4-H at the time, and won first place in my age division in the electrical category. By the way, some 44 years later, the machine shed hasn't burnt down, so I guess I did something right! Happy birthday, man!

Beachboy, welcome to ECN and thanks man! Sounds like an interesting project you did onthat machine shed.

Ian A.