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Posted By: Admin Got Fire Insurance? - 01/07/05 03:48 AM
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The following pictures are from a Million dollar house overlooking the Monterey bay in California. These are shots taken while up in the attic. Let's count up the violations.
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1. What you're seeing here is a partially dismantled square recessed light fixture. It has been "recycled" into a freeform j-box. The plugged-in lamp cord wire feeds down though the ceiling (no box) into a chandelier. What fun!
I count 5 here.
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2. When you're finished laughing, I'll explain this. The romex terminating in a plug connects to ready? The furnace. The other plug goes to the doorbell transformer. We'll be seeing Mr. Doorbell Transformer later in the show. You can't see it in the picture, but the receptacle was cooked. Lots of browning all around the socket and really brittle wire insulation. Definitely on the road to rooftop BBQ.
I count 5 here.
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3. Nice duct tape splice here. This isn't as rare as I'd like to believe I bet.
Two violations for this one. The splice and no blower emergency shutoff switch.
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4. Where to start? Note how convenient it is to work in this box when you leave the cover off and just wire right through the front. No more carrying heavy screwdrivers! Threading the grounding wire through the device mounting screw holes is a big time saver.
I count 5 here.
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5. That's Mr. Doorbell Transformer sitting nice-n-cozy in the insulation there. He won't catch cold that way. The open-air splice goes back up to the plug in pic #2. You might not be able to tell that there are intercom wires running all around the power lines. Makes for a nice 60Hz buzz in the speaker. Everyone enjoys a good buzz.
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6. This is the inside of the jbox from #2. Nice and busy in here.

7. (no picture) Kitchen receptacle is about a foot from the kitchen sink. Non GFCI recep, No GFCI breaker. Neutral and hot were reversed, AND the grounding wire was not connected. Nice death trap.

The good news is that none of this was done by an electrician. Looking at other non-electrical atrocities around the residence leads me to believe that this was the elderly homeowner trying to pinch pennies. This was their second home. As usual, it's the ones with all of the money that can't bear to spend it. The home inspector didn't log any of this stuff.

- Eric aka Haligan
Posted By: electure Re: Got Fire Insurance? - 01/07/05 04:24 AM
I didn't know that you could get a house with electricity above Monterey Bay for just a million
Does it have indoor plumbing, too? [Linked Image]

Really, they did cut some corners, didn't they?
Posted By: sparked Re: Got Fire Insurance? - 01/07/05 09:01 PM
In Picture #3:

Is that a bare copper ground wrapped around the one of the screws of an NM clamp? (near the bottom of the box)

[This message has been edited by sparked (edited 01-07-2005).]
Posted By: pauluk Re: Got Fire Insurance? - 01/07/05 10:22 PM
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Does it have indoor plumbing, too?
If the plumbing is as bad as the wiring, at least there's a chance of the water leaks putting out the electrical fire! [Linked Image] [Linked Image]
Posted By: Haligan Re: Got Fire Insurance? - 01/08/05 11:32 PM
Thanks for posting the pics Admin. I've been waiting a long time to be able to post my own graphic horror story.

Well I guess a million bucks is a bargain depending where you're standing. I have to go back down there for a few more trips because on my way out I found an outdoor light fixture wired with zip cord with a splice out in open air.

Heh, heh. About the plumbing. Aparently when the water table rises, raw sewerage backs up into the downstairs shower pan. For that, you'd be better off with outdoor plumbing.
Posted By: SvenNYC Re: Got Fire Insurance? - 01/09/05 05:54 AM
Re. Picture #2.

The receptacle could be cooked. But I betcha that nice round, Bakelite plug feeding juice to Mr. Doorbell was still doing just fine.... [Linked Image]
Posted By: IanR Re: Got Fire Insurance? - 01/10/05 05:40 PM
Gotta love the homemade cover in pic 2.
I hate those things. Just go to the store and buy the correct cover, for less than a dollar!
Posted By: Trumpy Re: Got Fire Insurance? - 01/10/05 11:59 PM
Whoa!!,
Is this rough or what??. [Linked Image]
Looks like some-one really bought a lemon there.
I bet the Electrician (read:Wire-puller) made a packet out of this place.
Looks like he stood at the front door and threw the wires in from there. [Linked Image]
Posted By: Haligan Re: Got Fire Insurance? - 01/25/05 04:53 AM
This was no electrician. I can definitely see the difference between the original rough-ins and the previous homeowner's half-*ss fix ups.

He didn't stop at elecrical either. There's a window with glazing on only three sides.
There's drainage that runs all the storm water into the neighbor's yard.

There's a receptacle that he didn't have the right cover for and this time instead of cutting the cover, he cut the recep.! I'll take a picture of that next time.

So take heart. An electrician did not do this.
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