CJ7VFR
Well-known member
From the site linked by dgoetz.
I don't see the problem here.....Yikes!
Jim
Homeowner abominations
- Thread starter AceofSpad3s
- Start date
From the site linked by dgoetz.
I don't see the problem here.....Yikes!
Jim
themiller
Well-known member
Prior owners had cut the interior doors in half and used tiki torches for light when the electric got shut off. Not terrible, but kinda funny...
GYPSY400
Well-known member
A friend of mine has a sister that bought a " new" house .. ( new subdivision, cookie cutter houses you might say) one of those deals that you buy the house before it's even built..
So anyway, the roof starts to leak a few years later.. The roofers go up to fix it, remove the shingles in the affected area and find the actual For Sale sign of the property used as sheeting!!!
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GYPSY400
Well-known member
My house was built in the 50's or 60's.. Before they ever used plywood as floor sheeting ( has 1x6 as seen from the basement). The electrical is horrendous! All things work properly but the routing of circuits is crazy... One circuit has kitchen light, then 2 bedroom lights, then backtrack to the fridge plug.. And so much for 16" studs! Makes for trying to wall mount a TV fun!
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info2x
Well-known member
Trying to route a pipe for a second floor bathroom remodel that has gotten out of hand I opened up a wall in the closet and found this:
The remod box on the left is hidden behind tile. All wires are live.
The remod box on the left is hidden behind tile. All wires are live.
info2x
Well-known member
Oh here's another one. Same bathroom remodel.
1.5" pipe was unsupported and sagged which is why the drain sucked. Later learned that the section was a wet vent to downstairs (doh!). It also created a horizontal dry vent below the fixture. I don't think this was the homeowner though. I think this is original
1.5" pipe was unsupported and sagged which is why the drain sucked. Later learned that the section was a wet vent to downstairs (doh!). It also created a horizontal dry vent below the fixture. I don't think this was the homeowner though. I think this is original
That is called a Multi Wire Branch Circuit (MWBC) and is common. Current code requires that both of the breakers need to be common trip or have a Handle-Tie. Each breaker must be on a different phase, with respect to the neutral, and it allows for the common neutral to be shared.
Jawn
Well-known member
Other half's house (among other issues) had a light fixture on the wall... I removed the fixture to replace it, found no box behind it. Fixture wire disappeared into a hole in the wall. I started digging around with a hole saw (circuit off of course), found they didn't like where the fixture was so they put a cover on the box and mudded over it, then fished the wire to the fixture.
carotene
Well-known member
We bought a 1960's house a couple years ago. Due to drainage issues in the yard, they installed a pit and sump at a low spot in the side yard with a discharge pipe out to the street.
The yahoo who ran the electrical installed an indoor wall box and outlet in the pit near the top, plugged in the sump, and wrapped the whole works about a zillion times with electrical tape.
The sump quit working about 6mos ago. I figured the sump was clogged with mud etc. I'm fishing around in the pit (I did pull the breaker first!) to see what's going on when i see the indoor box just below the surface of the water.
To think we had a pool of water in our yard with a submerged live 220V line in it. I think this is borderline criminal negligence. The previous homeowner left a warranty letter from the guys who installed it. Debating what to do with that.
The yahoo who ran the electrical installed an indoor wall box and outlet in the pit near the top, plugged in the sump, and wrapped the whole works about a zillion times with electrical tape.
The sump quit working about 6mos ago. I figured the sump was clogged with mud etc. I'm fishing around in the pit (I did pull the breaker first!) to see what's going on when i see the indoor box just below the surface of the water.
To think we had a pool of water in our yard with a submerged live 220V line in it. I think this is borderline criminal negligence. The previous homeowner left a warranty letter from the guys who installed it. Debating what to do with that.
rjacobs
Well-known member
Had a condo that the upstairs full bath shower(1 piece cheap shower surround from homedepot) had a tub spout sticking out of the wall. Decided to tear it out and do a nice tile job and replace the tub spout. Realized that there had been a tub there, but the previous owner built a wall and put in this shower and simply re-used the fixture.
I kind of missed the tub spout though, it was at the proper height to clean your, uh, junk, after a hot sweaty day outside.
That same bathroom had a tile floor that was creaky and the grout kept cracking. My dad was helping me with the shower and the floor tiles simply popped off the floor. They had never been pushed into the mud. You could have re-used most of the tiles the backs were that clean.
Lots of other questionable things in that condo that took a while to fix.
I kind of missed the tub spout though, it was at the proper height to clean your, uh, junk, after a hot sweaty day outside.
That same bathroom had a tile floor that was creaky and the grout kept cracking. My dad was helping me with the shower and the floor tiles simply popped off the floor. They had never been pushed into the mud. You could have re-used most of the tiles the backs were that clean.
Lots of other questionable things in that condo that took a while to fix.
Previous house the wife wanted the kitchen moved from the front to the back of the house. This required bringing the plumbing through the garage. So instead of trenching we decided to remove the garage floor and excavate for the utilities. Things were going pretty good until we discovered NO foundation under the whole end of the place. A real treat to put in a foundation after the fact.
ARFLY
Well-known member
I can understand the DIY stuff on old houses. Some people just shouldn't work on stuff. The new build stuff done by the "professional" contractors is what is really scary. My wife and I are looking at getting a house built within the next year. I am a little worried now after reading through the posts here.
chase237
Well-known member
We bought a foreclosure, fancy pants house when it was built but torn up by the owners. Some stuff we find has us scratching out heads. Here is one. Off the kitchen there is a laundry room, well most of a laundry room. The contractor had the electrical and vent for the dryer but no washer hook-up. Plus they ran the countertop all the way across so it limits the W/D to undercounter type. We were going to change some things around so the plan was to gut the lowers out and start over.
Well I found the W/D hook-up buried behind the countertop and backsplash. Who does that? Who accepts that?
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Well I found the W/D hook-up buried behind the countertop and backsplash. Who does that? Who accepts that?
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BDT/NWMN
Well-known member
Might have been Equigor, the previous owner.. Possibly done when Equigor's widow hired Satchelass, the local misfixit guy. I understand the widow used Equigor"s life insurance payout to finish the updates after Equigor fell off the top of the tv antenna he was standing on when his pipe wrench slipped..
info2x
Well-known member
From what I've found through friends (I've never built a house) is that if you're building it, inspect it yourself a lot. You can then talk to your GC about issues and get them resolved before they become problems. When a spec house is being built there is little to no oversight or incentive for there to be oversight which is why a lot of **** gets built.
When we bought our place there was an old farmhouse on it. We built a new house but lived in the old one for about a year while we planned and built the new one. The ceiling was so off level that on one side of the closet they plastered the wall above the trim and by the time it got to the other side of the closet they had to cut the trim to make it fit. I don't miss that house at all. It cost a fortune to heat. When we tore it down we didn't see 1 piece of insulation.
dodgejunkie
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2014
- Messages
- 198
This was in suburban Atlanta. There were many homeowners who had the same issues with this builder. I told them to stick together, safety in numbers etc... Nope, they all got a free trip to Disney while the company "fixed" all the problems. They took the payout, the company came in and did what they wanted and that was that! Last I heard, several owners were trying to still resolve some issues. But since they accepted a GIFT, which was considered a payout, they still have the crappy house with problems and severely diminished values.
I had pictures that would shock anybody with common sense, but were lost when my laptop imploded years ago.
Edit: This was /is a very large National Builder, and part of the repurchasing contract included a 10yr. silence clause. LOL
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kelpaso1
MEMBER EMERITUS
engineer2
Well-known member
Previous owner drilled a hole in the electrical conduit to install a ceiling fan speed control. Moved the wire and the sharp edge of the conduit cut thru the wire. Instant fireworks because I had Federal Pacific circuit breakers. That panel went into the trash not long after.
Current Home: Some people should not be allowed to remodel basements.
Wall studs on 24" centers, no insulation on exterior walls.
Only 2 can lights to illuminate a 500 sqft basement room
Romex wiring when metal conduit is code.
He figured if an electrical box was behind the ceiling tile, it didn't need a cover.
One wall looked like a snake, and I don't think he owned a level.
Current Home: Some people should not be allowed to remodel basements.
Wall studs on 24" centers, no insulation on exterior walls.
Only 2 can lights to illuminate a 500 sqft basement room
Romex wiring when metal conduit is code.
He figured if an electrical box was behind the ceiling tile, it didn't need a cover.
One wall looked like a snake, and I don't think he owned a level.
