JGLittlefield
05-06-2010, 02:13 PM
Just when you thought things in these old coal houses weren't bad enough, you find something else that surprises you.
I ended up having to do alot of electrical repair to my family's home.
You know the usual drill, you get your store bought wiring, perhaps the normal thing like 12-2. You are, like me, in most cases, only just going to wire in an extra outlet that branches off of another.
Everything's going well, until you reach the other outlet. You see what was used back in the day, the fiber mesh with robe within or older. Replacing this, which isn't all that hard you end up finding what the previous owners decided to use....
When I wished to wire in new wiring to old wiring, I saw that the older home owners before us had obviously run out of wiring. They began to wire in multiple segments of wires.
What I mean for example is maybe a 11 inch piece of 12-2 then wired to a 6 inch piece of 12-2, like a huge chain wired link. So many cuts, splices and attachments that were only taped up, which wasn't the proper way of taping it up either.
No wire nuts, nothing. You'd be surprised if you didn't see a trash-bag used instead of tape.
So you remove these segments, get your wire and replace it with one long piece. Okay, that small nightmare is over.. right?
In time you invite your master electrician friend over and get started on the wiring under the house and also to replace the meter box and other parts where, days before, a small fire almost occurred. You saw the sparks and the light flicker inside of the device. SO hey, it's time to replace this.
This project alone is difficult, you have to cut through foundation to get to the other side of the wall and work with that so your home doesn't sag.
You go under your house, when at one point before it was fine. Now, because you're doing wiring work, you're seeing everything go wrong today. Somehow puddles of water are under your house and your wiring is sitting in it.
You find out critters have been making a mess of things, now a pest control is another option you have to consider at a later time once this is complete..
You try not to cry wondering why in the world things like this never seem to happen until you're about to work on them. It's like a sick joke from Satan or something.
Despite this, you overcome the problem and succeed in repairing the problems for the most part, getting your new box installed and working properly.
Your project in time eventually leads you up to a 'junction'. You find this by following older wire work until it leads you into the attic.
You see where the previous "electrician" years ago (Before you decided to move into this House of Horrors.) had decided to wire up everything in a area that was supposed to have a box. But okay, you look past that. Then you see that your roof (Before you ended up repairing that too.) had leaked onto the wiring making it decay and rust.
Despite seeing this nightmare and knowing that electrical current was STILL running through this mess, you are not passed out from shock. Not to mention by some Act of God, even a miracle, your house didn't burn to the ground.
So you begin to replace this mess, which leads to another problem. After removing all old work, putting in new, you now see that the homeowners decided to put an add on to the house building AROUND the other wiring making it inaccessible by Snake, by hands, by other tools, and everything you can dish out at it.
Maybe they thought you could simply take a crane and take off your bathroom like as if it was a lego house or something? Wow, genius!
So you look at the problem, try every method to avoid what you know is unavoidable.
You have to cut the roof's support beam in order to get power to this part of the house. Which by the way is the most important, it's your bathroom.
You begin to think to yourself that perhaps having an outhouse isn't so bad anymore.
So you go online, consider your options and eventually come to the conclusion to cut support blocks and put them on either side of the roof and attic floor. Doing so to relieve pressure and make up for the hole you're about to make.. . .
(To be continued..)
I ended up having to do alot of electrical repair to my family's home.
You know the usual drill, you get your store bought wiring, perhaps the normal thing like 12-2. You are, like me, in most cases, only just going to wire in an extra outlet that branches off of another.
Everything's going well, until you reach the other outlet. You see what was used back in the day, the fiber mesh with robe within or older. Replacing this, which isn't all that hard you end up finding what the previous owners decided to use....
When I wished to wire in new wiring to old wiring, I saw that the older home owners before us had obviously run out of wiring. They began to wire in multiple segments of wires.
What I mean for example is maybe a 11 inch piece of 12-2 then wired to a 6 inch piece of 12-2, like a huge chain wired link. So many cuts, splices and attachments that were only taped up, which wasn't the proper way of taping it up either.
No wire nuts, nothing. You'd be surprised if you didn't see a trash-bag used instead of tape.
So you remove these segments, get your wire and replace it with one long piece. Okay, that small nightmare is over.. right?
In time you invite your master electrician friend over and get started on the wiring under the house and also to replace the meter box and other parts where, days before, a small fire almost occurred. You saw the sparks and the light flicker inside of the device. SO hey, it's time to replace this.
This project alone is difficult, you have to cut through foundation to get to the other side of the wall and work with that so your home doesn't sag.
You go under your house, when at one point before it was fine. Now, because you're doing wiring work, you're seeing everything go wrong today. Somehow puddles of water are under your house and your wiring is sitting in it.
You find out critters have been making a mess of things, now a pest control is another option you have to consider at a later time once this is complete..
You try not to cry wondering why in the world things like this never seem to happen until you're about to work on them. It's like a sick joke from Satan or something.
Despite this, you overcome the problem and succeed in repairing the problems for the most part, getting your new box installed and working properly.
Your project in time eventually leads you up to a 'junction'. You find this by following older wire work until it leads you into the attic.
You see where the previous "electrician" years ago (Before you decided to move into this House of Horrors.) had decided to wire up everything in a area that was supposed to have a box. But okay, you look past that. Then you see that your roof (Before you ended up repairing that too.) had leaked onto the wiring making it decay and rust.
Despite seeing this nightmare and knowing that electrical current was STILL running through this mess, you are not passed out from shock. Not to mention by some Act of God, even a miracle, your house didn't burn to the ground.
So you begin to replace this mess, which leads to another problem. After removing all old work, putting in new, you now see that the homeowners decided to put an add on to the house building AROUND the other wiring making it inaccessible by Snake, by hands, by other tools, and everything you can dish out at it.
Maybe they thought you could simply take a crane and take off your bathroom like as if it was a lego house or something? Wow, genius!
So you look at the problem, try every method to avoid what you know is unavoidable.
You have to cut the roof's support beam in order to get power to this part of the house. Which by the way is the most important, it's your bathroom.
You begin to think to yourself that perhaps having an outhouse isn't so bad anymore.
So you go online, consider your options and eventually come to the conclusion to cut support blocks and put them on either side of the roof and attic floor. Doing so to relieve pressure and make up for the hole you're about to make.. . .
(To be continued..)