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Nightmare Pics

6.1K views 27 replies 9 participants last post by  arichard21  
#1 ·
Okay, here are some pics of my house from when (if i dare call him) a contractor did work under a HUD grant...

scary stuff.

Click on each pic to elnarge...

Service and Panel




He obviously didn't like using seperate romex connectors


Good thing this wasn't live...
 
#6 ·
I dont know the whole story, but alot of that work looks pretty good compared to what he had to work with, IMO, you cant make a cupcake out of cat ****, so let me walk you thru with what I saw from your pics,

Most RX connectors allow more that one cable,
Its not required to remove old unused cables,

The buried boxes is a no-no, and looks like missing supports for some of the cables... Other than that looks like any other old house.
 
#12 · (Edited)
I dont know the whole story, but alot of that work looks pretty good compared to what he had to work with, IMO, you cant make a cupcake out of cat ****, so let me walk you thru with what I saw from your pics,

Most RX connectors allow more that one cable,
Its not required to remove old unused cables,

The buried boxes is a no-no, and looks like missing supports for some of the cables... Other than that looks like any other old house.
Did you notice the cable that came down to the box at an angle?

Yes, it is an old house. The contractor took waaay too many shortcuts, and overall the job was never inspected by anyone.

About the only thing I will agree on is the two cables in one clamp for those 14 and 20 amp cables. This would never have passed an inspection, I'm not even sure he would have went by that panel before wanting to speak with the contractor. Though I will agree this is typical older home work if done by homeowner or landlord. But inspected work no way......

Chris

Would that service entrance be compliant? Looks like it is unsupported and sch.40.
The service entrance was NOT compliant. He had to move the whole panel. The conduit was about 15 feet into the building before it hit the panel with no disconnect.

A HUD grant? Well, you got what you paid for. You're getting welfare to fix your home, and you cry about it? I might suggest you work a bit harder and hire your own tradesmen with your own money. Maybe you should have taken some of the money you spent on the digital camera that took these pics and the computer you used to post them and put it toward fixing you own home?
I am insulted by your welfare comment. I am a working class guy, who needed some repairs done and our town was offering a "housing revitalzation" grant. IT IS NOT WELFARE. This was a $20,000 job overall. I have spend MUCH of my own money fixing up this house. I work on this house EVERYDAY. We could not afford the big sum to have the roof, windows and doors, electrical and a few other things done that needed to be done. How dare you talk down to me for getting a grant! Shame on you!



Alot of these pics aren't about legal or illeagal, like the dead wires hanging there... its about quality fo work. This guy is walking around getting job after job doing work like this. Yes, it is GREAT for the REAL pro's... they get lots of work cleaning up after people like this. But me, well I can't afford to pay Goose or MDShunk or anyone else to come over and clean up.

I know that if I can't do a job correctly, I won't do it. The work I do is always up to standard and is alot better quality than this guy. I have only been learning about this stuff for about 2 years now (this guy actually inspired me to learn about it after seeing him make all these mistakes).

I know that I am not a pro, and have never said I was. This guy is dangerous. When we called in an independant inspector, he left with 4 pages of violations from this guy. EVERYTHING he touched was not up to code.
 
#7 · (Edited)
About the only thing I will agree on is the two cables in one clamp for those 14 and 20 amp cables. This would never have passed an inspection, I'm not even sure he would have went by that panel before wanting to speak with the contractor. Though I will agree this is typical older home work if done by homeowner or landlord. But inspected work no way......

Chris

Would that service entrance be compliant? Looks like it is unsupported and sch.40.
 
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#9 ·
A HUD grant? Well, you got what you paid for. You're getting welfare to fix your home, and you cry about it? I might suggest you work a bit harder and hire your own tradesmen with your own money. Maybe you should have taken some of the money you spent on the digital camera that took these pics and the computer you used to post them and put it toward fixing you own home?
 
#11 · (Edited)
Chris

Hey, that is some sweet work. Very nice locating the transfer switch and generator panel.

Hope you didn't think I was picking a fight, wasn't my intention at all.

And I agree that is typical. Are HUD contracts just overlooked by inspection ? Those unsecured cables hanging from the panel would never fly. I didn't stop to think about HUD being the root cause.

I'm simply pointing out that it is lousy work no matter who did it. But I'm probably overreacting now that I think about it.

However MDshunk probably has hit the nail on the head as to why it is so poorly done.
 
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#13 ·
MDshunks avatar does say 'world class jerk'.....:eek:


Many tradesman frown on people who take pictures of poor workmanship and post them for the public to scrutinize. Likely knowing that there is more to the story than meets the eye.

I didn't think the service entrance would work but heck I've seen some stuff that I thought was junk but was ok maybe not quality but nothing that would fail an inspection. If you look at Chris's work you can see what a person that hires a professional should get. It just isn't aways the case.

As for MDshunk I'll let him speak for himself I am sure he is quite capable.....:)
 
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#21 · (Edited)
Think I'll interject here, if for no other reason than to break the chain.

Here in Chicago/near 'burbs, everything is in pipe. That being said, I don't know what the exact requirements are for NM but I'd never distrust the words of Stubbie. On the other hand, there is something to be said for "workmanlike manner" or quality.

I did a power plant job and the owner awarded the electrical work to a local, non-union shop. In one area, they had to run a rack of probably 20-30 pipes, mostly 3/4" and 1" RGS which passed perpendicular to a concrete encased beam. Since they were running everything tight to the ceiling, they had to drop down to the bottom flange of the beam and then offset back up to the ceiling. Depending on who was running pipe that day, some were 30 deg. bends, some 45 deg., some 60 deg. Heck, a few of them were one angle on the drop and another on the rise. We made them pick an angle and redo all others to match. The reason? It looked like crap. Period. The owner wasn't happy, we weren't happy and in the end, the foreman admitted that it was pretty shoddy too. Was it code-legal? Absolutely. Was it embarrassingly gross quality. Mmm-hmmm.

Somewhere I know I read about this being HUD-funded and there being no inspection required. In my village, they couldn't give a rip who's doing the work or how it's being paid for. Bottom line: (here anyway) You must have a permit and you must have the work inspected (unless you have curtains). I don't know much about HUD but I'd kindly recommend that you have any future work inspected. That can, and should be done irrespective of who is funding it. I understand that you may not necessarily know firsthand if the work was code-compliant or not and if you're not sure, bringing in someone who specializes in it is a good idea, especially when fire safety is the bottom line.

It's sad to see, with the housing boom, so much garbage work being done. And with big volumes to check, inspectors don't always have enough time to look really closely at all the details. I bought a new condominium in 2000 and spent the entire 6 years that I lived in it fixing all the substandard work. Non-responsive developers, fly-by-night contractors, poor inspections. Exit on the right for Chicago. On the other hand, when the dust settles (as it is in the process), the good contractors will still have work. Word of mouth is key.

This is a DIY forum. Certain people should remember that before spitting flames. We all come here because we're either trying to do something ourself or are interested in helping others do the work themselves. I admire the OP for buying a home to create a better environment for his family. I bought the biggest piece of crap house in a very nice neighborhood in order to send my kids to quality public schools. I did the electrical inspection myself and had an SE, licensed plumber and a good GC come through to perform inspections that were germane to their professions. I knew it needed a lot of work up front and bargained with the seller accordingly. But...I knew that the only way that we'd be able to afford this sucker and make it our dream was if I was going to do the lion's share of the work myself. I'm not affraid to admit that I don't know everything but I try to educate myself as much as possible before jumping in and trying new things.

And at the end of the day, I can't say that I own mine outright:thumbsup:

Good luck!

Jimmy
 
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