Im doing something wrong

Status
Not open for further replies.
H

hurk27

Senior Member
Location
Portage, Indiana NEC: 2008
I would have not admited to doing this in the heading of the thread:happysad:

but yes you get what you pay for:eek:

what I find many times is people using old work box's (cut in's) that are not listed for mounting ceiling fixtures to, very common on rewires but not allowed by code.

At least they used wire nuts and not just tape:slaphead:

I use saddle box's and just find a rafter and use a 41/8" hole saw, that way you are screwing the fixture right in to the rafter and they are even listed to hold up a ceiling fan.
 
kwired

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
Makes you wonder why they bothered to make such a big clean looking rectangular hole if they were not going to put a box in it? just a 1/2 to 1" hole made with a hole saw would be much quicker:happyyes:
 
T

templdl

Senior Member
Location
Wisconsin
It could be that the person started too install the box by cutting a nice hole for it, looked at the box, then looked at the hole and concluded that it was way too much trouble, why does he need the box when he's going to attach the wires to the fixture anyway.
Who knows what knows what lurks in the mind of a do-It-yourselfer? The shadow do.
 
goldstar

goldstar

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
Had a similar situation a few years ago. Customer was getting new siding so I cut in (3) Arlington DBVS1C w/p-in use boxes, wired them and installed GFI receptacles. I left them hanging out so all the siding guys had to do was install the Tyvec wrap and foam backing, nail the box to the sheathing and install the siding. When I went back a month later the siding guys threw the Arlington boxes out, used their own boxes that matched the color of the siding, re-mounted the GFI's using sheet-rock screws - no back box. The GFI was screwed into the vinyl siding. I had also detached the meter can and left an Arlington MM-18 siding panel for them to install. The never installed the siding panel but they did re-attach the meter enclosure to the siding.

I wrote a letter to the inspector (certified mail) and had the job stopped. The sad thing is that when the inspector showed up on the job the contractor said "I do this all the time" at which time I happened to mention that doing electrical work without a license in NJ is a $1K fine 1st offense. Same contractor replaced sheet-rock in the dining room. Some of the receptacles were originally installed with Madison bars. They took the extended parts of the Madison bars, nailed them to the stud and installed the sheet-rock hoping that the receptacle cover would pull the receptacle forward. I found them only because I went to plug in an extension cord and the receptacle (box and all) fell into the wall. Had to replace about 4 of those. Then also they installed new double hung windows. When they nailed them in they nailed them shut. Windows couldn't open. Customer ended up suing the contractor. Probably the same type of contractor that Mike Holmes complains about.:slaphead:
 
kwired

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
goldstar said:
Had a similar situation a few years ago. Customer was getting new siding so I cut in (3) Arlington DBVS1C w/p-in use boxes, wired them and installed GFI receptacles. I left them hanging out so all the siding guys had to do was install the Tyvec wrap and foam backing, nail the box to the sheathing and install the siding. When I went back a month later the siding guys threw the Arlington boxes out, used their own boxes that matched the color of the siding, re-mounted the GFI's using sheet-rock screws - no back box. The GFI was screwed into the vinyl siding. I had also detached the meter can and left an Arlington MM-18 siding panel for them to install. The never installed the siding panel but they did re-attach the meter enclosure to the siding.

I wrote a letter to the inspector (certified mail) and had the job stopped. The sad thing is that when the inspector showed up on the job the contractor said "I do this all the time" at which time I happened to mention that doing electrical work without a license in NJ is a $1K fine 1st offense. Same contractor replaced sheet-rock in the dining room. Some of the receptacles were originally installed with Madison bars. They took the extended parts of the Madison bars, nailed them to the stud and installed the sheet-rock hoping that the receptacle cover would pull the receptacle forward. I found them only because I went to plug in an extension cord and the receptacle (box and all) fell into the wall. Had to replace about 4 of those. Then also they installed new double hung windows. When they nailed them in they nailed them shut. Windows couldn't open. Customer ended up suing the contractor. Probably the same type of contractor that Mike Holmes complains about.:slaphead:
Click to expand...


So why were you at this job? Sounds like the contractor didn't need (or at least think he needed) an electrician.
 
goldstar

goldstar

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
kwired said:
So why were you at this job? Sounds like the contractor didn't need (or at least think he needed) an electrician.
Click to expand...
I was doing the work directly for the homeowner (a friend of mine) who thought he could GC the job himself. He found this local guy on the Internet and thought he struck gold with the price given until the HO's brother-in-law (who happened to install the kitchen) and I exposed the trunk slammer for what he was. It's too bad I wasn't on the job as it was progressing. We might have avoided all the headaches.
 
ceb58

ceb58

Senior Member
Location
Raeford, NC
$130 big BLUE box store install of a light. NO BOX, 1/4 - 20 toggles BIG HOLE.
Click to expand...

In the last newsletter from the NC Electrical Contractors Board they made a believer out of big Blue for offering electrical work with out a license :happyyes:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top