# Trim Carpenters Screwed Into Wire



## 3xdad (Jan 25, 2011)

Not really a "horror" story, but i got to bust the chops of the cabinet guy on this one. This is a closet on the other side of the laundry room cabinets.


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## Shockdoc (Mar 4, 2010)

3xdad said:


> Not really a "horror" story, but i got to bust the chops of the cabinet guy on this one. This is a closet on the other side of the laundry room cabinets.


I had one close to this many years back, it cost the GC a drill bit. He decided to hang a mop hook directly behind my 3ph distribution panel. Well he landed his bit into a 3/0 feeder in the panel. At least he looked visibly shaken.


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## Circuit Tracer (Feb 5, 2015)

: ) 

[Link removed. Please use the signature function.]


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## FaultCurrent (May 13, 2014)

Years ago my partner was slow, almost broke and took a job for an outfit called Add-A-Room. Made some money doing room additions and stuff, helped pay the bills. 

Did a job requiring a new service so he put it in, fed existing circuits and heated it up. He notices one of the existing 12-2 romex cables is hooked backwards, white to breaker, black to neutral so he reverses it and buttons her up. All is fine for a few days and then he gets call from general. Lady says when she takes a shower she feels an electric shock. What the hell, didn't do any work in the existing shower. Anyhow he tells general he will check it out.

Typical 50's tiled bathroom. Receptacle near sink. Incandescent ceiling fixture. How the hell is she getting shocked? Turns on water and puts hand in shower, nothing. Leans his hand on the shower door and &^%$? damn! 

After a lot of soul searching he remembers the reversed polatity on existing romex...hmmm. What the hell did that feed? Traces it to the existing bathroom. From the attic he sees romex enter wall behind shower. Turns off breaker and all is well. Now what? Finally it dawns on him. One of the lathing nails must have hit romex. The whole damn wire lath was hot. Rather than repair the wire electrician just reversed romex so nail was in neutral even though it was the black wire. Problem solved.

He tells homeowner that they will have to break up tiles to fix it. Homeowner balks at price. General tells him to leave it the way it was and that's the way it is today.


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## Wirenuting (Sep 12, 2010)

Circuit Tracer said:


> : )
> 
> 
> Mike
> [removed]


Hey look, free advertising... 

Your link keeps dumping me off ET.


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

Wirenuting said:


> .......Your link keeps dumping me off ET.


:blink:


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## Wirenuting (Sep 12, 2010)

480sparky said:


> :blink:


It's when I use the mobile version on my IPad or phone. 
Kicks me to to side and ET goes, "BINK".


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

Wirenuting said:


> It's when I use the mobile version on my IPad or phone.
> Kicks me to to side and ET goes, "BINK".


I'd say there's a setting wrong somewhere. Otherwise, every time there's a link showing, you'll automatically go there.


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## Wirenuting (Sep 12, 2010)

480sparky said:


> I'd say there's a setting wrong somewhere. Otherwise, every time there's a link showing, you'll automatically go there.


Nope, not on my end. 
It does work fine on the full version.


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## five.five-six (Apr 9, 2013)

FaultCurrent said:


> After a lot of soul searching he remembers the reversed polatity on existing romex...hmmm. What the hell did that feed? Traces it to the existing bathroom. From the attic he sees romex enter wall behind shower. Turns off breaker and all is well. Now what? Finally it dawns on him. One of the lathing nails must have hit romex. The whole damn wire lath was hot. Rather than repair the wire electrician just reversed romex so nail was in neutral even though it was the black wire. Problem solved.
> 
> He tells homeowner that they will have to break up tiles to fix it. Homeowner balks at price. General tells him to leave it the way it was and that's the way it is today.


That is just soooo wrong that in that situation I _might_ have dropped a dime to code enforcement. 


But yea, biggest horror story I heard of was tile guys too, setting a kitchen splash hooked an NM screwing in the hardiebacker and energized the grout. several zapps, no serious injuries.


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## Black Dog (Oct 16, 2011)

amishman Elec said:


> Any horror stories? Was finishing a remodel yesterday and had a light that wouldn't switch off. After some troubleshooting and finding the wiring was done properly I started looking at the trim work. The trim carpenters had installed a decorative beam above the switch on the opposite side of the wall in the living room. I went to the attic and drilled down through the top plate of the wall around the hole where the wires went into the wall. What I found was a screw going through the wood and right into my wire. 3 inch screw, really! Thats 2 hrs wasted.:no:



This was done by he trim guys.


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## Circuit Tracer (Feb 5, 2015)

@wirenuting Sorry about that 

Mike
[removed]


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## Circuit Tracer (Feb 5, 2015)

FaultCurrent said:


> The whole damn wire lath was hot. Rather than repair the wire electrician just reversed romex so nail was in neutral even though it was the black wire. Problem solved.
> 
> He tells homeowner that they will have to break up tiles to fix it. Homeowner balks at price. General tells him to leave it the way it was and that's the way it is today.


That's just wrong and dangerous  

Mike


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## Wirenuting (Sep 12, 2010)

Circuit Tracer said:


> @wirenuting Sorry about that
> 
> Mike
> [removed]


That's OK, it wasn't your fault..


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## oliquir (Jan 13, 2011)

> Not really a "horror" story, but i got to bust the chops of the cabinet guy on this one. This is a closet on the other side of the laundry room cabinet


thats why we like metal box over here :whistling2:


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## Circuit Tracer (Feb 5, 2015)

Most of the work and my area is done in EMT, but every so often I'll get a call from a flooring company because they put a nail through something in a sleeper type floor and siding companies for nails through outlet boxes and panels...crazy what some of these guys do. 

Mike


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## aftershockews (Dec 22, 2012)

Siding guys shooting a nail into the upper half of a split buss panel.


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## Barjack (Mar 28, 2010)

A lot of times on kitchen remodels, we come to trim out before a lot of the appliances are installed.

In one particular kitchen, we ran a new 20A 120V microwave circuit, but didn't touch the range. At rough in, we stubbed out a 12/2 in the space over the microwave, then installed a 4" square with RS cover and receptacle at trim. No microwave yet, but we powered up the circuit and tested the receptacle. All good.

We get a call from the GC, saying that the receptacle blows up and trips the breaker every time the microwave is plugged in.

We rush over there to find a charred black cord cap, scorched receptacle, and tripped breaker. WTH? Turns out, when the appliance installer was mounting the back plate for the microwave, he screwed into the range wire, but managed only to hit one of the hot wires, and not short it out. This in turn energized the back mounting plate for the microwave, which in turn energized the frame of the microwave, which in turn energized the ground pin on the cord cap. We were able to make a junction box behind the microwave and install a new range wire from there.

It's funny. The GC went from full hot pissed to Mr. Congeniality in a matter of seconds.


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## Meadow (Jan 14, 2011)

Black Dog said:


> This was done by he trim guys.



Ettcoflex?


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## metalpats (Apr 11, 2011)

biggest horror story is my brother coring thru a 6 inch wall and then in a 600A feeder i said half is coring bit was gone


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## NacBooster29 (Oct 25, 2010)

metalpats said:


> biggest horror story is my brother coring thru a 6 inch wall and then in a 600A feeder i said half is coring bit was gone


..
Hopefully you are at the deeper end of the gene pool...


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## Service Call (Jul 9, 2011)

Customer called me and said I almost killed his wife. Every time she touched the sink it nailed her good. I arrive and start troubleshooting just to find the homeowner took down my kitchen light and replaced it with a different one then pierced the switch leg with the metal fixture. Which energized the paint from the ceiling to the wall. I refused future work with him. 


Sent from my house using 2 cans and a string!


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