# look at this mess



## drspec (Sep 29, 2012)

thats the worst youve seen?

looks like a normal renovation to me

actually looks cleaner than most Ive been involved with


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## Magnettica (Jan 23, 2007)

That's why they call it work. If it was easy they'd call it falling asleep on the beach or something. These can be very profitable jobs IMO. Cleaning up old crap is easy if everything gets replaced. The only challenge is finding out if it's feeding other parts of the house.


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## 3xdad (Jan 25, 2011)

All framing exposed! ..butter.

Of course nobody cares about the electrical system and will want it done for gas money.


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## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

Looks like a good scrap pile there. :thumbup:


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## Hippie (May 12, 2011)

MTW said:


> Looks like a good scrap pile there. :thumbup:


thats just what i was thinking


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## nof123 (May 14, 2011)

i wish that was the worst ive seen


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## circuitman1 (Mar 14, 2013)

at least they used romex clamps & carlon blue boxes!:laughing:


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## Sparky J (May 17, 2011)

I smell S and also money hopefully lots.... Of money not S


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## Hippie (May 12, 2011)

nof123 said:


> i wish that was the worst ive seen


the pictures dont do it justice. everywhere is hanging loose wires, no rhyme or reason to any of it. theres enough wire to do 3 houses there, its incomplete and hasnt actually been working so its all pretty much useless


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## Hippie (May 12, 2011)

3xdad said:


> All framing exposed! ..butter.
> 
> Of course nobody cares about the electrical system and will want it done for gas money.


thats the thing...they dont realize what will have to be done here just think they need to put on some devices and its good to go


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## wcord (Jan 23, 2011)

3xdad said:


> All framing exposed! ..butter.
> 
> Of course nobody cares about the electrical system and will want it done for gas money.


Have you seen the cost of gas lately? Not cheap


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## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

Hippie said:


> the pictures dont do it justice. everywhere is hanging loose wires, no rhyme or reason to any of it. theres enough wire to do 3 houses there, its incomplete and hasnt actually been working so its all pretty much useless


You live on the eastern shore...what did you expect? :laughing:


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## The_Modifier (Oct 24, 2009)

Get a signature BEFORE starting work!


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## 3xdad (Jan 25, 2011)

Hippie said:


> thats the thing...they dont realize what will have to be done here just think they need to put on some devices and its good to go


This is where you whip out the salesman skills and sell sell sell.


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## Black Dog (Oct 16, 2011)

:laughing:











WTF Were they thinking here:laughing::no::laughing:















.....


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## 3xdad (Jan 25, 2011)

Black Dog said:


> :laughing:
> WTF Were they thinking here:laughing::no::laughing:


:blink::laughing::thumbup:


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## LARMGUY (Aug 22, 2010)

Black Dog said:


> :laughing:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It doubles as a railing.


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## Hippie (May 12, 2011)

Black Dog said:


> :laughing:
> 
> WTF Were they thinking here:laughing::no::laughing:
> 
> .....


i know, thats why i had to take a pic of it.. somebody must like drilling holes i guess


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## LGLS (Nov 10, 2007)

Black Dog said:


> :laughing:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 Looks like they ran 2 2-wire NMs for a set of 3-ways instead of a 3-wire?


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## wendon (Sep 27, 2010)

Hippie said:


> thats the thing...they dont realize what will have to be done here just think they need to put on some devices and its good to go


They're probably going to want champagne on a beer budget!!


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## sammt (May 11, 2014)

Lots of nm cables hanging around at your disposal. I honestly don't see what's wrong with the cables parallelling the stairs, they look like they're 1 1/4 " from the edge of the studs. what am i missing, raceway fill is exceeded?


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## ampman (Apr 2, 2009)

Rip it out and start over that's the only way


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## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

That Homeline subpanel looks like it's in decent shape, at least.


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## CADPoint (Jul 5, 2007)

Yeah you might put some nail plates on the stairwell, Looks at the exact
height required to install a hand rail!

Your just bummed cause the house has dried in and the wood is as hard as nails!


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

I think this job looks completely do-able.

Get it priced right. Get it on (or as close as you can) to your terms, as far as payments and what gets used and what gets pulled out. Get a game plan together.

Make some money.


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## Hippie (May 12, 2011)

CADPoint said:


> Yeah you might put some nail plates on the stairwell, Looks at the exact
> height required to install a hand rail!
> 
> Your just bummed cause the house has dried in and the wood is as hard as nails!


it does doesnt it?? haha


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## Hippie (May 12, 2011)

MHElectric said:


> I think this job looks completely do-able.
> 
> Get it priced right. Get it on (or as close as you can) to your terms, as far as payments and what gets used and what gets pulled out. Get a game plan together.
> 
> Make some money.


i can do it no problem... the thing is the owner sees a house thats almost completely rewired already, and i see a bunch of screwed up mess and a ton of stuff that needs to be done or redone


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## Hippie (May 12, 2011)

MTW said:


> That Homeline subpanel looks like it's in decent shape, at least.


you should see the main one outside. the buss is nothing but oxidation. damn i wish i had got a pic of that, it even has double barrel MC connectors where the romex comes in


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## Hippie (May 12, 2011)

sammt said:


> Lots of nm cables hanging around at your disposal. I honestly don't see what's wrong with the cables parallelling the stairs, they look like they're 1 1/4 " from the edge of the studs. what am i missing, raceway fill is exceeded?


nothing wrong with it i guess, i would have routed my wires in a way that required a lot less holes tho


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## 8V71 (Dec 23, 2011)

Black Dog said:


> :laughing:
> 
> WTF Were they thinking here:laughing::no::laughing:
> 
> .....


Mice need stairs too ya know.


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## A Little Short (Nov 11, 2010)

Hippie said:


> nothing wrong with it i guess, i would have routed my wires in a way that required a lot less holes tho


Unless you ran up into the attic and then down, you would have the same number of holes whether you drilled in a straight line up high, down low, or diagonal as was done.


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## Hippie (May 12, 2011)

A Little Short said:


> Unless you ran up into the attic and then down, you would have the same number of holes whether you drilled in a straight line up high, down low, or diagonal as was done.


i would have dropped to the crawl from downstairs switch, come back up under upstairs switch, and out of the top of that to the light, which is about 3 holes by my count, maybe a couple more depending where the light is. crawlspace is like 4' high the house was just lifted


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## TOOL_5150 (Aug 27, 2007)

that looks like money to me.


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## Meadow (Jan 14, 2011)

Black Dog said:


> :laughing:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
:laughing: They weren't thinking :laughing:


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## Cow (Jan 16, 2008)

More often than not, it is MUCH easier to tear out and start over, than figure out WTF is going on with the wiring that's there! I think this is one of those times...


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## Hippie (May 12, 2011)

Cow said:


> More often than not, it is MUCH easier to tear out and start over, than figure out WTF is going on with the wiring that's there! I think this is one of those times...


yeah for sure.. this was done by the previous HO so theres nothing logical about any of it


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## elecpatsfan (Oct 1, 2010)

Price it like a new house, the inspector is going to expect everything to be done to 14 code. Your competitors will be held to the same standard, it's getting busy out there, jack that price up


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## Hippie (May 12, 2011)

elecpatsfan said:


> Price it like a new house, the inspector is going to expect everything to be done to 14 code. Your competitors will be held to the same standard, it's getting busy out there, jack that price up


were still on 08. but yeah i figured it as a complete do over. even if some of that wire could be used the time it would take to trace it out wouldnt be worth it


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## guest (Feb 21, 2009)

Cow said:


> More often than not, it is MUCH easier to tear out and start over, than figure out WTF is going on with the wiring that's there! I think this is one of those times...


True that. And take all of the old NM to scrap, there's probably over $500 in scrap value there. :thumbsup:

In just the wall of shame room in my house reno thread I got $100 in scrap and I'm not even done tearing the old crap out.


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## Hippie (May 12, 2011)

heres the response i got today. another freakin waste of my time lol. people are stupid

Jason,

*

* Good morning, sorry for the delay responding I swallowed my tongue when I looked at the quote Good Lord it’s a big number – it’s a lot higher than I figured up, if you could be so kind provide me with a line item quote before I make the final commitment, also I’ll need your timeline for job completion, please see the below items (I should be down within the next couple days).* We also should have a better idea of things after the meeting with the Architect today with the wife – she’s already down there.*


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## Wirenuting (Sep 12, 2010)

Hippie said:


> heres the response i got today. another freakin waste of my time lol. people are stupid Jason, * * Good morning, sorry for the delay responding I swallowed my tongue when I looked at the quote Good Lord it’s a big number – it’s a lot higher than I figured up, if you could be so kind provide me with a line item quote before I make the final commitment, also I’ll need your timeline for job completion, please see the below items (I should be down within the next couple days).* We also should have a better idea of things after the meeting with the Architect today with the wife – she’s already down there.*


I hope you quickly replied to home with,

"Dear Sir, Please dial 911 and request assistance. Swallowing your tongue will prevent air from reaching your lungs. This is called choking and is followed by brain damage with in 2 minutes. Seeing as how you wasted time writing me and then waited for my reply, I figure you only have seconds left to act. Please have your wife contact me with the value of your life insurance policy. I'm sure that with it your project can be completed in a timely manner."


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## BuzzKill (Oct 27, 2008)

Magnettica said:


> That's why they call it work. If it was easy they'd call it falling asleep on the beach or something.


This is the funniest thing I have read in a long time. :laughing:


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## Hippie (May 12, 2011)

Wirenuting said:


> I hope you quickly replied to home with,
> 
> "Dear Sir, Please dial 911 and request assistance. Swallowing your tongue will prevent air from reaching your lungs. This is called choking and is followed by brain damage with in 2 minutes. Seeing as how you wasted time writing me and then waited for my reply, I figure you only have seconds left to act. Please have your wife contact me with the value of your life insurance policy. I'm sure that with it your project can be completed in a timely manner."


this is funnier though lol


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## Hippie (May 12, 2011)

he actually asked me if the hardwired smoke detectors were required and if those could be done without... i have a mind to tell him that his best bet would be to finish the house with no wiring at all and use the couple hundred bucks he planned to spend on electrical on some extension cords, power strips, and drop lights and use that instead.


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## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

I'm sure there's no shortage of hacks who will do the job for his price.


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## Hippie (May 12, 2011)

MTW said:


> I'm sure there's no shortage of hacks who will do the job for his price.


undoubtedly. this kind of stuff really makes me wish i was in some other type of business sometimes though. it seems like ive had more than the usual amount come at me here lately. i gave the guy a decent price too, if that made him "swallow his tongue" i imagine some of you guys prices would have sent him into cardiac arrest :hammer:


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## cdub347 (Jun 26, 2014)

That's everyday life for me .. My boss insists on pulling permits for houses that are previous rentals and absolute cluster , sounds like you prefer new construction ?? Lol


Sent from my iPhone using electriciantalk.com


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## Bugz11B (May 12, 2013)

Sure the quality of workmanship is poor,but that seems easy enough to me. Grab your toner and find out whats what, keep needed power and SL's and scrap what ya dont, oh and throw some kick plates on the stairs...


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## Shockdoc (Mar 4, 2010)

Reminds me of the mess where I went today. Picture that 50x with camera, data, phone, tv, electric all hacked and twisted together.

Sent from my C5215 using electriciantalk.com mobile app


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## Hippie (May 12, 2011)

Well the guy must have gotten his tongue unswallowed because now he wants me to meet with him "to finalize pricing to compare with the other quotes" lol.. I guess he got some similar numbers from somebody else and realized this was more than a $500 job. As much as I could use the work Im going to increase it 20% or so for him being a difficult a hole and tell him to take it or leave it. Hopefully he'll get an unlicensed hack and wind up with a bigger mess than he started with. One of my carpenter buddies met him already and assured me that he's completely off his rocker


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

I don't know, these dirty jobs really can be an aggravation, but at the same time you can make some really good money doing them if your price is right.

The key word here is "if the price is right". :laughing: Usually, I feel like T&M is exactly where I need to be with these jobs. Too many unknowns.


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