When I built my house, I had the main on the ground floor, and sub panels installed both upstairs and in the finished basement. I did not want electrical lines snaking between floors. It was an added cost but each floor has a dedicated breaker panel. I also paid my electrician to draw a complete wiring diagram on CAD and placed them into a binder along with my plumbing, HVAC, and building plans and a complete set of still pictures. My reasoning was that in 20 or 30 years, if I wished to remodel, I would not have to rely on memory.
The scariest thing that ever happened to me is about 9 months after buying a home built in 1980, when running the washing machine, the lights in the entire house would dim with every back-and-forth cycle of the drum. Then, we noticed if you were holding the faucet and turned on the garbage disposal, you could feel a steady shock. It turned out that the neutral from the meter to the transformer in the street had gone bad. Being underground here in Georgia, they had to run all 3 lines new. Luckily, in my area, the power company is responsible for anything to the meter and they fixed it. One of the supervisors told me it happens a lot and that basically, my entire plumbing system had become a ground. Scary.
I had that happen on a smaller scale in an apartment I rented, where a group of outlets developed an open neutral. Took forever to convince the landlord to send an electrician.
ai caramba!! there is madness going on in the minds of "electrical contractor & home inspector" Thank God for you Mike - you & your crew are indeed heroes!
As a homeowner with extensive construction experience - it’s amazing how difficult it can be to get things done right. Contractors are so accustomed to being pressured to find little cheats that they’re confused.
A very large part of my electrical career was spent cleaning up messes like this. An older house, where additions were patched in, clever improvisation was the norm, where make-do was layered atop a patch over a jury-rig. It’s amazing what a nice drywall jib can hide. Customers are not innocent victims. All they want is “fast, cheap, simple - did I say cheap?” They will seek out some handy type who doesn’t even have a ladder. They demand short cuts. Finally, licensing chases real contractors away. Required lead and asbestos certification and testing combines to push everyone away from residential work.
I have been a career electrician in NH . I have seen awful things as bad as that and worse even ! Some people have no sense at all ! I once worked on a house that had been electrically condemned because the woman who owned it tried to rewire it herself . It was bad and I had a state inspector checking the job . It was a little stressful pleasing the inspector !
Mr. Holmes, you provide an invaluble service to a warped system and I commend your devotion to your cause and work. I am curious why there wasn't a red flag on house #3 when structure arround garage wasn't a sign of further neglect or shabby craftmanship. I ask because you taught me. Thanks Mike The couple with her sister episode, the nice looking blonds.
So great to find a professional contractor who wants to do a proper job and not cut corners to get a job on his books with little thoughts for the home owners safety. I realise that there are many quality contractors out there but it is the minority (?) that get the industry a bad name.
At 17:34 Lisa leased her house for "a couple of years" and had not bothered to have any periodic inspections. It had been turned into a Pot Grow House. Seems she did not have the right to inspections written into her lease. WHY????? Should be quarterly inspections in the first year, then perhaps 6 monthly next year, before reducing to yearly inspections in 3rd and subsequent years, with right to evict immediately if normal rental conditions are not met. Anything less strict is just asking for trouble.
I was selling my house once and the home inspector talked to me before he left the house. One of the things he said that he was going to point out was I should have r-30 in the ceiling. I live in the south. I told him I did have r-30 in the ceiling and I took him back to the attic. Lol. But wait there's more!! I started looking at his report and I myself started pointing out stuff that I knew was needing replacement like I had one window on the garage that was cracked and a few more things that wasn't serious but should have been noted. Everyone should get a home inspection but you never know how qualified they are. There should be mandatory school for them and they should have to pass a thorough examination
I would imagine if you didn't get an electrical permit and inspection and your house burned down because of an electrical fire your home owners insurance wouldn't pay! The state I'm in makes it simple. They allow the home owner to do their own electrical as long as you get a permit, and it passes inspection. I personally installed a 100 amp sub panel and wired my entire shop myself . When I went to the permit office, they actually had schematics I could take that showed exactly what panels,boxes, and wire to use. The permit cost me $75, and the inspection costs another $75. $150 altogether. When I had my final inspection, he failed me on 3 electrical outlets as I had used regular outlets instead of tamper resistant. It was my mistake. He left, saying that if I sent him a photo of them after being replaced, he would pass it and send the permit in. My point is it's not the nightmare you would think it is. If my shop burns down because of an electrical fire, I now know insurance can't reject payment because I didn't have a permit.
In the 2nd video they're using rockwool insulation. Smart! Rockwool insulation is fire proof, water proof, insects and mice hate it. I won't use anything else. I'm renovating a mobile home built in 1972 on a 2nd property. The electrical was insane. All the outlets and switches were back wired, none of the wires were stapled.
Best electrical I know is a state licensed electrician who’s a full time firefighter, and runs his business on the side. He’s seen enough building fires caused by bad wiring to know how deadly serious it is. Most careful, safety conscious guy you’ll ever meet.
hey mike love the show Im a retired electrician in the uk ( we call them sparkys ) that basment does not even comply to 70s regs and against modern regs frightening / doi it right first time ( its right or its wrong it can not be both
Years ago, I rewired my home without permits, my buddy is an electrician and he did the work. When it came time for my ESA inspection he told me to tell the inspector I did the work myself. The inspector said the work done was excellent but he started questioning me on some things and I didn't know the answers, so he knew someone else did the work but he just gave me a wink and said I did nice work and passed me.
At 14:56 This is the first instance where I have seen or heard of separate power and lighting circuits in the Canadian electric system (certainly it seems to be unknown in USA electrical). It is STANDARD and mandatory in New Zealand:- 2.5mm triple cable for power and 1mm triple cable for lighting in NZ (these measures are for ordinary domestic installations). (I had no reason to instal for kitchen stove, so am not sure about that cabling, but I seem to recall it was 3.5mm triple, on dedicated fuse or breaker.) (By the way, I just installed the cables, but did not connect to the circuit board. That was the province of the supervising licenced sparky who checked my wiring also.)
FYI....On the solar power subject. If you own a mobile home but rent the lot its on, solar and utilities companies refuse the installation of systems. This was very disheartening to me being on disability
@11:44 for reference, when he states 12 per circuit, its actually 12 total recepticles (spots that a plug can go into). Thats 2 per wall outlet, which means 6 total boxes in the wall per circuit, and thats on a 15A and 20A circuit. As of 2020, Canadian electrical code now recognized the difference for a 20A circuit. So that count was now separated and increased to 16 recepticles total (8 wall outlets). The "i know a guy that can do it cheaper" 'contractors' that wired in the 17 outlets.... well thats a total of 34 recepticles on a 15A circuit on 14ga. What the actual fk!
Based off the 2021 electrical code 8-304 Sub1-3, residential branch circuits allow for 12 outlets, as you stated, but it outlines in subsection 2 that a duplex counts as 1 outlet, a triplex as 1.5, and a quadruplex as 2 outlets. So in this case, 12 outlets (duplexes) at 80% continuous load, or 15 at 100% on 15 amps. In case anyone was looking for the specific code that this applies to.
Opinion; In most USA States you can not, install dry wall Until the City/County Inspects the Plumbing and Electrical.{Some places allow electrical to be done by the Home owner, BUT the Main Box has to be inspected by a Licensed Electrician}.🤔🇺🇸 I recommend{except, A/C, and Refrigeration/Freezer outlets} to use GFI Outlets or Breakers.Real safety..
O find it interesting that they use metal clips to hold wires against the wood. Here in the UK we use plastic clips, so that the clip can't cut into the wire and short it out.
In my current apartment only the bathrm and kitchen has a ground fault outlet all other outlets are 1975 code 3 prong grounded outlets - also against code there's a pot light in the shower
Oh and aluminum wiring isn't a problem; just the outlet & switch connections are. There's no need to rip out aluminum wiring. For renovation it can be left as originally passed per code of build year. A MUCH more cost effective solution is to use copalum connectors to add an extension of copper to the end of aluminum wire; negating the connection hazard issues. Using copalums basically turns aluminum into copper. Less cost, less mess, less time. That's the way to go. Save homeowners thousands.
OK you do not know me. Short and Sweet. 1973 thru 1975 Trade School while in high school Industrial and residential wiring. 1975 thru 1980 US Navy, Electrician's Mate Aircraft Carrier. 1983 Journeyman Electrician in Okla. Just retired at 67 from Electrical Utility Company, controls and protection designer. The National Electric Code with not allow and hidden electrical junction box. One behind sheet rock. Electrical connections in a legal junction box, in my believe, require a mechanical connection first then put the wire nut over the connection for insulation only. I always group the wires together, twist them, place a cable strap just past the wire nut location, then put on the wire nut. I do not use hard plastic wire nuts. I have taken too many off that are burned up. The cable strap just helps keep wires from being pulled out of the connection. In my trade school, my instructor used Buchanans. They are a copper sleave that you crip over the wires then put a nylon cap over the connection. I love your RU-vid channel and I like what you do for people. Thank You.
I am from the USA, Every contract should have a reasonable amount of time clause in it. A single bathroom renovation should not take 6 months to finish the job One screw per day, is not a reasonable amount of work completed. It should not take more than 4 weeks to complete one bathroom
They were nice tenants. Always paid the rent on time. In cash. Kept to themselves. They said they were horticulturists. I guess that pays a lot more than I thought. Because they drove really nice cars.
Here in Belgium you have to have certificates of Electricity/ Gas/ plumbing./ EPC value/ Isolation/ stability/ airco/ before you can even think of selling a house. Better this way ;-) than stand before big mistakes. Plus most of our houses are made of brick and not wood like in the US ;-)
Hidden junction boxes are a HUGE no no. But a lot of junction boxes isn't necessarily an issue. For example I replaced my 40 year old AC circuit and installed a new dryer circuit. But the old AC conductors I was unable to remove. So I put a box on each end and labeled the cover obsolete - no pwr. I also upgraded & relocated my breaker panel. 50% of existing circuits would not reach the new location; so they went into junction boxes and then extended to the new location. This required 4 junction boxes with a 3 sq ft cubic area. I think it was 8 or 9 home runs that needed to be extended to the new panel location about 12 feet away. That's not defending the madman who did that house in the vid. Whoever it was should arrested for something, anything, just stop the guy from doing more of... That's criminally bad work. No, it's an insult to criminally bad work.
A lot of times the inspector is referred to the home buyer by the realtor. They are sometimes in cahoots with the seller. your best bet is to find your own inspector based on the word of other people. I don't know if there is a web site like Angies list for inspectors but there should be.
Sir, after watching so many of your videos, I would like to know what effort is made to identify these inspectors that you feel, are just winging it. Getting paid for an inspection they never really do it.
hey Mike your wrong about mosquitoes "While non-LED light sources may appear less attractive, Emma explains that any light used at night (when temperatures are at their coolest) runs the risk of attracting mosquitoes. 'Though mosquitoes may be less interested in LED light sources, they still perceive these lights,' she says"
So many chances to rewire correctly, but not even the Mikes team does it right.. sad to see it. Always run conduit from one box to another so when you need to replace wires or do the whole rewire, you can just pull it trough, instead of ripping whole house apart. Damaged wire? No problem just replace the wire and fix that spot, witch can be found with locator in the conduit. About to run nail into wall, there is high chance metal conduit can deflect it as is, if plate is not added to make sure. Always run 90 degree turns so wire location can be seen with out even any tools just by opening couple boxes and looking where the wires go.... but no all that work wasted to be ripped apart when there is issues in future... Also LED's are decent but blue light is issue for the eyes, those dont last longer while filament bulbs would last indefinitely if those didnt were built to break to sell more of them and environmentally filament is just bit of metal and glass, while leds have plastic, electronic components that often fail and harder to recycle. Also just one under a cent resistor can blow and there goes whole bulb since most people dont bother to fix them, dont know how or dont know its even possible.
Some dingdong actually had the brass balls to call out Mike H and claimed he was unprofessional, didn't know structural engineering. He was defending the home inspectors that did a lousy job. "Mike's not qualified....Not knowing x,y and z". The response was simple "Don't take responsibility for a disaster." Some things you simply can't defend. Maybe 75% of home inspectors do a good job and are responsible. The 25% that got their 'license' via a Cracker Jack box? Those are the ones this guy should have been going after. Not trying to defend something that is just wrong.
That's dumb on multiple levels. Mike doesn't need to be a structural engineer to see obvious problems. And he would get a structural engineer when something is outside of his skills. He does that on everything. He always has specialty tradespeople working on a job who know more about a specific aspect of it than he does. Anyone who has ever watched his show knows that.
I wonder if Jeremy went after the original contractor? If the guy is licensed, he can seek relief. Probably not enough to get the job redone correctly. Maybe Mike has some muscle. Probably not What I wonder is who pays for all these stem to stern corrections. That and whether the owner has to pay a gift tax on the value of labor and materials if the producers provide the stuff.
Honestly....If I'd been any of these homeowners and found any of these insanely irresponsible electrical jobs done on my domicile, I'd consider it as the contractors trying to end my life. I'd take steps to respond accordingly.
Looks like Mike needs to hire Fox 2 Detroit Rob Wolcheck HALL OF SHAME. Rob would put these bad contractors in the Hall Of Shame. He will go acrosss country ti catch these scumbags.
the only bad thing about L.E.D lights is that they sometimes cause interference with some electronics i'v seen this working in the garage door industry. but thats not the L.E.D its self but the elctrioncs they use
I moved into a home with live electrical wires in the ceiling not going to anything and the ends were protected with electrical tape. I had an electrician protect them with electrical knobs and disconnect the lines. I recently found lights that had the wires taped instead of using the electrical knobs. :( Sorry, I don't know the proper name for the knobs.
Tom and Rebecca wanted " cheap" that's what they got. They didn't care about looking into any contractors background. Now Mike comes in and fixed everything at no cost to them!! I wish Mike had picked someone more deserving than Tom/Rebecca who only cared about money!! You pick the cheapest you get the cheapest....no one deserves to have a potential deadly hazard that could kill them but Tom/Rebecca should not have Mike bail them out. They should have checked the contractor and NOT PICKED THE CHEAPEST!! This couple is disgusting!!
"$15000 isnt much anyway, but they still choose the cheapest" Well, you aim for the cheapest crap, you get the cheapest crap. Switching on common sense really helps. If the cheapest always gets the job, you enable and entice contractors working this way.
Canadian here. AFAIK the Contractor, as the one doing the work, are supposed to be the ones responsible for getting the permits showing the work they’re going to do as per agreement with both parties. But it’s always good to make sure they actually did get/pull all the permits required for the job… not much help as I’m not 100% regarding the question you posed
I'm not an attorney or contractor, but my understanding is that it's the contractor's responsibility. That's the type of thing the general contractor managing the job takes care of. Along with scheduling inspections before walls can be closed up etc. And I don't think there is much of difference between the U.S. and Canada. The two countries have similar laws. Although, I think the level of consumer protection and the ability to sue people is better in the United States. But with that said, the homeowner will ultimately pay the price if permits are not pulled. Both in terms of safety and in terms of other liabilities. For, instance, it could impede the sale of the home later. And during later renovations, inspectors can require that any work done without a permit be redone. So, it's still wise for the homeowner to stay on top of things and to check if work was being done with a proper permit. You can talk to local officials to find out what the requirements are. And if the contractor isn't doing things right, stop the job immediately. It will cost you more in the long term if you don't. The thing that will likely vary is what you will need a permit for and the specific building codes you need to follow. And here in the United States, that can vary from from city to city and from state to state. So, you need to speak to local officials for the details on those things.
@@leestebbins5051 My brother and half brother lived in Hawaii for a number of years and have since moved to Missouri to retire. But when my brother first moved there, he helped my half brother and his father in-law flip houses, etc. Later he became a realtor there. But I'm sure they have their own horror stories to tell about the permit process. How bad it is will likely depend heavily on where you live.
Please get your barn cats neutered and spayed. They live a longer and healthier life. Please look into it and do research on it. You can always adopt new cats/kittens from a shelter if you need more rather than having your current ones populating your colony.😊
first of all, the home inspector has an SOP. Standards of practice. many visible junction boxes in a small area aren't a cause for concern. it is a visual inspection period. you should hire an electrician, HVAC pro always when buying a house.
