I'd like to see a thread dedicated to horror stories

[Klearkoat]

I would like to view construction horror stories or what one shouldn't do. I'll start it for you. I was starting to remodel my 1958 bathroom. I knocked all of the tile that covered the shower and half the walls and about passed out. When I knocked off the tile in the shower my window collapsed due to it only being supported by caulk and water-rotted headers. Support studs were water-rotted and there was some mold behind the walls. The drain for the tub was rigged. The ring under the drain was cracked and the previous homeowner thought he fixed this by going in the kitchen and poking 3 huge holes in the drywall behind the kitchen cabinets. I was wondering why I could feel air rushing out of my kitchen cabinets when I had my attic fan on. He taped, yes taped the drain joint thinking that would stop the leaking. Had it not been for floor joists I would have been showering in the basement when the tub fell through the rotted floor. My floor by the tub and the toilet was so rotten that my six year old daughter came in there and her foot went through the floor. The original builder connected drains poorly and bored through several wall studs in a row. All of which were bored about 80% through. Needless to say my remodel has turned into a complete gut. I'm not even going to talk about the electic. I wouldn't think of selling my house to someone knowing that there were problems like this.

[Mr T]

I would like to view construction horror stories
I dont think that Don has enough server space for this.....
I do this stuff as a hobby, and I have seen much more then my fair share (18-16 gauge extention cords plastered into the wall, finding a 110lb german shepard in the attic, crushed limestone lining a crawlspace floor (still have injuries from that)).

Some of the pro's in here would be non-stop typing for a day....just for this year's stories :D

[mdshunk]

...finding a 110lb german shepard in the attic...What? Alive or dead?

Some of the pro's in here would be non-stop typing for a day....just for this year's stories Actually, we see so much "stuff" on a regular basis, it's hard to think of it as being a horror story. Sometimes I see some things that are particularly bad and even horrifing to me. I suspect that what a DIY might call a "horror story" is all in a day's work for a pro.

I did recently have to finish wire a dwelling that was rough wired by a DIY and then sold to an investor. I hate these types of jobs (following a DIY). It's easy to follow another electrician that bailed on a job, but it's darned difficult to follow a DIY. In any event, the person roughed everything with 10 gauge. Lights, receptacles, range, dryer, water heater, furnace, ....everything. There were quite a few box fill issues, which I could really only cost effectively correct with wiremold extension boxes at that point. The devices were a real "treat" to terminate. The 10 guage was obviously fine for the water heater and the dryer, but I did have to replace the range cable with 8 or 6 gauge. The current property owner actually asked me to only charge him the difference between the 10 gauge that I tore out and the 8 gauge that I installed for the range. Fat chance. I don't reuse old wire, and I dutifully rolled up the old run of cable and left it next to the panel. I couldn't get done with that job fast enough. A job that should have only taken about 10 man hours took 22 man hours; more than double normal. Did I mention that I hate these types of jobs. By the way, abra frigging cadabra, the owner leaves the house a few hours before I was done, so I'm still waiting to be paid for the work. :mad:

[Mr T]

... the owner leaves the house a few hours before I was done, so I'm still waiting to be paid for the work. :mad:I would have taken their meter with you. I'll give this back when the check clears:D

I helped my parents remodel their house about 15 years ago. It was built as a single story ranch. about 20 years before this remodel, a bedroom, bath, family room, and porch were added onto the back of the house. We took the roof off of this addition and added a 2nd floor. (had a builder frame it, we finished). The upstairs is cantilevered off the back of the house 3 feet, and over the origional part of the house 2 feet. Before the drywall went up, there was a opening along the stairway into the attic of the origional house. Our german shepard found a way into that opening, and into the attic of the house. The opening was even with the 2nd floor's floor, but 5 feet off the ground at the landing on the steps, so we didnt worry much about it.

I was in the dining room reading a newspaper and heard some noise above me in the attic. I figured it was our cats playing (they also found this opening and enjoyed going up there). I went to the opening and called for the cats.. I saw what I thought was one of teh cats coming... the face got bigger and bigger....nope. We have no clue how he didnt fall through the ceiling.

[dkerr]

That may be a good idea, don't have time to set up a new forum heading tonight, but will do it soon for you.

Did everyone get there newsletter that I sent out, assuming a correct email address is in your profile. Not sure if it will be sent if you have set not to receive email from admin. As it is a plugin intergrated within vbulletin that I added, and the send all is thru the vbulletin user base, if you haven't disabled the newsletter option, the default when the plugin was installed was all users on / subscribed to it.

Don

[selfhelpadmin]

Done

Don

[Newguy]

Thanks don, I will be sure too post in that forum :) :D