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NancyPants posted:My apartment: Why not the side of the stall? Because there was a fully-functional casement window right in the middle of it. It came furnished with cheap painted metal 1/2" venetian blinds, for our privacy you see, and a crank that had totally seized. After the first year we noticed the windowsill was pretty much constantly mildewed due to being soaking wet most of the time, so the landlord's solution was to mount a tension rod with shower curtain high up on the wall to cover the window down to the edge of the tub. Not only did that eventually get pretty gross, but where the tension rods touched the wall it greatly accelerated the paint removal process (pictured above) to be even worse than depicted. It was otherwise a nice apartment, except for the second bedroom being useless for anything but an office/storage room, but after 3 years it sure was nice to move out into our own (first) home. There are some mildly dumb renovation choices to finish the basement but nothing really worth mentioning in this thread as it was only 3 years when we bought it. Kenny Logins fucked around with this message at 14:05 on Jul 11, 2013 |
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Jul 11, 2013 14:02
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Bad Munki posted:My understanding is that converting the neutral to hot to make a 240 line is entirely normal, as sometimes running new wires isn't really an option. You just have to clearly mark the neutral as being hot anywhere it's accessible. That in itself is fine. Repurposing a neutral wire to hot is OK. It's used for 220V hardwired appliances that don't need a dedicated neutral. It was also used in the past for switch legs, but the 2011 codebook says that all switch boxes need their own neutrals now for newer features that require neutrals, like motion sensors and such. However, using the bare ground wire as a neutral is a big no-no. Sadly I've seen it before. About getting shocked in other random places: you could only get shocked if they shared a ground with that 220V outlet. NancyPants posted:
They put in high kitchen boxes like that in the old days for clocks. kid sinister fucked around with this message at 18:04 on Jul 11, 2013 |
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Jul 11, 2013 18:02
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kid sinister posted:Repurposing a neutral wire to hot is OK. It's used for 220V hardwired appliances that don't need a dedicated neutral. It was also used in the past for switch legs, but the 2011 codebook says that all switch boxes need their own neutrals now for newer features that require neutrals, like motion sensors and such. However, using the bare ground wire as a neutral is a big no-no. Sadly I've seen it before. This apartment was “renovated" 3 years ago, and as you can see, there is no outlet. I'm surprised they didn't just put a piece of tape over it and throw on a coat of paint, to be honest. Walls dirty from previous tenant? Paint over it! Pieces of paint falling off? Throw some more paint over it. BUT DON'T YOU DARE PAINT THE WHOLE WALL. JUST THOSE SPOTS.
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Jul 11, 2013 18:23
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NancyPants posted:
I would have guessed that this was an "access panel" for your water main shutoff valve (particularly if you have sprinklers) if it didn't appear to be directly above your electrical box...
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Jul 11, 2013 19:13
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Dillbag posted:I would have guessed that this was an "access panel" for your water main shutoff valve (particularly if you have sprinklers) if it didn't appear to be directly above your electrical box...
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Jul 11, 2013 19:17
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I figured it was that - or alternatively, an access panel into a wiring raceway.
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Jul 11, 2013 19:26
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My Lovely Horse posted:If this thread has taught me anything it's that this is no reason to assume it wouldn't be the water valve, and that in fact it almost certainly is. This was my thought as well, but I was trying to be positive. 
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Jul 11, 2013 20:37
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kastein posted:an access panel into a wiring raceway.
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Jul 11, 2013 21:03
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Kenny Logins posted:Why not the side of the stall? Because there was a fully-functional casement window right in the middle of it. It came furnished with cheap painted metal 1/2" venetian blinds, for our privacy you see, and a crank that had totally seized. After the first year we noticed the windowsill was pretty much constantly mildewed due to being soaking wet most of the time, so the landlord's solution was to mount a tension rod with shower curtain high up on the wall to cover the window down to the edge of the tub. Not only did that eventually get pretty gross, but where the tension rods touched the wall it greatly accelerated the paint removal process (pictured above) to be even worse than depicted..
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Jul 11, 2013 22:21
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i like nice words
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Anne Whateley posted:Shower windows are pretty normal in older houses, practically standard here in New York, for light and ventilation. The double shower curtain isn't the best way of dealing with it, but I don't think it's super strange; my current apartment has a rod for it. And all shower curtains eventually get gross if allowed to . . . From someone who grew up in a filled-in swamp (South Florida,) large, openable bathroom windows should be MANDATORY. Theres nothing nastier than a bathroom that just stays damp, and you can't properly air it out because they built the bathroom in the center of the building, and it has no circulation. The older homes here that were build with them generally have heavily-frosted window panes. Unless you rub your body on the window during your shower, no one can see in, even at night with the lights on.
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Jul 11, 2013 22:59
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Our apartment (in a building roughly 80 years old) has a large window in the bathroom. About 25% of it is in the shower, at the opposite end from the shower head. In order to hang a shower curtain, they've nailed a 2" wide board across the window and the curtain rod tensions between the wall and the strip of wood. It's pretty sweet, though, because we can store shower stuff on the window sill.  What's not sweet is the little pieces of plaster that fall into the tub from behind the shower surround because none of it is caulked properly. 
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Jul 11, 2013 23:15
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My last place had a shower window that was about 5ft up, but it had frosted glass and the windowsill was tiled just like the shower. It was great extra storage for shampoo, body wash, and the occasional beer. Really, the only problem I had with it was that the screen was slightly bent and let bugs in if the window was open. That was real fun to deal with when some wasps built a nest outside and decided to come in, but I was able to wire it shut after getting the wasps out. Pretty much everything else about that place sucked, but that shower window was okay. Also, if your shower curtain is looking rank, just throw it in the tub and fill it with water. Add a little bleach, let it soak, and it de-grosses pretty easily. Makes cleaning the tub really easy too.
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Jul 12, 2013 03:07
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Way back when we were looking at houses I remember looking at this one place that had a basement suite that had the weirdest bathtub setup ever. First of all the ceiling height would probably have been 5 and a half feet, if that. I'm over 6 and a half feet tall so I couldn't even really get in there to have a good look.. And then, the floor space between the tub side and the wall was about 1 foot wide, so you'd have to squeeze in there to get at the tub from the rest of the small bathroom. Oh and there was no window, and that area didn't have a light (probably for the best). Apparently there were two ESL students living in that basement suite, even! Only people who were short, skinny and good night vision could rent that place and stay clean, basically. edit: extremely doubtful there was any kind of venting fan or anything either sooo.. priznat fucked around with this message at 03:38 on Jul 12, 2013 |
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Jul 12, 2013 03:35
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The electrical in this house is just... yeah I dunno. The 1950s were a different time I guess. Owner-rewired 1950s additions are a different matter altogether. It is a mix of "old but reasonable for the time I guess" such as this lightswitch (which I replaced with a non-busted one):   and "what the gently caress is this wire?" such as this panel behind the bar with three sets of mystery wires just cut off and left to hang out in the steel box. I replaced the dimmer with an LED/CFL compatible one, the outlet is getting changed out for a GFCI tomorrow. Jumpering between the connections in the back and the outlet/switch was done with 12ga stranded copper wire when the switch/outlet very clearly say solid copper only.   Then there is the exterior lighting. Instead of built-in fixtures he just ran outlets off of the wall switches. On the one hand that means you have unsightly cords hanging from the outside flood lights and can't use motion lights, but on the other it means my outdoor christmas lights are going to be a snap to turn on and off! Shifty Pony fucked around with this message at 03:12 on Jul 14, 2013 |
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Jul 12, 2013 15:04
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I remembered an old post of mine that would be a perfect fit here:kid sinister posted:Oh god... My grandpa, God rest his soul, should have never been allowed anywhere near electricity. I'm fixing up their place to sell it, and in about 18 inches wide of wall space in their master bathroom, I counted 13 code violations. Knockouts without clamps, clipping off the ground despite it being available, chipping out drywall to run non-listed cable around studs then spackling over it, you name it. Did I mention that he raised 5 children in this house?
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Jul 12, 2013 19:45
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I just spent nearly 5 hours installing three GFCI outlet/breakers. The wiring in the house is insane! At the risk of exposing my own work to criticism, let us revisit this setup. Why am I bothering with this wall box? Well you see I want to add GFCI protection to the bathroom, bar, and kitchen outlets, because I don't like dieing. Thanks to the circuit layout the bar and bathroom share a circuit, as well as three of the kitchen outlets. Oh and the disposal as well. Because of the way the circuit branches from this wall panel I was faced with either putting a single 20A GFCI in this panel OR at least three, likely four GFCI breakers out on the various meandering branches. Oh and this outlet needed protection too because it is by the bar, just above the window to the sink in the kitchen. Something could easily get splashed or fall through. For example these outlets in the kitchen:  The top right one feeds to the bottom left one. But the bottom right one, despite being on the same circuit, is actually fed back from the bathroom outlet on the other side of the wall which is fed via the bar outlets. I've heard of "ring" circuits before but this is more like a "knotted up hose on the ground" circuit. Oh but covered up it looks so plain, let's pull everything out.  There we go. Ignore the "bar light" label, I stuck that there for my own sanity earlier. I also already pulled the nut off one of the common connection bundles, to show the stranded wire. If you want to keep track... to power the refrigerator, microwave, or disposal you go from the panel, into a wire nut connection, through a short section of 12AWG solid Cu, to the outlet, across the metal tab bridge of the outlet, along a length of 12AWG stranded, to another wire nut connection, then finally to the 12AWG solid heading to that branch of the circuit. Safe. All the poo poo pulled out:  I still have no idea where the wires at the bottom left go. They have no voltage and read as open so perhaps Narnia? I love labeling things. Future me always thanks past me when I have to come back.  All ready for the GFCI to be installed:  The new path for any branch of the circuit is simply panel in -> GFCI -> 12AWG jumper -> wire nut connection -> out. Step 1 done, now the dimmer:  And done. Works like a champ:  Finally I got it mostly buttoned but but I am going to need to get a new faceplate. I may have to get a custom one and I may need to break off the right half of the dimmer heatsink. It cuts the power handing ability of it a bit (I'll have to look up how much) but it is only running an above-bar lamp running LED lights so I'm nowhere near the capacity.  But it is all worth it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yfksww1p1E Onto another circuit, over the kitchen counter. Here is the first outlet box in the chain:  Simple enough, the right wires go to the panel, left wires feed the rest of the chain. Now a further one:  Where the gently caress did that ground line come from? It isn't like they are far apart!   but I'm pretty sure that either in hooking up the range hood or installing the outlet under the cooktop that some new wire got used and I'm drat sure they didn't run a new ground back all the way. So it has to be jumpered to common at some point, which completely 100% would disable the GFCI. Thankfully code isn't stupid and it is perfectly OK not have the "ground" wire connected as long as the outlet is behind a GFCI and is properly labeled: But still. I never did figure out the entire circuit layout for the circuit running the second bathroom and part of the living room wall. All I managed to do was to isolate a branch of it leading into the bathroom and slapped the GFCI into that to give protection. Oh and I need to get a junction box cover pronto because this is lurking under the cooktop:  Exposed 240V wiring? Under a cooktop where people likely would pile conductive metal pans for easy access? Whatever could be wrong with that? Shifty Pony fucked around with this message at 03:18 on Jul 14, 2013 |
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Jul 14, 2013 02:24
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I feel like my life is in danger just looking at those photos.
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Jul 14, 2013 02:33
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I hope you only are referring to the before  It looks like I may have to just pick up a two-toggle one-GFCI faceplate and get a toggle dummy to fill in the hole.
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Jul 14, 2013 03:25
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So, I'm visiting some goon friends who just bought a house in Massachusetts. Built in 1975, it has some... interesting aesthetic features. But overall, it seems as if it was constructed attentively and competently. And then lived in by idiots. Soon after they moved in, the porch light burned out. So we went to replace it. This is what we found.  The burnt out bulb was screwed into the white adapter, which was screwed into the black adapter, which was screwed into the porch light, and then the whole mess was wedged into the enclosure and precluded the use of more than one bulb. Is there ANY reason someone would do that? The bulb was 65 watt and the original fixture seems rated for that, so why in gods name were there these unspecified adapters? The rest of the house has one ongoing theme: "We don't need no stinkin' stud finder"  
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Jul 14, 2013 04:02
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Sounds like my house! I'm gutting it a little bit at a time and living in a bombed out hellhole while I rebuild it. (Mine was built in 1890 in central mass, and then lived in by 120 years worth of idiots.)
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Jul 14, 2013 04:26
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Shifty Pony posted:I am going to need to get a new faceplate. I may have to get a custom one You need a blank end, a standard toggle center, and a decorator receptacle end. E: Or what you said 
Dagen H fucked around with this message at 07:50 on Jul 14, 2013 |
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Jul 14, 2013 07:47
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Trilineatus posted:So, I'm visiting some goon friends who just bought a house in Massachusetts. Built in 1975, it has some... interesting aesthetic features. But overall, it seems as if it was constructed attentively and competently. Where they dusk/dawn photocell adapters? I don't know why you'd need two of them on one bulb, but that makes the most sense on a porch light.
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Jul 14, 2013 16:41
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n0tqu1tesane posted:Where they dusk/dawn photocell adapters? I don't know why you'd need two of them on one bulb, but that makes the most sense on a porch light. I'm guessing photocell adapter plus something like an X10 adapter.
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Jul 14, 2013 18:03
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Trilineatus posted:So, I'm visiting some goon friends who just bought a house in Massachusetts. Built in 1975, it has some... interesting aesthetic features. But overall, it seems as if it was constructed attentively and competently. At least they used a screwdriver. In my parents house they used a hammer to find studs so there are giant hammer sized holes behind most of the cabinets.
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Jul 16, 2013 04:03
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SpartanIV posted:At least they used a screwdriver. In my parents house they used a hammer to find studs so there are giant hammer sized holes behind most of the cabinets. I use a cubic inch rare earth magnet to find studs. It sticks to the nails/screws used to hold up the drywall. It's been rattling around in my bag long enough that it's fairly grimy. I sometimes get complaints that I've left smudges on walls, but it's way more certain than a stud finder, and less destructive than a hammer.
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Jul 17, 2013 23:15
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babyeatingpsychopath posted:I use a cubic inch rare earth magnet to find studs. It sticks to the nails/screws used to hold up the drywall. It's been rattling around in my bag long enough that it's fairly grimy. I sometimes get complaints that I've left smudges on walls, but it's way more certain than a stud finder, and less destructive than a hammer. This is a great idea. Are the smaller ones just not powerful enough you find? I have a bunch of those I used to use as fridge magnets, but with a toddler around I thought I'd better put them away.
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Jul 17, 2013 23:19
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My father-in-law has a "stud finder" that is actually a little magnet on a swivel inside a little box. You can run it over the wall and when it finds a nail, the magnet points towards the nail, so you can slide it around and find the exact point over the nail. And then it has a little notch so you can mark that spot with a pencil. I bought a cheapo stud finder at home depot though, and I think it was all of $12 and it not only beeps when it finds a stud, it also has a different thing that detects live wiring. So it'll make a different rapid beep if you're about to drill into a wire. I find that the live wire thing is super-mega-sensitive, though, so if there's wiring within like five feet it'll beep. Probably a higher-quality stud finder would do a better job. But anyway my point is the low-tech thing was really cool, but if there's any chance you might drill into a live wire, maybe get one of the electronic ones and save yourself from electrocution. And a magnet is still nice so you can find out you're about to try to drill right where a nail is, because that always sucks when that happens.
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Jul 17, 2013 23:41
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I'd use a studfinder that detects wiring too but I always seem to hit the edge of the stud instead of dead centre. The magnet trick would be excellent for finding where the middle is, approximately.
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Jul 17, 2013 23:44
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Mine starts beeping and turns on a light when I hit one edge of the stud, and the light stays on across the stud and then turns off. I always mark both sides of the stud and then drill exactly in the center between my two marks.
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Jul 17, 2013 23:49
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I don't need a stud finder, I know exactly where I am  Seriously though, I find all the studs in my house with a wrecking bar because everything is getting gutted anyways. I was always annoyed when trying to use my dad's while helping him do home renovation projects so that's probably a good thing. My walls are all hosed up from a century of idiots owning the house, mold, water damage, there's no insulation behind them, and drywall is $10 for a 4x8 1/2" ultralight panel. For the ~280 bucks in drywall it costs me per room (assuming 8 foot ceilings, 16 foot long walls) it is totally worth the expense.
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Jul 17, 2013 23:51
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The trouble with the magnet technique is that it makes a huge assumption about the builder/previous owners. 
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Jul 18, 2013 00:25
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Splizwarf posted:The trouble with the magnet technique is that it makes a huge assumption about the builder/previous owners. Amen, brother, amen. Despite the lovely honeycomb drilled walls pictured above, I actually haven't found a single thing thus far that was actually drilled into a stud. Nothing like 1970s drywall for holding up mirrors, AM I RIGHT?
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Jul 18, 2013 00:32
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I have yet to find a stud finder that is more reliable than just knocking on the wall and listening. The best method is to find an electrical box, determine which side of the stud it's mounted, than measure 16" OC. Combined with the knock test it's pretty bullet proof.
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Jul 18, 2013 00:53
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Reggie Died posted:The best method is to find an electrical box, determine which side of the stud it's mounted, than measure 16" OC. hahahahahahhaahahahahahahahahahahaha  I don't believe I have found a single pair of studs in my house that is 1. 16" OC 2. left stud is vertical and 3. right stud is vertical. Not a single time. I basically just give up and mark the center of the top and bottom of each stud before placing drywall, then use a laser level (if it's actually vertical, some are) or a chalk line to mark things off. e: aside from the walls I've built in the second floor that is, all my second floor interior walls are within 1/16" of plumb 
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Jul 18, 2013 01:02
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kastein posted:hahahahahahhaahahahahahahahahahahaha Well I said measure then knock test, it usually works well with drywall. Obviously not with lath and plaster. Not sure what your picture is meant to show....
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Jul 18, 2013 01:05
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Yeah, it does work pretty well for drywall, you have a point there. Picture shows a collection of studs in my (gutted) bathroom, none of them 16 inches from anything.
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Jul 18, 2013 01:08
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kastein posted:Yeah, it does work pretty well for drywall, you have a point there. Built in the 40's/50's? Looks like it used to be lath and plaster, so anything goes at that point. I was going to say that it looks like they framed in a window or door on the right wall, but it looks like the same cripple pack as the window on the left wall, which is a huge RO for the window.... Also either that hammer is small or that broom is HUGE (or a weird angle)
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Jul 18, 2013 01:13
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All of the above. In fact it had 2 layers of lath and plaster with another couple inches of other poo poo layered over it. The room went from 7.5 feet square to 8 feet square when I gutted it and put up half inch sheetrock. It used to have a much larger window (right where the smaller window is now) and I'm reasonably certain it had a door or another large window between those two doubled up studs as well. It's a rather large and lovely hammer and yes, a very large broom. In the end all I kept from that room was the foundation (and it needs repointing), the wall framing and sheathing, and the ridge beam. Had to replace the ceiling rafters and roof rafters. The roof rafters were fine, but it was an addition and whoever built it decided no eaves was great, which left water running down the siding constantly in any storm. Plus it didn't match the rest of the house, which has large Victorian style eaves. Mildew coated siding isn't my thing so I tore the rafters off, then put new ones on including eaves overhanging proportionate to the rest of the house. Even had to redo the floor joists, there are more pics in either my current thread or the old one that got archived. Basically they were hosed - not attached to the sill plates, just propped up on stacks of flat stone on the foundation walls, and they cut them too short so they just sistered them up with 1-2 others and nailed them together. Everything was rotten.
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Jul 18, 2013 01:30
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priznat posted:I'd use a studfinder that detects wiring too but I always seem to hit the edge of the stud instead of dead centre. That's how they work. Find one edge and move over a couple inches and then come back in until you find the other edge. Drill/nail in between the edges.
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Jul 18, 2013 02:35
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I was chatting with my neighbor about the crazy in my house and he showed me how his utilities are laid out. He is a mechanical engineer with experience in semiconductor fabrication plant gas, chemical, and electric supply. It was goddamn glorious. Everything labeled, everything mapped on the blueprints, and individual shut off valves for every water and gas line.
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Jul 18, 2013 03:03
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