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Pointing out a problem to a neighbor

| Posted in Energy, Heating & Insulation on January 23, 2004 12:06pm

The house next to me is owned by an older woman who lives about 6 hours away. She is in town to rent it since the last tenants just moved out. In the course of talking to her today we migrated to the basement. Being the nosey type, I opened the cover of her main panel, mostly to see if it was a fed pac. The previous tenants were always complaining about lights flickering and brownouts so I was trying to do a little fire prevention for my sake. The panel was somewhat of a mess compared to my recent upgrade, but the thing which concerned me was the dryer being on a 60A 2-pole. The wire to the dryer was in 3/4 EMT which would be a pretty tight fit for #6 so I’m thinking #8 or 10. In addition, and this is where it gets good, at the dryer outlet there are 3 separate rubber wires about 3/8″ in diameter which are stapled up the back wall and then loosely through and below joists for about 15 ft where they then enter a conduit which goes to the garage, and I’m sure they terminate somehow in a couple of 120V outlets. This is creative wiring at its best.

I pointed out to her that she might want to get it looked into. Should I go as far as to bring it up again and give her the name of my electrician. I’d really rather not have a fire hazard right next door, especially in a house of renters.

Thoughts?

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Replies

  1. User avater
    BillHartmann | Jan 23, 2004 06:20pm | #1

    I think that it is serious enough to mention it again.

    Or ask her if she has found some one to check it out and if not here is the name of your guy. That is a little less threatening way to bring it up.

    Specially with this being an out of town landlord. It is a little harder when it is the HO and the HO has done some of the work.

  2. Joe_Fusco | Jan 23, 2004 06:27pm | #2

    Jetboy,

    You’re in a crap position. It would have been better if you never went looking around in that old lady’s house to begin with. You can’t testify to what you don’t know.

    I would had the lady the name of the electrician you use and say you need to get that looked at or someone could die here.

    Then if the electrician’s truck doesn’t show up before the new renters arrive then I’d tell them that there is a condition in that house that needs to be looked at by a qualified electrician and that not doing so could cost them their life.

    If they do nothing then you could file a complaint with the town/city. . . .

    Kinda makes you wish you never went looking around ehh . . . . . .

    View Image
    1. MajorWool | Jan 24, 2004 12:54pm | #7

      Thanks for the responses. I expected a broad range. My goal is to get things fixed so that I feel safer, and that means presenting it in a way that things get done hopefully w/o threatening or alienating her.

      I wrote down the name and number of my electrician and will give it to her when I see her next. I'd rather have him come in, pull permits, and fix things than report her to the city who might fine her more than it would cost to fix it in the first place. The electrician is a good guy and will treat her well. I was told her son owns the house and she manages it for him and supplements her income with the rent.

      I have to say, her house was actually better than mine when we bought it, considering that we had no neutral line to the pole. =8-O

      We're in the market for another place so I'm trying to educate myself more along the home inspection line. I am a sponge for information and I read most of the threads here so I'll have a clue when I see things down the road. I was sort of using her place for a practice run-through. I'm now coming to the conclusion that I've lived in some death-traps in the past. ;-)

      1. WayneL5 | Jan 24, 2004 06:45pm | #9

        Trying to work with her rather than against her is generally the best approach.

        You could find her son's name and address from the tax role if he is the owner.  If he is the owner, not her, I'd contact him, too.  Sometimes children are more responsible and energetic than aging parents.

        It's nice of you to take the time to try to do something about this.

        1. MajorWool | Jan 28, 2004 07:11am | #10

          I gave her the business card of the electrician and wrote up a short description of the three things that were obviously wrong on the back of the card. One of them was that the service lines had come loose from the insulator on the house. I pointed that out to her and said that if the insulation came off the wire then it would be more than 20,000 watts of energy to cause a fire. So when I see that fixed I'll know that she got something done.

  3. Joe_Fusco | Jan 23, 2004 06:36pm | #3

    Jetboy,

    Now lets say you do nothing. . . People move in and a few weeks late the house catches fire and everyone dies inside!

    They check and find the cause of the fire was some faulty wiring in the basement. They question the land lady and she says that the guy next door did mention something about it. . .

    The prosecutor of the town now charges you with being an accessary to the fact since you were aware of the condition and did nothing about.

    Now I’m not a lawyer, but in today’s day and age it doesn’t seem to far from reality.

    View Image
    1. davidmeiland | Jan 23, 2004 11:16pm | #4

      If it were me I'd just go to the city and file a report. They may or may not investigate and she may or may not fix it, but you've done your part. I'd also talk to her in the most direct way possible and make sure she understands that the panel is a major danger and that many fires have been caused. Problem is, if something happens she may say that you counseled her that it was OK or something like that, and it might stick to you at least somewhat. Now that you've opened the can of worms you need to go on record. If your house is an exposure if hers burns, all the more reason...

  4. ClaysWorld | Jan 24, 2004 02:52am | #5

    My 1st guess is he was doing some welding. Or perhaps this is from before the last folks. So many Questions? Is the old landlord a good landlord, conscientious. If she is make her aware again that you are worried  and that action must be taken for safety sake. If she's getting rich quick with no money down then you are going to have to get the corrective action in gear.

     Clay

  5. WayneL5 | Jan 24, 2004 05:23am | #6

    What was her reaction the first time you told her?

  6. 4Lorn2 | Jan 24, 2004 02:23pm | #8

    Doing a lot of old work I see a lot of disasters waiting to happen. I fix what I reasonably can in a few minutes but there is a definite limit to what you can do without payment. This is business not a charity. I definitely tell the HO or owner.

    If they want to have it corrected but lack funding, as long as they have some income, we can usually work something out. Installments or do the worse of it first while disabling any major life safety issues can muzzle a lot of situations even if it means they don't have power in a section of the house or business. Better that than a house call from the firemen.

    The problem is that some people don't, won't ever have any money. Addicts are a typical group. The see electrocution as just another way off the junk. In these case I have been known to pull the meter and yank the feed to the main panel as long as it is a short run. Any major legal objection and it can be put back. Wonder being that none have actually objected that loudly. Guess I could have had to talk to the cops a few times but it never went that way.

    If I can't realistically safe it. I make a note of the situations details. This I submit to the boss man and he has the secretary, his wife, type up a letter detailing the situation and hazards. This is sent, copy retained, registered letter with receipt to the people in charge of the situation. Sometimes the bank. That way If something goes seriously south there is documentation that the people were warned. We are off the hook.

    We do the best we can but we can't save the world.

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