Home Handyman Electricians

Home Handyman Electricians – Normally A Bad Idea

During one of our daily home and commercial property inspections, we have seen quite a few home handyman electrical wiring jobs. This recent one tops our current list of "What were they thinking, or as we say in the South, “ Who da thunk it?"

I had started to inspect the main electrical panel and had found some circuit breakers missing in the panel along with open holes in the panel where the breakers use to be. This is an unsafe, but common problem found in older homes because it allows direct access to the interior of the main panel where lots of volts and amps reside. OK, there are missing breakers and the interior panel has an open hole in it at about head height for a child. Very unsafe, very accessible and very dumb!

Later while inspecting the garage, this is what I found.

There is one of the missing breakers. We never recommend wiring a breaker into a mess of wires and just suspending it in mid-air but that is what our home handyman did. That is very unsafe. The image of it in my mind still gives me chills! I still wonder from time-to-time where that second breaker went... Of course there were numerous other wiring mistakes found throughout the home to include improper wire splices, loose wiring, loose outlets hanging out of the wall and light bulbs hanging from the ceiling by the electrical sockets. It was a wiring nightmare to say the least.

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Posted by Robert Welch, ATEX Inspects – Houston Home Inspector on June 13, 2010