Bottom of joists drilled and taped up wagos

[JohnW2]

Too right! Not only are they beefier, they're not made out of twisted quick grown pine that you can only get these day. The UK is full of victorian houses still standing strong, I'd love to see the state of some of the current new builds in 150 years!!!

Yep. There's not a lot of those giant ones left here, but the ones which survive re some sort of hardwood, possibly oak. The Victorian parts were built in 1893 - so nearly 130 years, and still going strong.

The Georgian parts of my house are even more fascinating. The floor joists are not massive, but they're only planed on the top (bark still on some of the other surfaces!), and the undersides of the (oak) floorboards (again, with undersides not planed0 have been 'chipped'/chiselled everywhere they cross joists so as to make them (as least originally ) 'perfect fits!

Kind Regards, John

 

[twillmo]

Yep. There's not a lot of those giant ones left here, but the ones which survive re some sort of hardwood, possibly oak. The Victorian parts were built in 1893 - so nearly 130 years, and still going strong.

The Georgian parts of my house are even more fascinating. The floor joists are not massive, but they're only planed on the top (bark still on some of the other surfaces!), and the undersides of the (oak) floorboards (again, with undersides not planed0 have been 'chipped'/chiselled everywhere they cross joists so as to make them (as least originally ) 'perfect fits!

Kind Regards, John

The old part of our hose is the same! Some of the oak joists aren't quite square due to what you said about them being planed from the edges of a tree. Every time I work on the old bit of the house it amaizes me that they built something so strong, straight and professional with out the use of any form of power tool, and using only local materials because it was all delivered on horse and cart!

 

[JohnW2]

The old part of our hose is the same! Some of the oak joists aren't quite square due to what you said about them being planed from the edges of a tree. Every time I work on the old bit of the house it amaizes me that they built something so strong, straight and professional with out the use of any form of power tool, and using only local materials because it was all delivered on horse and cart!

Quite so! The upper two stories (of 3) of the facade of my house are held up by an oak beam (around 12" x 12") more than 20 metres long, with just one sort-of scarf joint in the middle - goodness knows how they even got it up there (above the ground floor)!

We have a bit of surviving Georgian roof space. The (I presume original) timbers in there show signs of having being crafted using axes, rather than any newer-fangled tools!

Kind Regards, John

 

[markyd1]

crap install...holes in joists in completely wrong place,not MF junction boxes .....and that taped up joint should be wrapped around his neck.report to his registered scheme....and dont forget to leave some hay out for his horse when he turns up

 

[twillmo]

crap install...holes in joists in completely wrong place,not MF junction boxes .....and that taped up joint should be wrapped around his neck.report to his registered scheme....and dont forget to leave some hay out for his horse when he turns up

Thanks, I'll make a complaint to the NICEIC tonight then. He's meant to come back to put a new fuse board in, so I'm not sure what to do there

 

[securespark]

Calling the customer 'pal' and 'mate' implies an undesirable attitude - but maybe that's just me being so old.

No, it pees me off too, and I'm only young .......

 

[sparkwright]

If you report him be prepared for him to get nasty and doing things like chucking bricks through windows. I believe there was some sort of incident on one of the Youtube electrical channels recently.

 

[JohnW2]

No, it pees me off too, and I'm only young .......

... and me, but I have the same excuse ('old age') as EFLI.

It's probably perceived to be even worse by female customers, if/when (almost invariably male) tradesmen start calling them "dear", "darling", "babe" or suchlike! Whatever else one chooses to call it, it certainly "ain't professional"!

Kind Regards, John

 

[twillmo]

And I'm back!

This morning I went to straighten and relay the carpets upstairs, only to notice loose floorboards. They hadn't secured any floorboards back down! Messaged the company owner (who has still yet to come round), only to get a lovely professional response (@JohnW2 would like this).



With the floor boards being very easy to lift, I had a look underthem and couldn't believe what I saw:



Holes drilled next to eachother and off center.
Holes drilled and not even used.
There are even holes drilled right under notches for the heating pipes.

I've spoken to another electrician who absolutely does not want to take over the job. So I'm stuck with this guy to try and fix everything. Will name and shame once all is complete.

 

[twillmo]

When picking an electrician I made sure that they were NICEIC registered, however looking at their complaints procedure it seems that they can't really do anything to get rid of these cowboy electricians: https://www.niceic.com/find-a-contractor/complaints

It seems that there is no real way to make a complaint that will cause someone to really have a look to see if this electrician is fit to work and stop them from stealing the publics hard earned cash (and ruining their houses at the same time)

 

[JohnW2]

.... only to get a lovely professional response (@JohnW2 would like this).[/ATTACH]

Hmmmm I think we may have to revisit our respective understandings of the meaning of the word "like" !!

Whilst I stick to my feelings about "professionalism", one has to admit that the use of such 'unprofessional' language does not, in itself, necessarily mean anything about lack of professionalism in any other respect. I know at least a couple of people, involved in the world of drama, who consistently and persistently refer to everyone as "darling", regardless of their age, sex/gender or anything else - and that is simply "how they speak"!

Kind Regards, John

 

[securespark]

".....but we are not a regulatory body ourselves....."

That doesn't stop them taking millions in fees from electricians.........

 

[JohnW2]

".....but we are not a regulatory body ourselves....." .... That doesn't stop them taking millions in fees from electricians.........

Indeed - and nor does it stop them stopping taking fees from electricians who do not deserve continuing membership of their scheme - but I'm not sure they have realised that (or, at least acted upon it!)

Kind Regards, John

 

[twillmo]

".....but we are not a regulatory body ourselves....."

That doesn't stop them taking millions in fees from electricians.........

But the first result in google when you search for "electrical regulatory body" is NICEIC - so they've clearly paid for it to be there.

It seems like there's actually nothing out there to save consumers from rogue electricians. The average member of the public will see the NICEIC badge and think that means something (me included). Clearly it doesn't

 

[sparkwright]

How someone can refer to you as mate AND pal in the same sentence is beyond me.

As regards the recent discovery of further holes in joists, unfortunately nearly every pre-war house seems to have holes in the wrong places, and he has just added to it.

There is also a trend on old houses to remove the nearest or second nearest floorboard to the wall, and drill there. Always has been it seems.

However, this does not excuse your electrician in anyway.

There is also a current trend for an electrician to remove a floorboard, drill holes in the correct places, run the cables, THEN a plumber follows, uses the same loose floorboard route, and cuts notches for pipes directly above the cable holes.

What is more alarming is people not drilling holes in the correct places on new builds. We all know there is going to be the odd area where you may have to deviate, bound to happen, but generally it should be spot really.

If it makes you feel happier, there are millions of houses in the UK with joists turned into swiss cheese.

***

I also notice how twisted some of those cables are under the floor, which is a sign of not giving a toss.

The answer I expect this bloke to give you is 'those holes were already there', which may of course be perfectly true.

NICEIC and Checkatrade doesn't really count for anything, doesn't ensure a good job at all.