Failed cable apparently. Have put in a new one and apparently all is well. Now to put my house back together...
Electric shocks from metal light switches
- Thread starter MattB83
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Failed cable apparently. Have put in a new one and apparently all is well. Now to put my house back together...
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I need to see the cable before I pay out...
@RF Lighting owes you a Pound
The odd part was the failed bit of cable was a new section that had been added, which went a different route to the other cables.
What an absolute nightmare it is putting in a new cable. There was the option of going through the floor or the ceiling. Opted for floor because potentially old artexted skimmed ceilings
Arrrr it's sealed in my floor now.
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It could be, if that is what you agreed to as an alternative to lifting the floor above? If there are problems like tiles, or built-in furniture which cannot be moved, there could be no other way than making hole in the ceiling below for access.
EDIT - I have just reread what you wrote. 5" holes in the floor - WHY????
I'm gutted about it - I've just had a plumber in to look at the pipe he hit with his circular saw - she was really angry i.e. wtf didn't he lift the floorboard up or saw it at the joists. It's one of those things you (or I) didn't question as that's how he says he does it - so then he braced the circular cut out and put it back, but obviously it's not flush.
I'd gone for this guy after he had lots of positive reviews on mybuilder but I'm sad at how much damage people can do to your house. Makes me worry about everything else he's done - drilling through joists etc.
There has been a story about Mybuilder and one of the other ones on BBC 1 this morning - the consumer program. Both homeowners had employed builders from the sites and both had made a disastrous, very dangerous mess of the major works, taking the money and disappearing. Both homeowners are facing bills higher than the original costs of the works, to repair the damage done to their homes - many thousands of pounds. The websites take no responsibility for any of work done. I don't think the program went far enough, in outing these sort of sites, which have suddenly appeared.
Positive reviews on those sites are completely meaningless, when negative reviews are simply deleted as quickly as they appear. He was obviously not a tradesman, just a botcher with a little knowledge and I would be very suspicious of the work he has done to repair your original issue.
Sorry you have had to find out the hard way. Can you back charge him for the plumber at least?
Positive reviews on those sites are completely meaningless, when negative reviews are simply deleted as quickly as they appear. He was obviously not a tradesman, just a botcher with a little knowledge and I would be very suspicious of the work he has done to repair your original issue.
Sorry you have had to find out the hard way. Can you back charge him for the plumber at least?
5" is maybe somewhat excessive (presumably spanning more than one board) but I have to say that I have been known to do similar in the case of T&G floorboards, particularly when they have been secured by lots of 'concealed nailing' through the tongues. It's not difficult to do quite an aesthetically good job of making good a neat circular hole.
Kind Regards, John
It's not difficult to set a circular saw, so it only cuts through a floorboard, but I suspect he wasn't a circular saw at all - he more likely drilled a hole and used a jigsaw to cut around the 5" diameter.
Any chance you could provide a photo?
Rather than do that, I would be seeing if it might be easier to make a hole in the ceiling below. What little board lifting I have had to do over the years, I have always been able to just split the tongues off, either with a saw or a bolster, then lift the board by prising it up. If it is trapped, you can always saw it across at a joist.
Yes, they are the usual methods but, as I said, I have occasionally taken the 'hole' approach (or, as you say, the equivalent in the ceiling below, where appropriate). Similar, of course, sometimes applies with stud walls.
When I've done it, I've used a circular hole cutter - easier/neater than a jigsaw.
Kind Regards, John
Cheers - I (as a layperson) got the impression that he was really geeky about the electrics but hated all the other bits involved - he was telling me he just does small jobs by choice (this was originally supposed to be just changing some switches and a pull cord) it was clear that the process of lifting up floorboards made him quite flustered.
The plumber was actually in for another job and said that the pipe was only scuffed and didn't need anything doing so I haven't been charged for that.
Again as a lay person it's really difficult to make decisions, I got a handyman in to do loads of jobs, he was seemingly really knowledgable about everything but he clearly just lost interest towards the end of the week and his work got worse and worse to the point he filled missing plaster on our wall with bathroom silicone.
Also re: regulations such as where to drill holes in joists and how big they are allowed to be - it's impossible to have a comprehensive understanding of all these before someone gets to work, it's only in retrospect, and when things are obvious.
I will be putting in some new floorboards to cover the damaged parts when I get new carpet in a couple of month's time so I think I will try to calm down and put this down to experience.
Can you see this?
https://photos.app.goo.gl/zfTzAxAE8CFXGf6c7
This shows one that's been put back in (this split) and one that's been left off (where I was waiting for the plumber to come to check it). Sorry when I said circular saw I meant an attachment for a drill that cuts out a circle with a hole in the centre.
A slightly separate question: The other thing I'm now slightly anxious about is the holes in the joist where the wires are fed through - just been reading about the areas where building regs say you can drill - between 0.25 and 0.4 of the length of the joist? How does someone know the length of the joist i.e. if they span a single (3m) room or the whole of the floor to calculate where they are able to drill as this would affect where this section was located? They look sensibly sized for the wires.
If I hadn't been so involved in the process he'd have put the carpet back himself and I'd probably never have known or been anxious about any of these things - ignorance is bliss etc etc.
I still don’t believe it was a cable fault!
Any way do the holes he’s drilled have a lip on the inside?
Any way do the holes he’s drilled have a lip on the inside?
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Maybe 5 inches is the smallest hole to get an arm in to grab a cable and pull through, or connect up?
Better to remove boards, but if that is not possible, I guess a hole it must be.
You should be able to put a big batten in and screw in place from top of floorboards, then fix round board to that?
Better to remove boards, but if that is not possible, I guess a hole it must be.
You should be able to put a big batten in and screw in place from top of floorboards, then fix round board to that?
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