Not a disaster as such, but could have been nasty!

[Estrella]

Was digging out a cable in a wall that seemed to have a curious route, i.e. not horizontal or vertical , but going diagonally across the wall. Anyway, when I removed the cable this is what I found.

A screw and rawplug through the cable. I am assuming that the rawplug stopped the screw shorting out. This had been like this for three years (before we took ownership of the property).

 

[wingcoax]

That's why we have "safe zones" But there are probablt a lot more like that out there.

 

[geraldthehamster]

That's why we have "safe zones" But there are probablt a lot more like that out there.

The other week I was removing polystyrene coving from a downstairs room in my house, by running a serrated knife between its bottom edge and the wall. The knife snagged on a small gob of plaster, so I pulled that section off by hand. Right next to the gob of plaster was a loop of lighting wiring that came down where the ceiling met the wall, and continued three inches down on the surface before disappearing under 1mm of skim and meandering off towards a switch that was nowhere near it. But for the gob of plaster I'd have cut into it.

Bury your cable where people will expect to find it!

Cheers
Richard

 

[womble69]

You bought the house from the previous owners widow?

 

[GaryMo]

That's why we have "safe zones" But there are probablt a lot more like that out there.

I've also lost count of how many pictures I've seen mounted directly over sockets.

 

[roberta1000]

Not directly on-topic but 2 weeks ago I was called by someone who had managed to drive the socket for a clothes drier through a piece of SWA which was 'buried' under his back lawn at around 6" depth. The socket had sharpish fins which had dug into the SWA and tripped the rcd. Lucky there WAS an rcd - I thought that SWA was tougher than that! The fellow had only hammered the spike into the ground with a small sledge as per the instructions and the sharp fin seems to have ground its way down the SWA!

 

[RonnyRaygun]

I've also lost count of how many pictures I've seen mounted directly over sockets.

When fitting a new kitchen in my previous house I was in the process of fitting the wall units. I couldn't work out why the masonry drill was having so much trouble drilling a hole for the rawl plug, until I looked down and saw the cooker hood switch.
Lucky for me the sparky had used galvanised top hat sections over the wiring!

 

[Dereklee]

I've also lost count of how many pictures I've seen mounted directly over sockets.

When fitting a new kitchen in my previous house I was in the process of fitting the wall units. I couldn't work out why the masonry drill was having so much trouble drilling a hole for the rawl plug, until I looked down and saw the cooker hood switch.
Lucky for me the sparky had used galvanised top hat sections over the wiring!

sounds you're very lucky. and you've done well.

 

[mattylad]

I just found the end of the 6mm cable that is in my fuse box.

I have been wondering where the end is for the past 3 years.

This weekend I found it, underneath a countertop behind the washing machine, there must have been a cooker there before the kitchen was last fitted (20 yrs ago) and its been live since.

Not now.

I keep finding stuff like this.

 

[blownfuse]

A screw and rawplug through the cable. I am assuming that the rawplug stopped the screw shorting out. This had been like this for three years (before we took ownership of the property).

Surly though, the drilling of the hole to put the rawlplug in would have shorted the circuit before they even had the chance to pop the plug in?

It was probably already dead. Or was it still live when you found it?

 

[LizHF]

Hi Box Cleva,

Sorry to hear about your recent shocking discovery, I had a similar experience when I first moved into my house. Sorting out previous DIY disasters can be such a headache.
Have you discovered any more nasty DIY surprises?

Liz