U.S. garage door installation

[planenut]

Not meant to reflect cultural differences, just a right mess, wherever it is..
http://www.dump.com/garagedoor/

 

[foxhole]

Belongs in diy disaster forum?

 

[misterhelpful]

That is the worst I've seen but, having recently moved to the US, I have to admit that almost every house I have been in, including the one we currently live, has wiring that leaves a lot to be desired. Sockets and lights are run off the same circuit causing breakers to trip if you plug a couple of powerful electrical items in at the same time, light switch and socket covers are extremely flimsy and move around, most plugs are only 2 pin which hardly stay in the sockets...
I'm not sure how legal all this is but, everyday on the local news channels, we see houses that have burned down due to electrical faults. When you seeing that kind of video, it's little wonder why!

 

[ree]

The thing is: the faulty wiring was caught and exposed, hence the video. Dont know but i presume the cheesy superior voice over was the home inspector?

HI's in most states do a great job, far superior to what RICS mortgage Surveyors provide in the UK. Check out a HI site such as inspectionnews.com and see just how many items are inspected, and just how much you get for your money.

FWIW: the water heater was incorrectly installed and the W/H venting was dangerous.

misterhelpful,
if you insist on living in repossessd trailers these things might happen.

"everyday"? Many elec fires are caused by overloading and underfusing by householders.

Some outlets are two pin and some light circs are run off power circs but typically only under NEC controlled load & ground conditions. It can be very useful when re-modelling.

I agree that the flimsy hold 2 or 3 pin outlets have on a plug is rubbish- so do many others its a definite safety issue.

 

[misterhelpful]

misterhelpful,
if you insist on living in repossessed trailers these things might happen.

Ha ha...you know me so well!

It seems you have taken my comments as a slight on the US in general. If that was my opinion, I wouldn't have moved here in the first place. I was simply pointing out that the electrical system here is nothing like that of the UK and, as such, seems to cause more fires, especially when coupled with things like we saw in that video. That said, similar kind of things are regularly seen in the UK, and probably every other country in the world, so don't take it personally.

"everyday"? Many elec fires are caused by overloading and underfusing by householders.

Yes, everyday.. well, at least everyday that I watch the local news, and I'm sure many are caused by overloading. I can assure you that our own circuits are never knowingly overloaded, because I'm safety conscious (as well as being as tight as a duck's 'arris) and make sure all unnecessary electrical items are unplugged when not in use. The electrical problems we have, in our own 8 year old house, are due to 'built to code' build quality and subsequent 'home improvements' made by the previous owners (phrases used in our HI's actual report). Don't worry about it though because, bit by bit, we are slowly 'unimproving' those improvements!!