Money pit. :={

[lionkingcmsl]

Well, owning a house has its good and bad points. :=/

One of the bad points is finding issues from the previous owner(s).

Those that know my property know that I have a 90'x24' shed that used to be a chicken coop.
Well, a couple of weekends ago u_t_tiger wanted to use the bathroom that is in the shed. He told me the light was burned out. No problem, I'll fix it the next day.

Well, that "burned out" light has turned into a major issue. We changed the bulb with a good bulb, but no dice. I checked the circuit breaker and it was on. I tried checking on other lamps on the same circuit and they were dead. o.O

Last weekend I started tracing the wires and found splices that were just that: wire-nutted together and taped, no box; that is illegal. I pulled off a board and found a huge mouse nest; not surprising since I live in a wooded area. I cleaned out the nest and found bare wires. O.O
I checked voltages and found no voltage to that location. I also found a junction box that was covered up with a board. A big no-no that is totally illegal.

Today I put a signal injector onto the wires so I could find the proper breaker; it was one of two, one of which has two wires on the breaker itself: another illegal move. I found the breaker, but lost the signal in the area of the old mouse nest. After a bit of searching I realized that signal was being lost between the injection point, a taped splice, which was near the mouse nest, and the junction box. After pulling off another board I was able to trace the cable itself and cut the cable near the junction box and pulled it back from the injection point. When it was totally clear I found another corroded point where the hot and grounded wire were totally disconnected. That's where the power was being lost. I have since pulled out all the old, corroded wire and old box.

I am so thankful and lucky I didn't have a fire.

At this point I'm thinking of running totally new NMC wiring to the outside, to keep the mice from the wiring and putting the bathroom light switch on the outside of the building. It's that or run conduit in the concealed spaces to keep the mice from chewing the wiring. I will also put in another breaker to do it right. I may be lackadaisical about somethings, but I'm very serious about permanent 120/240V wiring. You can get hurt/killed or cause a fire if you don't do it right.

I would love to re-wire the entire shed, but I don't have the spare $$$$s to do it.

Is it any wonder at times I don't have any spare cash. :=/

Comments

[sci.livejournal.com]

While ours is only 10x16', we ran power to it from it's own breaker through armoured cable.

Perhaps if you do it bit by bit? Get new cable to a distribution panel in the shed and add the new wiring as and when needed?

[lowen-kind.livejournal.com]

Well, the feeder cable and box are fine.

The original owners went a step above what is required when they did that. They buried the feed in conduit, so if I want to upgrade the service to the shed it is a matter of using the old wires to pull the new ones in.

I was/am seriously thinking of having the power company put a 200a drop to the shed with its own meter. Then I could wire the shed up for almost anything and not worrying about the feed from the house.

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

It's amazing that the inspector never noticed this. Or did the inspector go through the shed before you purchased it?

Second, I'd like to attest to all those who may think otherwise that you do have a perfectly good bathroom inside the main house, and that your living conditions are not so primitive that you had to send UT Tiger to the outhouse just to potty.

[lowen-kind.livejournal.com]

The inspector gave it a cursory inspection, but being it wasn't living quarters is wasn't as detailed as the main house. He did note some deficiencies, like the roof, but I wasn't too concerned.

As for the buried box, he would've never found it short of pulling off that board. :=/

[hallan.livejournal.com]

My brother's old house had paper-insulated wiring... Not as bad as bare, spliced wire, of course, but still... Yay for no fires!

[u-t-tiger.livejournal.com]

Is it any wonder at times I don't have any spare cash?
Knowing how you handle your money and finances; no......... it's no wonder at all.

[yaochi.livejournal.com]

Where moisture can get to it use either electrical PVC, or plastic coated flex. Elsewhere you can use either aluminum or steel flex. Sometimes EMT is appropriate too, if you have a hicky for bending it. but you must decide if you want to use regular connectors or water resistant ones.