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We do mainly service/panel upgrades to 100 or 200 amperes and perhaps a few hours of repairs or rewiring but mostly only when we do a service upgrade!
About REWIRING? see my web page at:
http://www.actionelectric.ca/homerewiring.htm
May 3,2011 - PLEASE NOTE: Any Rewiring estimates given out before April 27 and not yet accepted will be dealt with on or about November this year. I am sorry for any inconvenience.
Jan. 20, 2009 - City Proposes Compliance certificates for home buyers - $300.00
May 2009 - Manitoba Hydro EFP financing plan rates are reduced to 8.5% from 11%.
The following is only for your information - it is not intended for you to call us quickly, because, due to hard competition against all handymen in this city doing electrical work, we may no longer do rewiring or repairs type of work!
Further, we may only do an estimate to
rewire a home for customers who already have one estimate and such estimate
indicates a cost of $180.00 or higher per item! (meaning per light, a
switch, a receptacle etc.
(This warning (about older homes) updated here Dec. 4, 2009.)
I receive calls of this nature almost every 3 rd day of the week! When I look at the math. of me being 1 in 300 contractors - then something is not right out there!
Buying an older home? Beware of wiring done by the previous home owners or by their associated handy/persons - especially if the home is up for sale!. Usually, most of the time, it all looks "PRETTY". Most likely it has been rewired or upgraded in some areas, however, the home electrical wiring (if done by a hack) is more than 1,000 times more dangerous than it EVER WAS FOR OVER the last 60 YEARS! Why? - because someone TAMPERED with the ORIGINAL approved wiring done 60 to 80 years ago! It can be quite a disaster for NEW OCCUPANTS because of the NEW DEMANDS the new owners may impose on the wiring system. Repairs to such trashed rewiring job can add up to thousands and much more when the knob & tube wiring is still ALL OVER but well hidden especially feeding the light fixtures in the first floor and all DEVICES in the 2nd and 3rd floors. Your home inspector will likely tell you that there is ONLY 10% or 20% Knob & Tube wiring, however, there may be well over 60% knob & tube!.
Check with the City for PERMITS relating to electrical or plumbing or structural work done in such a home - if you do not check for such related documented permits from the City - run!
Further, don't come to a conclusion that I am scaring anyone off for my own gains so that anyone will call me up QUICKLY to look at their situation - It is ABSOLUTELY likely that I will advise you by tel. the best action to take for your safety but very UNLIKELY that I am ABLE TO DO ANY REPAIRS FOR YOU NOW OR IN THE NEAR FUTURE except only more likely if a "service upgrade" is done at the same time.
Further, to have your problem resolved, insure to call a legitimate electrical contractor (including for a proper electrical inspection) - NOT ANY HANDYMAN OR HANDY WOMAN AGENCY who will charge you approx. $70 or HOUR - being more than most electrical contractors will charge and THEY WILL SEND ONLY A HANDY/PERSON to do the job!
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March 2010 - Some initial give away clues to look for when viewing an older home for sale:
1. If the meter socket (outside) is SQUARE it will likely be a 100 amperes service - or read the number on the MAIN DISCONNECT CIRCUIT BREAKER or main disconnect switch. IGNORE what it says on the new panel COVER!
2. If there are not at least 10 NEW CABLES connected to the panel, there is likely 90% knob & tube wiring ALL OVER especially in the 1st floor lights and EVERYTHING ELSE UP WARDS.
3. If there are NEW 3 PRONG RECEPTACLES ALL OVER and it looks like no. 2. above, there is no ground or new wiring - just a cover up!
4. If there are a lot of newer cables connected to the panel and even no visual knob & tube in the basement - there could still be A LOT OF KNOB & TUBE all over - likely more than 40%.
5. DON'T pay attention on the 10% or 20% knob & tube assessment given to you from a "home inspector" - if they say 10% go 60%, if they say 30% go 90% of actual existing knob & tube!
6. DON'T ASSUME that those GROUNDED PLUGS are newer or have more modern wiring - THEY COULD SHOW A GROUND WITHOUT HAVING NO GROUND AT ALL and can still be KNOB & TUBE! - this one caught me off guard for a long time!
7. If there was new wiring installed, likely there should be more than the ORIGINAL ONE OR TWO PLUGS IN A ROOM! There should be at least three or four if a bigger area.
Read on below
A home for sale "description" may say rec. room or finished basement, however you go and check in the ASSESSMENT document with the City (in the Internet) and it ONLY says "Basement yes, finished basement No" Then you are getting an illegal, uninspected, unapproved rec. room which you may have to tear it all up for certain repairs such as plumbing and most certainly for the electrical installation.
Also brand new light fixtures and 3 PRONG even DECORA type receptacles all over the home and no TRACE of at least 10 or more new cables to a NEW panel. New receptacles and/or light fixtures in a 1st or 2nd floor yet no evidence of NEW DRYWALL OR PAINT OR OTHER MAJOR PHYSICAL RENOVATIONS TO WALLS OR CEILINGS! (how would such new wiring had been ACCOMPLISHED?) Sometimes these well hidden handyman dangerous wiring problems take up to over 10 years to be discovered by the new owners if the home has not yet burned down! An electrical installation done by a hack works very well and anything wrong goes unnoticed until the moment the sparks start a fire!
Again, this summer as I had last summer, I have seen a few handyman renovated homes for sale. I have seen dozens of wiring repairs by such professionals - they think they did a great job!
Important: Don't fully trust home inspectors. Some may know less about an electrical installation than you do.
I have seen new 3 prong receptacles INDICATING THAT THEY ARE GROUNDED, however, a closer look or using proper testers (not the plug in one which lights up with different colors) it has been found that they MAY NOT BE GROUNDED AT ALL! Such misdiagnosed condition can be a few hundred times worst for electrocution or a fire! All metal eaves troughs, metal siding, metal pipes, stucco mesh etc. can be energized "live with electrical current" twice in 39 years I have found stucco on the outside wall of homes warmed up by electricity! It acts like a toaster on a low setting!.
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The following is the previous content in
this specific web page (unchanged - written about one year
ago)
As
repeated in my "electrical nightmares page"
Beware of the beautiful recent
renovations done (in many homes being sold) covering and hiding ALL DEFICIENCIES
such as - Cracked basement walls, galvanized plumbing, bundles of electrical
cables and single opened electrical wires spliced all in the open and shoved
inside the wall all taped up and hidden all over including above the rec.
room's new ceiling and especially BEHIND ALL THOSE BEAUTIFUL NEW LIGHT
FIXTURES in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd floors. In the summer of 2007 I saw 5 out of 12
older homes partly rewired by amateurs that way!
If you just bought an older home (with no apparent
legitimate substantial wiring renovations) expect from $6 - $9 or even well over
$14,000.00 to have your home's electrical upgraded nearly to current standards!
The real state people would be likely the last to tell you about it!
The home insurance will likely not publicize the fact
that a home owner may not get even a red penny for fire losses etc. if caused by
ANY UNAPPROVED WIRING by amateurs, especially if it was done under your
ownership!
However; I have also heard, if such claims are to be resolved
extensively & legally, the SELLER - even 20 years ago - may be
responsible for his rewiring adventures!
If the previous home owner ever
obtained a PERMIT (very rare) to do his rewiring or renovations, then the
insurance may have no choice but pay up in case of such a
loss.
Further, do not expect the Realtor to inform you about getting to know if permits were taken for any seen renovations or if they were ever approved. From their point of view, the gravy train would slow down dramatically!
Along with
all Realtors business cards displayed, usually, on the kitchen table
of a home being sold, there should be COPIES of permits or any
other relevant documentation papers covering all legitimate, recent
renovations done by the home owner.
Are we talking about
dollars or the life safety of a whole family?
Most City Inspectors only know how to check out
about 5 or 6 things! Most City home inspectors are not electricians.
Would someone say "oh the wiring I did myself is safe because it was
inspected!".
The City allows homeowners to take out permits. In Quebec,
no home owner is allowed such a privilege. In our one horse town city of
Winnipeg it is allowed! It will take a related disaster and loss of life to have
them change the bylaws!
Up date
- January 2009 - The City may have come to terms (still undecided)
with some of the problems which unapproved renovations can cause and may require
a ' Compliance Certificate' which should be the responsibility of the
seller to pay for it, not the buyer! Another problem is that the
City charges $50.00 for anyone to check if permits were taken to do renovations
in a certain property. That is quite a money grab for a few minutes on a
computer!
I have stated here some problems a home owner
purchasing an older home may face. It is not meant to call me quickly to
check out the wiring, unless it is strictly for an estimate of a
panel/service upgrade - it is a free estimate.
For checking out the entire wiring installation, before it is too late, insure that you call A QUALIFIED electrician.
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