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Shoddy Workmanship: The Thread

12,948 Views | 93 Replies | Last: 17 days ago by Caliber
Col. Steve Austin
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7:44p, 9/6/24
AG
I was replacing a ceiling fan and was very confused by the wiring in the electrical box upon removing the old fan. Note the black and white wires twisted together. Apparently this box was used not only for fan wiring but as a junction box for some unknown circuits (hot, not controlled by the fan switch). Fan power wires are on the opposite sides. The new fan has remote control and the control module gets mounted in the hanger bracket for the fan. It was a bit of a challenge to get all the wiring, connections and module in that space. I don't have an easy way to follow the mystery circuits as there's another floor above the room with the new fan.


I am not the Six Million Dollar Man, but I might need that surgery. "We have the technology, we can rebuild him!"
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Thunderstruck xx
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7:53a, 9/8/24
Oh Lawd…

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SoulSlaveAG2005
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In reply to Thunderstruck xx • 8:38a, 9/8/24
AG
I'm still perplexed at just even wanting to put them in attic space… never makes sense to me from a risk/reward analysis. Just stick it in a garage or closet somewhere..
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Thunderstruck xx
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In reply to SoulSlaveAG2005 • 9:53a, 9/8/24
It's a dealbreaker for me when looking at houses to buy. I used to live in a house where it was in the attic above the master bathroom. I heard every noise it made and while running, and it was a constant reminder that if anything went wrong, I'd be looking at water coming down through my ceiling. So glad to be out of that house!
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BenTheGoodAg
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In reply to SoulSlaveAG2005 • 10:10a, 9/8/24
AG
Yeah, that's a whole lotta 'nope'.

I do like having a tankless water heater in an attic though. Added a closet for storage for us and it's much easier to maintain or swap out because of better all-around access. Big leak pan and a leak detector, though.
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agracer
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In reply to aggiepaintrain • 3:41p, 9/9/24
AG
aggiepaintrain said:
Shoddy or impressive? This is in College Station btw
and NFW you can get a hose hooked to that faucet.

I have a neutral crossed over somewhere between my Garage GFI, Basement and master bath. If I turn off the breaker to the GFI, it stays on. If I turn off the breaker to the basement, the lights still work. If I turn them both off, they both go off.

I sent several hours with my brother trying to track it down and ended up in a smoke detector box in the basement with like 10-neutrals coming in/out. We gave up at that point and I haven't gone any futher.

In my first home, the original owner had plugged an extension cord into the outlet next to the bed, then ran it down thru the floor into the garage, stapled it to the garage ceiling, then backup thru the ceiling/bedroom floor on the other side of the room. It was built in 1977 before TV remotes and I guess he didn't like having to get out of bed to turn off the TV.
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Sea Speed
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11:48a, 9/10/24
AG
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javajaws
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12:16p, 9/10/24
AG
He gets an A for ingenuity but a F on intelligence. Man, those sharp edges are gonna cut!
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Dr. Doctor
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5:46p, 9/10/24
AG
Holy grout lines, Batman!
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ABATTBQ11
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In reply to Thunderstruck xx • 6:55p, 9/10/24
AG
Thunderstruck xx said:
Oh Lawd…



This kind of makes a weird sort of sense as the least of several evils...

When water heater standards were raised, that short, fat water heater became fatter with added insulation requirements. They may not be able to fit one through the attic opening anymore. That means you can either replumb the location, cut the rafters, or do this.
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one MEEN Ag
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In reply to Sea Speed • 9:21p, 9/10/24
AG
I would never post any of my projects here.
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chickencoupe16
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6:53a, 9/11/24
AG
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_oiEUcSFAZ/?igsh=eGh0bHA1YzBic3o1


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BenTheGoodAg
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4:59p, 9/27/24
AG
A couple this crowd will appreciate.


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vmiaptetr
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In reply to Sea Speed • 7:03p, 9/27/24
AG
Sea Speed said:


I spent all that money on a Thermador built in, and I could have just done this.
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Dill-Ag13
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7:21a, 9/28/24
AG
Doing a bathroom remodel at our house, shower glass guy put three screws into a water line, couldn't believe it until I saw it. Plumber came and fixed it on the back side thankfully.




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Absolute
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In reply to BenTheGoodAg • 4:18p, 9/28/24
AG
BenTheGoodAg said:
A couple this crowd will appreciate.





Believe I have inspected the house in the first picture.


Would have to call the second out for no GFCI.
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Dill-Ag13
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In reply to Dill-Ag13 • 5:35p, 9/28/24
AG
Shoddy work because who runs a water line drop that far from the valve
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Absolute
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4:14p, 10/1/24
AG
Narrowly avoided a family project that would make this thread. College daughter called last week about building a stand for them to put a tv on in their sorority house room (think really small for two girls and not allowed to put holes in the wall.)

I told her to send me dimensions and I should be able to put something together for them.

Just got a facetime from her at Home Depot with a cart full of at least 6 8 foot 2x6 or 8 boards. She explained a vague plan involving glue. Asked what kind of glue.

To her credit this is my kid that doesn't ask for help much. She would routinely go grab the tool she thought she needed and just go do it herself. Sometimes that led to rather poor fastener choices and large wall holes......

Told her I thought it would be better to send me the dimensions and let me put something together that she can take back up there when she is down this weekend to go with us to the MO game.

Kids.....
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JP76
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In reply to Dill-Ag13 • 8:55p, 10/1/24
Dill-Ag13 said:
Doing a bathroom remodel at our house, shower glass guy put three screws into a water line, couldn't believe it until I saw it. Plumber came and fixed it on the back side thankfully.







They tiled over the drywall ?

I assume this is unpermitted or out of the city limits as that switch box location is out of code as well
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one MEEN Ag
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8:24a, 10/2/24
AG
The only thing I will admit to on this thread was when I first bought my home I wanted to update the oven and microwave that were built in on top of one another. At the time I didn't fully understand that 'built in' microwaves were really just normal countertop microwaves that had a nice faceplate that you had to overpay for.

The width of the oven opening was 30" and so I was searching for microwaves that were 30" wide to go above it. Which was exclusively over the range microwaves. I was about to purchase and shove a vented microwave meant for over the range into a rectangular hole in the cabinet with no clue how I was going to make the edges look nice.

My dad was quick to ask me, 'What the hell are you doing?'

Saved me from this thread.
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SoulSlaveAG2005
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5:27p, 10/13/24
AG
Continuing with it shoddy work… building more stools. Made a taper jig for the legs.. coming out nice.

Went back to table saw to cut to length and being a total dumbass that I am, over cut by 2 inches…. Sooo now this still is gonna be a bit shorter than the others…

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Aggietaco
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In reply to SoulSlaveAG2005 • 7:50a, 10/14/24
AG
Measure once, cross fingers, cut once.
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SoulSlaveAG2005
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In reply to Aggietaco • 9:02a, 10/14/24
AG
This was me just making a bonehead mistake.
I had left the legs long by about 2"'s so
I could trim if the taper wasn't right.

Once I was happy with the taper, I made a stop block on my table saw and clamped it into place to make a crosscut with the miter slide.

First theee legs went great, on the fourth leg, I realized the leg was touching the edge of the clamp and not the stop block… causing about a 1/4" too long cut… after I made the cut.

Being the idiot that I am, I just said oh that's an easy fix and removed the clamp, reset the leg to the stop block and proceeded to cut another 2" off… about halfway through the cut I went oh snap…

So, my fix for now is to just cut all
The legs shorter. And finish the stool. I got it stained and ready for finish… we will see how bad it looks with the others.
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Caliber
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2:26p, 10/15/24
AG
I encountered a new one this weekend.

My dad had a bunkhouse built at the ranch last year. Come this year, 2 of 4 exterior doors are not latching.

I started on the first one and knew right away that it wasn't just sag and was pretty sure it wasn't a foundation issue as it all looked good that i could see. So, I decided to take the interior trim off. Oddly I noticed a lot of flex in the door frame while taking off trim.

Ended up finding that the door frame was fastened with exactly ZERO nails or screws, and was friction fit with a odd ball trim board arrangement. Turns out that they had 4" door frames in a 6" wall. Instead of just installing normally and trimming the gap, they installed a 4" trim board in the rough opening, toward the outside edge, and then forced the frame into it. It was a really tight damn fit as neither the door nor exterior trim board had ANY FASTENERS, shims or anything. WTF? So, I got to take it entirely rehang that door from a bare rough opening.

On the second one, they at least had finish nails in the trim but the same force fit for the door.

As near as I could tell, the other 2 didn't have any fasteners that I could see or find with a magnet but I was tired and just secured them in and said eff it for now since they are latching, not how I planned to spend the weekend.
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