The week I had to rewire a whole house because of a single bad splice

Found a junction box in a 1920s bungalow where someone used electrical tape instead of wire nuts, and the whole zone kept faulting. Took me three days to trace and replace every run from that point. Anyone run into something this messy in an old retrofit?

3 comments

3 Comments

tyler_baker2mo ago

Classic case of old work coming back to haunt you.

sage5282mo ago

Reminds me of a weird email I got last week, tyler_baker, from a job I left years ago.

john_hunt224d ago

Man electrical tape in a junction box? That's NOT a fix, that's a fire waiting to happen. I've seen some doozies in old houses but that takes the cake. Reminds me of the time I found a knob and tube splice wrapped in what looked like old rag and some tar, I swear I almost cried right there on the spot. Three days of rewiring is brutal though, bet your back was screaming by the end of it. At least you can sleep knowing you saved that house from burning down, I guess that's worth the pain. My own place has a few mystery boxes I keep putting off, maybe I should just tape them up and forget about it.