Real World Event Discussions
In the garden, and RAIN!!!!
POSTED BY: SIGNYM
UPDATED: Thursday, December 25, 2025 04:27
VIEWED: 1005090
PAGE 984 of 1154
Friday, February 25, 2022 10:04 AM
Quote:??
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Well...
The exhaust fan fix for my friend went nearly as bad as could be expected if you don't account for the fact that in the end I managed to fix it.
The old fan was OLD. It was OG
Quote:have helped replace a number of light fixtures in the original construction and addition and they have all had ceiling mounted brackets. The new fixtures have holes that match up to the old brackets, and altho it is a pita to find the old holes with the new screws (we turn the new screws in a little into the old bracket, attach long twist ties to help us find the head end of the, screw so we can poke it thru the insulation that's part of the new fixture and thread it thru the new fixture bracket) it's always been a ceiling job. Clearly something I don't understand about this fan!
construction attached, which means that I found out in 2 minutes that there was no way to take it out from inside the nice clean bathroom and I needed to go in the attic. He'd also not bought a replacement fan for existing construction, so in order not to damage the ceiling both the removal and the installation would all need to be done in the attic.
[and] and in the attic I went for the next 90 minutes, literally swimming in insulation.
Fiberglass??? Oh dear!
Quote:Never seen THAT b4 eirher!!
Had to unscrew the old one by hand because of all of the things in the way of the drill at the angle the screws were set in. Not a fun or easy task to do when leverage is terrible up against a sun roof window and there's so much insulation you can't even see where the joists are.
The fan was also tied into a light over the shower with Romex, and my friend didn't even mention before I'd reinstalled everything that the light had stopped working about half a year ago. So when I was back down and we installed the light it didn't work. My voltage tester came up with nothing.
But the weird thing was that all of the slack in the attic on that romex wasn't present when I pulled at the Romex from the hole for the new shower light or from inside the fan mount... What the hell?
So I had to go back up.
And then I discovered it was two lines of romex that went down into the insulation and through a small hole in wood.
I asked my friend if there was an outlet or a switch over the toilet, since that's the location that it seemed to be going down. He said "neither, but there's a reset button here". I didn't even know what he was talking about, but I said does it look like an outlet? and he said it did.
I said that's it. I'm coming down, we need to open that.
He'd already taken the cover off by the time I came down, but he didn't need to. It was a GFCI box, but without plugs. I'd never even seen one of these before
Quote:
But they installed them in all 3 of his bathrooms over the toilets, I'm sure as a safety measure in case something went wrong with the light over the shower (and the fact that they SHOULD NOT HAVE USED ROMEX FOR THIS JOB).
His daughter hasn't had a light in her shower for half a year now because they didn't know to hit the RESET button.
After that, installed the new light, got the fan back in and the cover on and it's all as good as new.
Got free pizza tonight, my buddy is taking me to an all you can eat buffet next week at the Hard Rock, and his wife was so thrilled on the phone when he showed her what I did she said she's making dinner for me when she gets back in town. She's a damn good cook, so I'm looking forward to it. I just as convinced she's working magic in the kitchen as she's convinced I was when I did the job tonight.
My buddy also said that any time I need his truck to pick up anything I need for my house he's just a call away.
--------------------------------------------------
Vaccinated People: "You need to get muh vaccination shots tNOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Friday, February 25, 2022 10:15 AM
Quote:??
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Well...
The exhaust fan fix for my friend went nearly as bad as could be expected if you don't account for the fact that in the end I managed to fix it.
The old fan was OLD. It was OG
Quote:have helped replace a number of light fixtures in the original construction and addition and they have all had ceiling mounted brackets. The new fixtures have holes that match up to the old brackets, and altho it is a pita to find the old holes with the new screws (we turn the new screws in a little into the old bracket, attach long twist ties to help us find the head end of the, screw so we can poke it thru the insulation that's part of the new fixture and thread it thru the new fixture bracket) it's always been a ceiling job. Clearly something I don't understand about this fan!
construction attached, which means that I found out in 2 minutes that there was no way to take it out from inside the nice clean bathroom and I needed to go in the attic. He'd also not bought a replacement fan for existing construction, so in order not to damage the ceiling both the removal and the installation would all need to be done in the attic.
Quote:Fiberglass??? Oh dear!
and in the attic I went for the next 90 minutes, literally swimming in insulation.
Quote:Never seen THAT b4 eirher!!
Had to unscrew the old one by hand because of all of the things in the way of the drill at the angle the screws were set in. Not a fun or easy task to do when leverage is terrible up against a sun roof window and there's so much insulation you can't even see where the joists are.
The fan was also tied into a light over the shower with Romex, and my friend didn't even mention before I'd reinstalled everything that the light had stopped working about half a year ago. So when I was back down and we installed the light it didn't work. My voltage tester came up with nothing.
But the weird thing was that all of the slack in the attic on that romex wasn't present when I pulled at the Romex from the hole for the new shower light or from inside the fan mount... What the hell?
So I had to go back up.
And then I discovered it was two lines of romex that went down into the insulation and through a small hole in wood.
I asked my friend if there was an outlet or a switch over the toilet, since that's the location that it seemed to be going down. He said "neither, but there's a reset button here". I didn't even know what he was talking about, but I said does it look like an outlet? and he said it did.
I said that's it. I'm coming down, we need to open that.
He'd already taken the cover off by the time I came down, but he didn't need to. It was a GFCI box, but without plugs. I'd never even seen one of these before
Quote:It's code. Any electrical fixture/outlet with him n 5' (6'?) of water has to be protected with GFI
But they installed them in all 3 of his bathrooms over the toilets, I'm sure as a safety measure in case something went wrong with the light over the shower
Quote:Uh just OOC, why not? What should they have used? For the few electric installs I helped with, we used 14- or 12_gage. Wire (load depending) in conduit, but that sounds like overkill for the application.
(and the fact that they SHOULD NOT HAVE USED ROMEX FOR THIS JOB).
Quote:I learned about that one early! We had an outlet in the breezeway that was dead. Finally found the GFI on the INSIDE hallway wall . Apparently they had pulled an outlet from the inside thru the wall to the outside (breezeway), but since there was water nearby they had to add a GFI.
His daughter hasn't had a light in her shower for half a year now because they didn't know to hit the RESET button.
In looking around I see the same thing living room to patio, and back bedroom to back sidewalk.
Quote:
After that, installed the new light, got tNOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Friday, February 25, 2022 11:31 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:Quote:??
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Well...
The exhaust fan fix for my friend went nearly as bad as could be expected if you don't account for the fact that in the end I managed to fix it.
The old fan was OLD. It was OG
OG = "Original Gangster". Slang.
In this case, I meant that it was a fan that was meant for original construction. It had "wings" on the side that gets attached to a joist which the screws went through, so there was no way to get to it without busting out the ceiling or doing it from the attic.
I haven't done a ton of these, but every time I have the screws or nails were put into the box inside the fan housing, so once you removed them it came right out of the ceiling. This was new for me.
The fan he bought to replace it had the wings too, so that had to be installed from the attic as well.
Quote:Quote:have helped replace a number of light fixtures in the original construction and addition and they have all had ceiling mounted brackets. The new fixtures have holes that match up to the old brackets, and altho it is a pita to find the old holes with the new screws (we turn the new screws in a little into the old bracket, attach long twist ties to help us find the head end of the, screw so we can poke it thru the insulation that's part of the new fixture and thread it thru the new fixture bracket) it's always been a ceiling job. Clearly something I don't understand about this fan!
construction attached, which means that I found out in 2 minutes that there was no way to take it out from inside the nice clean bathroom and I needed to go in the attic. He'd also not bought a replacement fan for existing construction, so in order not to damage the ceiling both the removal and the installation would all need to be done in the attic.
Have you ever replaced an exhaust fan in the bathroom? This isn't a ceiling fan and/or light fixture. There's a metal box that's almost a cube shape that is mounted to the joist above the ceiling and a plastic tube coming out that needs to be attached to the exhaust pipe out of the house and taped up.
Here's a picture of a similar one:
Even if this wasn't an new construction unit, I would have had to go up to put the new fan in because Uncle Bob didn't leave any slack on the flex conduit or the flex exhaust pipe, so there would have been no way to attach them first before screwing the box into the joist.
Quote:Quote:Fiberglass??? Oh dear!
and in the attic I went for the next 90 minutes, literally swimming in insulation.
Yup. Fun!
Quote:Quote:
Had to unscrew the old one by hand because of all of the things in the way of the drill at the angle the screws were set in. Not a fun or easy task to do when leverage is terrible up against a sun roof window and there's so much insulation you can't even see where the joists are.
The fan was also tied into a light over the shower with Romex, and my friend didn't even mention before I'd reinstalled everything that the light had stopped working about half a year ago. So when I was back down and we installed the light it didn't work. My voltage tester came up with nothing.
But the weird thing was that all of the slack in the attic on that romex wasn't present when I pulled at the Romex from the hole for the new shower light or from inside the fan mount... What the hell?
So I had to go back up.
And then I discovered it was two lines of romex that went down into the insulation and through a small hole in wood.
I asked my friend if there was an outlet or a switch over the toilet, since that's the location that it seemed to be going down. He said "neither, but there's a reset button here". I didn't even know what he was talking about, but I saidNOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Friday, February 25, 2022 4:59 PM
Quote:Crap. I see the problem!
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Well...
The exhaust fan fix for my friend went nearly as bad as could be expected if you don't account for the fact that in the end I managed to fix it.
The old fan was OLD. It was OG
SIGNY; ??
SIX: OG = "Original Gangster". Slang.
In this case, I meant that it was a fan that was meant for original construction. It had "wings" on the side that gets attached to a joist which the screws went through, so there was no way to get to it without busting out the ceiling or doing it from the attic.
I haven't done a ton of these, but every time I have the screws or nails were put into the box inside the fan housing, so once you removed them it came right out of the ceiling. This was new for me.
The fan he bought to replace it had the wings too, so that had to be installed from the attic as well.
Quote:No, never have. Seen a kitchen exhaust fan unit, but didn't see the install. Good to know,thanks!
SIX Have you ever replaced an exhaust fan in the bathroom? This isn't a ceiling fan and/or light fixture. There's a metal box that's almost a cube shape that is mounted to the joist above the ceiling and a plastic tube coming out that needs to be attached to the exhaust pipe out of the house and taped up.
Here's a picture of a similar one:
Even if this wasn't an new construction unit, I would have had to go up to put the new fan in because Uncle Bob didn't leave any slack on the flex conduit or the flex exhaust pipe, so there would have been no way to attach them first before screwing the box into the joist.
Quote:only if you like itchy rashes! I assume you were wearing long pants/long sleeved shirt and hop that you had a mask available
SIX ...and in the attic I went for the next 90 minutes, literally swimming in insulation.
SIGNY: Fiberglass??? Oh dear!
SIX: Yup. Fun!
Quote:
SIX: Had to unscrew the old one by hand because of all of the things in the way of the drill at the angle the screws were set in. Not a fun or easy task to do when leverage is terrible up against a sun roof window and there's so much insulation you can't even see where the joists are.
The fan was also tied into a light over the shower with Romex, and my friend didn't even mention before I'd reinstalled everything that the light had stopped working about half a year ago. So when I was back down and we installed the light it didn't work. My voltage tester came up with nothing.
But the weird thing was that all of the slack in the attic on that romex wasn't present when I pulled at the Romex from the hole for the new shower light or from inside the fan mount... What the hell?
So I had to go back up.
And then I discovered it was two lines of romex that went down into the insulation and through a small hole in wood.
I asked my friend if there was an outlet or a switch over the toilet, since that's the location that it seemed to be going down. He said "neither, but there's a reset button here". I didn't even know what he was talking about, but I said does it look like an outlet? and he said it did.
I said that's it. I'm coming down, we need to open that.
He'd already taken the cover off by the time I came down, but he didn't need to. It was a GFCI box, but without plugs. I'd never even seen one of these before
SIGNY: Never seen THAT b4 eirher!!
SIX: Apparently, they're called "blank face" GFCI.
Unless the price of GFCI outlets have gone up, these are all stupid expensive at around $20 each. When I bought the regular GFCI outlets last year they were around $15, and I was able to buy a 4 pack for only $30. What a ripoff. I mean, it wouldn't make any sense to put plugs above the t
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Friday, February 25, 2022 11:17 PM
Bright, dry and clear day here today. Out soon.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Friday, February 25, 2022 11:50 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Crap. I see the problem!
Quote:
No, never have. Seen a kitchen exhaust fan unit, but didn't see the install. Good to know,thanks!
Yeah. No problem. None of this is rocket science. If you're able bodied and have a few decent tools at your disposal, a lot of things can be done just from watching a youtube video if you don't know somebody who knows what they're doing.
But my motto is always expect the worst and you'll never be disappointed.
This job wasn't the worst case scenario, although it was far from ideal.
Quote:
only if you like itchy rashes! I assume you were wearing long pants/long sleeved shirt and hop that you had a mask available
I wasn't dressed for the occasion. I kept my long jeans on since it all washes off and it wouldn't make me itchy, but he only had a short sleeved junk shirt for me, and I wasn't going to wear my fleece hoodie up there and get the fiberglass entangled in it. So I had itchy arms when it was done. I've never gotten rashes from fiberglass myself, so it was just a little discomfort until I got home.
He had a mask for me and I started using it, but it's just too hot working with a mask on so most of the work was done maskless. Anybody who has ever said in the last two years that wearing a mask while working is no big deal has never worked a day in their life and sits at a desk in an air conditioned office.
Quote:
With all the new plugin bathroom doodads (toothbrushes, hair dryers, scent misters, emergency/nightlights, etc) ANY extra outlet is a good outlet! I would put a nightlight there so you can find your way around the bathroom at night without being blinded by the light.
That's actually a REALLY good idea. I'm going suggest that to him next time we talk. Thanks.
Quote:
Oh Jeez, I bet! We know that Uncle Bob did some re-wiring here bc we had to correct mistakes when we found them ... like one lead connected to one breaker and the other lead connected to another... no idea how THAT happened!... but there is one "ground" still, that'll give you a good tingle if you touch it, and another bare 14gage we can't figure out where it comes from/goes to.
Wow! lol. That's a new one to me.
Quote:
I guess Uncle Bob did both our houses!
Uncle Bob did EVERYBODY's houses.
That problem I mentioned with the non-grounded outlet wasn't in my house. I have other problems though. Even though I've bended hardpipe through the basement after gutting it and got all of that romex out of the house, I have no idea what can of worms is sealed up under the rest of the house.
The switch under the sink for the dishwasher had wire whips so short that you couldn't even pull out the switch more than an inch to take the wires off. I added 4" whips to the ends of those with caps before putting a new switch in there. Now it's a little tight because of that, but since no other wiring will ever go in there it's good.
Another problem is that 90% of the outlets and switches that I've exposed over the years weren't wrapped with tape after they were wired up. Also, in the living room there were at least 3 loose outlets that would pull out of the wall if you didn't hold them while pulling a plug out. I fix those as I go.
The biggest problem that I've found though is that the wiring map for my breaker box is a nightmare. I have one or two breakers that control electric in the basement, the first floor, the 2nd floor and the attic. I've got one hub in the ceiling on the 2nd floor with so many wires it it that I'd imagine it could cause breakers to trip a lot if a full family was living here and everyone was watching TV's in different rooms while the A/C was on, and I don't think there would be any way to fix this issue without doing an extreme gutting of the house at this point.
It's never been a problem for me,
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Saturday, February 26, 2022 2:21 AM
Back from my walk and having a sit down.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Saturday, February 26, 2022 11:22 PM
Laundry day then my walk.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Sunday, February 27, 2022 3:23 AM
Laundry done, walk in and everything sorted out for today.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME