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View Full Version : A head scratcher for your enjoyment


Dan Mages
01-23-2009, 12:47 PM
I was cleaning out a guest room and took a better look at this outlet. I rarely go into this room, so I have not noticed this before. There is a lamp cord coming out of the bottom!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v647/DanMages/100_0428.jpg

I pulled out the drawers of the built in to find the termination of the wire and found this...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v647/DanMages/100_0429.jpg
Plugged into an outlet without a faceplate next to one of the drawers. Who is the smarty that thought this was a good idea?

Now this is where it gets interesting. Are the built-ins original, or were they added on later? The unfinished floors under the built-ins lead me to believe that they are original, but the outlet and base trim make things go in the other direction.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v647/DanMages/100_0430.jpg

And yes, the outlet has been unplugged, the wall outlet will be replaced shortly with a 3 prong, and a faceplate has been installed.

Dan
Joe Pelonio
01-23-2009, 12:59 PM
Wow, a building inspector's delight!

Lucky it never failed. Reminds me of a very old house my inlaws used to rent that was built originally with no electricity. The outlets were very low, near the floor, only on outside walls. On the outside there were exposed wires, painted over, going between the outlets. It was not even romex but pairs of individual wires.
Gene Howe
01-23-2009, 2:17 PM
Wow, a building inspector's delight!

Lucky it never failed. Reminds me of a very old house my inlaws used to rent that was built originally with no electricity. The outlets were very low, near the floor, only on outside walls. On the outside there were exposed wires, painted over, going between the outlets. It was not even romex but pairs of individual wires.

WOW! Worse than knob and tubing!

Wife's sister bought a house in rural IN and found that a freezer was plugged into an outlet that was wired to a J-Box 30' away with TV ANTENNA WIRE!!!:eek:
Brian Effinger
01-23-2009, 2:30 PM
It is always amazing what you can find in an old house. They never cease to amaze me.
Greg Peterson
01-23-2009, 2:43 PM
My guess is that the outlet was added later. Where does the outlet get its juice from. That may clear up the mystery.
John Schreiber
01-23-2009, 2:49 PM
I added some wall outlets in a house I lived in in college. I sure hope that house never burns down. . . . It will probably be my fault.:confused:
Steve Clardy
01-23-2009, 3:19 PM
Wow. :eek: Well I've seen worse in barns and sheds. :D
David G Baker
01-23-2009, 3:33 PM
Looks like some of the wiring I have seen in rural Michigan.
Dan Mages
01-23-2009, 6:12 PM
I checked the other bedroom with built-ins and found another outlet behind them. I think the built-ins were a last minute addition to the house.

Dan
Chris Padilla
01-23-2009, 7:47 PM
What's the problem? I wire stuff up like that all the time!!








;)
Dennis Peacock
01-24-2009, 12:11 AM
What's the problem? I wire stuff up like that all the time!!








;)

Then you better keep those Cisco routers we ordered then. :rolleyes: :p :p