Not what you want to see next door.......

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1987Commodore
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Neighbor's home destroyed 1/3/13. Luckily no human or animal casualties.
It's about 12 feet between the back of my place and the side of theirs.
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Greg
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Any word on the cause? I agree you really don't need that happening next door, luckily it was property only - that can be replaced.

Greg
"If I can't fix it, I can screw it up so bad no one else can either."
1987Commodore
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Location: Steuben County, NY

Not officially. The fire investigator was there again this morning. It started in the kitchen. The cook stove is right below the small window, and the discoloration of the siding just to the left of it was the first sign of fire, along with the smoke pouring out near he roof. Flames first appeared in that area to the left of the window.
The home was a rental, but they lost almost everything, except maybe what was in the back bedroom. It will have heavy smoke damage for sure.
No one was home at the time.
My son went in with a Sheriff to rescue a dog hiding in the rear bedroom.
1987Commodore
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Location: Steuben County, NY

It was confirmed to be electrical.
Our landlord has another home for them in the other side of the park.
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Greg
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I would love to hear the specifics on that one. I am not a big fan of the way these homes are wired.

Greg
"If I can't fix it, I can screw it up so bad no one else can either."
1987Commodore
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Location: Steuben County, NY

By Kait Laubscher
The Evening Tribune
Posted Jan 07, 2013 @ 12:17 PM


Arkport, N.Y. —

An investigation into a trailer home fire at 25 Peach St., Arkport, Thursday afternoon determined an electrical problem ignited the blaze.

Faulty wiring in the home's kitchen ceiling light fixture caused the fire that resulted in total loss of the structure, Arkport Fire Chief Daniel Hulbert said Sunday.

"We understand from the former homeowners that the light had a tendency to blow bulbs," Hulbert said. He suspects this issue was related to the wiring issues that started the fire, and recommends homeowners stay vigilant when similar electrical warning signs appear.

"If you have a problem like that, get it checked," he said. "And don't cut corners on the maintenance."

The Jan. 3 fire rendered the home uninhabitable due to fire, smoke and water damage, but did not cause any injuries. The trailer's two inhabitants, a married couple, evacuated the structure. Steuben County Sheriff's deputies helped free the homeowners' two dogs.

The American Red Cross helped the displaced couple find temporary housing Thursday afternoon.

The Arkport Fire Department was assisted by North Hornell, Canaseraga, Fremont and Almond fire departments in successfully controlling the fire.
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Brooksie
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Location: Cloverport, Kentucky

Hi!

Not sure if I should post this here or in another place!!!

Another Newbie here... I've been browsing around and found these fire photos... My DH & I have been living in a 1991 Fleetwood 26x64 DW for the last 8 1/2 years. And I KNOW that we need our wiring redone...

Just wondering if anyone has ever had an electrician add new wires from the fuse box to the outside of that box up the walls and to the ceiling for ceiling fixtures, down the walls for light switches and plugs, etc...????

I hope I explained that correctly... Instead of pulling out all the old wires and hiding all the new wires behind walls and ceilings, have them on the outside but enclosed in some type of conduit cover(???) not sure that is the correct thing, but some type of solid encasing that can be attached to the walls/ceilings and that can be wallpapered or painted to sort of blend in...

I've noticed something like that in really old buildings... Anyway... my thinking is that it may be cheaper to just have the new wires installed that way. I remember when we lived in a regular house and had it "rewired", all the electrician did was put in a new fuse box, new plugs, sockets, etc... but didn't even touch the wires... I want all of our old wires disconnected from the fuse box... I don't trust them.

If anyone has had this done, was the electrician agreeable enough about doing it that way??? Or is there something I am not thinking thru that would make this a bad idea???

Thanks for any feedback... or answers... :)
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Greg
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I think The conduit you are talking about is call wire molding. That would be one way to do it, But I would check with an electrician first. The cost of pulling new wires through the walls may be offset buy what wire mold would cost.

What makes you believe you need to be rewired? Often the problems with electrical are at the connections (Outlets & switches) and not the wires themselves. Mobiles are notorious for using pushlock connectors rather than a screw down terminal, those are usually 95% of the problem. It is easily fixed by changing to a conventional box & outlet/switch.

Greg
"If I can't fix it, I can screw it up so bad no one else can either."
ponch37300
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Greg wrote:I think The conduit you are talking about is call wire molding. That would be one way to do it, But I would check with an electrician first. The cost of pulling new wires through the walls may be offset buy what wire mold would cost.

What makes you believe you need to be rewired? Often the problems with electrical are at the connections (Outlets & switches) and not the wires themselves. Mobiles are notorious for using pushlock connectors rather than a screw down terminal, those are usually 95% of the problem. It is easily fixed by changing to a conventional box & outlet/switch.

Greg
I agree with everything said by Greg.

Like Greg mentioned wire molding is what you are looking for. It's really easy to work with but last time I used any it was pretty expensive. Personally I think it looks like dog crap when I see it in houses. In businesses it looks alright but in a living room it just is out of place.

What kind of wires do you have now? As long as it's the newer romex it should be fine. Most fires start from arc faults of some sort. Either a lose wire that arcs from the wire to terminal. Or a when the insulation gets worn on the wire and it arcs to something metal. These arcs are sparks and catch things on fire. We have a 2000 MH and it has the crappy MH outlets wired with romex. These are the ones that are an outlet and box in one. The wire is pushed into the outlet and metal tabs pierce the insulation to make the connection. These are complete junk in my opinion, not to mention how they are mounted in the drywall and come out of the wall all the time! I don't even like to backstab recepticles, I always use the screw terminals and if I have more then two wires I use a wire nut to tie them all together.

From the article is said the fire started at a light. My guess would be it had something to do with the connection or the wire was compromised some how at the light. Not the wire itself.
1987Commodore
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Location: Steuben County, NY

They said it started at the light, but if they had asked me, I would have told them that while it was smouldering, before there were visible flames, that the first indication of trouble was the discolored siding low on the wall beside the cook stove. When flames first appeared, they were coming up the wall beside the stove. My opinion is that it was electrical, but who knows what the previous people did to the wiring. I think there is a decent chance they somehow got the ceiling light wiring hooked to 220v at the stove. That would explain the blown bulbs. They were a group of young people who really trashed the place.
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Brooksie
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Thanks for all the replies... How can I tell if it is Romex wiring???

I want to say that when we bought this place, it was for the view. We sit high on the side of a hill on a very wide creek that is connected to a major river. My thought was, to either replace this DW with a new model or build. Well, DH had a different thought... :(

The people that owned our DW before, did all kinds of what they called "remodeling"... We keep finding things that were done wrong... That is why I don't trust the wiring...

We have already replaced a few outlets and I believe they did also..but not sure they were done correctly...

We had a leaky roof and one outlet started to smoke that looked like "downstream" from the leak. I took it apart and disconnected all the wires and wrapped electrical tape around all the metal ends separating them. Then duct taped the whole mess on the paneled wall above the outlet so water couldn't reach just in case I didn't get the wires taped snug enough.

I had the roof done while we were on vacation, DH really mad that I did that, he wanted to finish it himself, he had started it but I was tired of watching more and more rain streaming down on the carpet from the ceiling not to mention the mold it must be creating and water damage spreading. Anyway, so I guess I can put that wall plug back together now with all new stuff.

Also, we have a few of those lights that flicker or come on sometimes and don't others... My DH put up 2 new light fixtures in the kitchen but they don't seem to be working right. I have table lamps around in the kitchen for light..

One of the bathroom CFI plugs keeps tripping, so DH put in a regular plug so we could use it. He said we both know better than to let water on something electrical...

As far as, using the wire mold stuff and it looking like crap... this whole place looks like crap.. We still have those little strips between wall panels and my thought was to run the wire mold on one of those. Of course, the ceiling would show, but I hate these ceilings... So maybe if we ever replace them we can figure a way to camouflage it.

Here is a list of things that I would love to have fixed:

1. I only have hot water at my kitchen sink because of a busted line beneath the house. DH is in no hurry to get any of these done and has recently been diagnosed with full blown diabetes so he is tired all the time. He is still learning how to deal with it. He also wants to do all repairs himself with no outside help. But he doesn't always know how to fix and believes in shortcuts that I am not sure of... He is now retired, which is good. I am depressed a lot which zaps my energy and of course, I am overweight & out of shape.. I don't know how to repair either but if I want things to start getting done, I may have to do them myself... somehow... Maybe with your all's help.. PLEASE... :D

2. I only have cold water at the Mstrbdrm bathrm sink. I can't remember why, it has been so long. Thinking about turning the hot back on to see what it was. Also mold all over the back wall under that sink. I keep spraying with Clorox Cleanup.

3. MstrBrm shower line busted from not being insulated enough close to the outside wall. This was one of the "remodels" from previous owners.

4. Floor under stove, DW, kitchen sink needs replacing... The vinyl floor keeps sinking lower and lower.

5. We both replaced the commode in the mstrbath and he put down some plywood but cut it wrong and so there are gaps. I bought some "Stuff it" stuff to fill the gaps. We still need to buy vinyl squares to cover. I really don't want to replace all the vinyl if possible.

6. All the carpet needs removing... It is sculptured tight weaved carpet. When I use my shampoo carpet cleaner it can't get into the grooves & we have pets.. so I need to shampoo.. I want to replace the carpet with linoleum that looks like wood flooring.. I might have to settle on vinyl...but I want a solid, not squares or planks..flooring..

7. Definitely replace all sockets, outlets, etc..

Ok there are more things but I thought I should end the "book" now and continue another time... Thanks for taking time to read all my stuff.... :D :D :D
1987Commodore
Posts: 383
Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2010 9:53 pm
Location: Steuben County, NY

Romex looks like this: http://www.kelvin.com/Merchant2/merchan ... e=ELPCCCRX
99.9% sure that is what you have.
It does sound like the home has some issues.
Using PEX, plumbing is super easy.
The broken hot water line under the kitchen sink was probably a major contributor to the bad floor there.
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Brooksie
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Location: Cloverport, Kentucky

Thanks so much for the quick reply....

It seems like I remember the wiring looking like that... but I will double check... Sooo, if it is, then do you feel like I just need to replace all electrical things attached to the wiring, outlets, sockets, etc...??? and we should be good???

What should I look for that would warn me that my wiring is bad and does need replacing???

OK now to the PEX... DH has bought 2 different colors of PEX and the cutter. Not sure what couplings or whatever they are called... I have been reading and looking at all pics I can about PEX..

My deal with the kitchen sink, is that I will need to go under the belly. It burst down there. NOT looking forward to that. Thought about finding DH's under car dolly & roll under as best I can.. Also, thinking about shop vacuuming the yucky stuffs lurking near by... Thank goodness it is near the belly entrance. Also am going to cover my hair & wear a nose/mouth mask & coveralls. Can't stank creepy crawlies. Maybe throw a can of raid in with me to spray.. Have any other creepy crawly haters done this before with success of not being bit??? Also any other suggestions???

Thanks again...
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Greg
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Check in the "Books & parts" section of the site. Mark (The site owner) has written a book that covers in a general way about any type of repair your home may need. If for no other reason it will give YOU a better understanding of you home and what may or may not need work and how to do it.

Greg
"If I can't fix it, I can screw it up so bad no one else can either."
1987Commodore
Posts: 383
Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2010 9:53 pm
Location: Steuben County, NY

In most cases, you should not have to replace the wires themselves. the main exception being that if any of the previous remodeling could have damaged the wires by a nail puncture or similar. It is most likely that the flickering lights are caused by a bad connection at a switch, outlet, or junction box. You may have to pull each one out of the wall and look for a problem. By code, junction boxes cannot be hidden, (they MAY be inside a cupboard or closet, or under the home) so with any luck at all, you should be able to find them. I think that, with the problems you describe, you should have an electrician check it over. It shouldn't cost too much to get an expert opinion, and it will give you some peace of mind. The electricals need to be dealt with to ensure your safety. If you do it yourself, be sure the power is off, particularly as some previous work may have been done, and there could be more than one circuit in a box.

As for the plumbing, take a photo of what you have now, and take it to a hardware store. Most times they can tell you how to repair it. As for making the PEX connections, you will need either a crimp tool or a clamp tool, depending upon which method you use. Personally, I use the clamps. They also make what are called sharkbite fittings, but I personally have not had the best luck using them without developing leaks.

Since you have the batten strips on the walls, I am going to guess that you have the thin wooden interior walls, rather than sheetrock. If you are careful, you can probably remove the wall panels without damaging them, and see what is behind them, do any repairs, and reinstall the panels. That would also enable you to install proper bracing to attach the new electrical boxes to.

Start one room at a time, best bet is if you have a spare bedroom, so you can practice pulling things apart and inspecting without disrupting the whole place.

Oh, and for the GFI that was replaced, you really need to find out why it was tripping, and put a new GFI back there. That GFI probably was for that bath, and maybe the other bath and kitchen, and any exterior or underbelly outlets.
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