trik396

Or how about this one... houses that still have the gas lines ran to the lite fixtures... and you go to remove them and the gas is still live. OLD...

jfpointer

We had several of those gas lines in our house, built in 1899. None of them were live, though. We had a bunch of **** and tube, too, which wasn't all that bad inside the walls, but anyplace where it was exposed or connected to fixtures, it was pretty crumbly. Soldered and taped at all its original connections, but there was some pretty scary add-on stuff.

Good thing about Romex though is that if you need to snake it up two stories and through to a ceiling fixture, it can be done without completely destroying the walls and ceilings. Might take a week and a lot of cursing, but nothing but holes to patch afterwards.

trik396

I know what you mean about cursing. I hate remodeling things (adding lighting, switches, outlets, etc.) I'd much rather do new construction or work from a complete gut job. We have our share of running stuff up or down from one floor to the next. Most of those jobs require use of the flexible conduit (BX) which is ran pretty much the same way as your romex and we try to cut as few holes as possible to do the job. Sometime we end up having to pipe to the outside and run the pipe up the side of the building. All in a days pay I guess..
**** and tube is some scary stuff. Haven't torn any of that out in quite awhile. I guess you're a fellow electrician?...

Jim Lane

You should see what the scab Asian electricians do in the remodels here in San Marino, San Gabriel, South Pasadena area.

I have gotten shocked by crawling through an attic and keeling on bare wires, Wires through KO's without bushings.
Electricians who cut conduit with a tubing cutter and skin the snot out of all of the wires on the razor sharp edges.

I install security, surveillance systems and networking and I can surgically install most anything anywhere without leaving tracks.
It just takes skill and all of the right tools and more skill.
Jim

chaikwa

Problem? I don't have a problem. Being an idiot comes quite naturally to me. Why would I wanna curtail the only thing that I can do well?

chaikwa.

biododge1

nope, just safer. romex is allmost all but illegal to use in the burbs of chicago. as for bx or greeenfield, most burbs only allow a 4' whip

trik396

It's illegal in Chicago and suburbs but I've been seeing more of it in the "further" burbs... Maybe it goes by the county?

jfpointer

Oh, I'm sure it's safer. But it sounds like if you buy an older house in Chicago you might as well just tear that sucker down and build a new one.

I'm a computer geek by trade, but KC allows homeowners to pull their own permits and do their own work. Since it still has to be inspected by the city, it's a lot less trouble for me if I'm knowledgeable enough to make sure my work is done right. And since KC's code simply incorporates the NEC, finding references to ensure that it's done right isn't that hard.

Still, not everyone should do it unless they have a good understanding of what's going on. For example, my girlfriend is a computer geek too--in fact, she even has an MBA--and her eyes glaze over when I try to explain why a white wire is made black.

CIN'S DODGE

Ok Mr.Coffee Man, I wasn't gonna do it but my other personality told me to.There is no cure for you.LOL.Cin