Home improvement nightmare
Pandora's box
The story of our guest bed & bath rooms remodel
December 28, 2015
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The photo below shows one of many electrical horrors we have found. Electrical wires should never be connected with electrical tape and all connections must be in an electrical box that is accessible (not behind drywall) and wires are connected with wire nuts. We have found at least 6-8 wires capped with electrical tape in walls and probably a dozen inaccessible junction boxes.
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Wiring should always be run through the center of a stud so that when drywall is nailed on, it won't come in contact with a hot wire and cause a fire. Here are some of the disasters we have found once the drywall was removed.
In the photo above on the left, someone chiseled out the front edge of the studs and then bent nails down over the wire to hold it in place.
In the photo above on the right the wire is pinched between the top plate and other framing.
The photo left shows a hot wire we discovered behind the drywall just hanging in a stud bay. A hot wire is an electrical wire that has power running in the wire. Most modern wire is called Romex which is a bundle of at least 3 copper wires coated with an insulating plastic sheath, a black, a white and a green or a bare wire. The sheath keeps the wires from touching and causing a spark. A spark hidden in a stud bay would not be seen and could smolder for hours before igniting.