DIY channel = ...

[TAB]

comedic gold.  Watching them trying to hook up a 4 way swtich.   


I'm almost afraid to watch them take the sawzall to a load barring wall so they can install a beam.


Almost.      

[Timothy]

comedic gold.  Watching them trying to hook up a 4 way swtich.   
I'm almost afraid to watch them take the sawzall to a load barring wall so they can install a beam.
Almost.      

TAB, I don't know if you get the show, it's called "Holmes on Homes" on TLC or Discovery.  It's a Canadian General Contractor that comes in and salvages other "contractors" work.  Some serious nightmares have to be corrected at considerable cost to the homeowners.  Some or most of the work is donated on occasion.

It's unbelievable what some people in the industry get away with and the inspectors aren't much better.

[TAB]

in many states all it takes to be a contractor is passing a easy test, and paying a fee.  Several states don't even require a bond or insurance.

I could tell you storys about building inspectors that you would say I was lieing.  They are 100% true.

[Pathfinder]

In the very first This Old House, Bob Vila was trashing the innards of a house, and took a part in the demolition. He took a steel crow-bar, jammed it behind some base molding right next to an outlet box - with the plate still on IIRC. he yanked and the whole thing came apart, with the outlet box trailing BX cable. I was all but screaming at the TV.

Next week, Bob was standing in front of the camera with a stack of papers in his hands saying something like "A lot of you wrote in about me pulling the baseboard with the outlet in it . . . ." Turns out, they had checked off the air and the line was dead. Or so he said.  

I remodeled a huge part of my 100+ year old house in Illinois - family room, kitchen, lavatory (deconverted an illegally converted bathroom) and back entry way. Stripped it to the studs, and rebuilt the whole thing, took out curtain walls, everything. I had a friend who was a union electrician help me with the electrical (he worked on the International Terminal at Chicago's O'Hare - this guy was good). Short story - the electric inspector was visibly pissed when he did the inspection, he could not find anything to report other than ONE loose switch box conduit nut (yeah, code, we had to use EMT). I'm talking 220 to the built-in range/microwave, plus separate lines and switches to just about everything else - lots of work done, and he could find nothing other than the nut.

He then growled that I had to add an outlet where none was indicated on the plan - and this was after drywall had been added - and put one on the finished end of the island. I asked him in all innocence why this had not been caught when the plans were approved. He was even more pissed. Shoved the plans at me with a violation notice, growled "Do it!" and left.

Of course, that was better than the inspectors in Chicago who were all on the take.

[PegLeg45]

comedic gold.  Watching them trying to hook up a 4 way swtich.   


I'm almost afraid to watch them take the sawzall to a load barring wall so they can install a beam.


Almost.      

Was it Renovation Realities?
I think I know the episode...I watched it the other day. The one where the idiot pulled out all the wire (in a hurry) to put in a load-bearing beam and then realized they needed light to work at night. It looked like he was trying to wire up the light with only one set of wires. He was wiring the light to the switch, but didn't have any power wire to the switch. What was funny was his wife was researching on the net and was getting farther than he was.

That show is funny as hell to me......

[Sponsor]

[dipisc]

Hello;   As some of you have posted here the stupid parts of contractors and inspectors, reminds me of just how much unauthorized work is being done in homes by thier owners. To get a permit, then worry about qualified and HONEST contractors and last but least the inspectors.  A home owner who knows how to do things around the house or has friends is not a friend of the National Building codes that were forced upon local gov't zoning requirements.

Sometimes the only reason for requireing a "certified" contractor is to insure that someone has a job. This only puts the home owner deeper in debt. I know how to measure,cut,nail,screw wood and plywood. What is the problem with dryway hanging other than the dirty sanding part. To run a line to a unused breaker to hook up a new appliance is no big deal -- believe me -- My Dad's size 10 1/2 shoe(s) showed me the way......And I am greatfull ......

[TAB]

Locally, there is very little a home owner can't actually do.

Its just hook up of untilys and sidewalks( which you technically own).  every thing else a home owner can legally do them with the permits.  You can even draw up the plans for your house if you wish. 

[fightingquaker13]

And remember, it only needs a permit if you ask for it, it's visible, or it deviates (too much) from the plans when you sell the house. Otherwise some new drywall, a plumbing repair/customized Kitchen sink or a new outlet for that widescreen? Who will ask if you don't tell and don't burn the place down while you're putting it in?
FQ13

[TAB]

Thats going to depend on the building department.  Many citys are making you get home inspections before you can sell a home.

I know one local building department,( davis)  that you can't open up any of the plumbing systems with out a permit.  They bring in lots of cash from people on that home inspection.

While there are many, many things I would not recomend getting a permit for,  you need to understand that there are many ways that they can find out.  Every thing from the guy across the street calling becuase you looked at him funny, to a inspection on something else( does not even have to be on your house).

[Pathfinder]

Repairs like replacing drywall are one thing. Upgrades are something else.

Back in Illinois, I paid over a grand just for the building permit on a kitchen remodel.

Here in ND, in a little piss-ant town, they require a permit for everything, including hanging drywall. And yes, they do find out. One dodge I have heard of is that you finish the basement, but sell your house as having an unfinished basement. That gets you past the inspections.

OTOH, inspections are a joke. I chair the Planning and Zoning Committee, and we just discovered that a builder had rotated his duplex 90 degrees from the approved plan - and no one caught him. His house now intrudes into a city easement - again, no one noticed - and the city has no recourse but to waive the intrusion - we have no way to fine him per state law, although the builder has to pay for all added charges pertaining to the variance.

Safety is one thing. Cities today use the permitting process to generate revenue using the guise of safety. Just another fraud committed by the gummints.