We are in the process of renovating our house and are currently having more or less trouble with the electrician.
We got a quote from one of the largest electrical contractors in the area for a complete rewiring of the electrical system and were quite impressed at first. However, a week after the work started, the situation looks very different...
- An electrician came who has just recently completed his apprenticeship
- He prefers chatting with the other tradesmen instead of actually getting work done
- He laughs at the 3-week schedule and says he needs to see when and what he can accomplish
- Every single socket outlet still needs to be discussed with us again, even though we marked everything with marker paint
- He doesn’t mark the chases, but just cuts straight into the wall (and it looks exactly like that!)
- Cable conduits apparently cannot be installed inside the wall due to the structural stability (11.5cm (4.5 inches) bricks), which was previously agreed differently
...
After 3 days, we had enough and called in the manager.
He inspected the work and said everything was within tolerance.
Marking the chases beforehand would take more time and was not part of the scope of work. (Is this a joke or???)
After that, things improved slightly and the electrician managed to get a bit more done each day.
Today, I noticed that the light switches in the rooms are not all at the same height and the sockets (those black inner trims) have all been installed crooked.
Sockets were originally agreed to be below the light switches but are now located near the floor.
Also, the preparation for the ceiling lamp is not centered in the room.
And it goes on...
Is this really all still within the tolerance range??
We got a quote from one of the largest electrical contractors in the area for a complete rewiring of the electrical system and were quite impressed at first. However, a week after the work started, the situation looks very different...
- An electrician came who has just recently completed his apprenticeship
- He prefers chatting with the other tradesmen instead of actually getting work done
- He laughs at the 3-week schedule and says he needs to see when and what he can accomplish
- Every single socket outlet still needs to be discussed with us again, even though we marked everything with marker paint
- He doesn’t mark the chases, but just cuts straight into the wall (and it looks exactly like that!)
- Cable conduits apparently cannot be installed inside the wall due to the structural stability (11.5cm (4.5 inches) bricks), which was previously agreed differently
...
After 3 days, we had enough and called in the manager.
He inspected the work and said everything was within tolerance.
Marking the chases beforehand would take more time and was not part of the scope of work. (Is this a joke or???)
After that, things improved slightly and the electrician managed to get a bit more done each day.
Today, I noticed that the light switches in the rooms are not all at the same height and the sockets (those black inner trims) have all been installed crooked.
Sockets were originally agreed to be below the light switches but are now located near the floor.
Also, the preparation for the ceiling lamp is not centered in the room.
And it goes on...
Is this really all still within the tolerance range??
The rod intended to serve as the grounding electrode was driven into the ground by hand using a hammer.
If it were a proper grounding rod, it would need to have been hammered down approximately 8 to 9 meters (26 to 30 feet). The rod is, of course, made of V4A stainless steel and is driven fully into the ground as a single piece along its entire length. Furthermore, it was installed far enough from the house so that it is not located beneath the eaves, and the connection to the house is naturally made with 10mm (0.39 inch) V4A stainless steel wire. The connection was sealed with dielectric grease tape.
I must say, that’s quite an achievement.
Surely no amateur work was done here, right?
Oh yes, and the measurement values are guaranteed to be sufficient, of course.
If it were a proper grounding rod, it would need to have been hammered down approximately 8 to 9 meters (26 to 30 feet). The rod is, of course, made of V4A stainless steel and is driven fully into the ground as a single piece along its entire length. Furthermore, it was installed far enough from the house so that it is not located beneath the eaves, and the connection to the house is naturally made with 10mm (0.39 inch) V4A stainless steel wire. The connection was sealed with dielectric grease tape.
I must say, that’s quite an achievement.
Surely no amateur work was done here, right?
Oh yes, and the measurement values are guaranteed to be sufficient, of course.
A few weeks later, and we were actually planning to move in. However, delays with various other contractors caused everything to be pushed back again....
We are currently packing the last boxes because the lease on our apartment ends at the end of the month.
We thought everything was finally running smoothly.
Not quite. Today, the plumbers were supposed to finally start up the heating system. Unfortunately, they never got the chance because water was already leaking down one of the walls. So they had to shut it off again and start troubleshooting....
Now guess where the water is coming from???
Bingo! Our favorite electrician had accidentally hit a water pipe back then.
The result: the freshly painted wall has to be opened up again... and if we're unlucky, not only in the living room but also in the bedroom.
I’d say things are really going well.
So even well-known companies with five-star ratings can mess things up!
We are currently packing the last boxes because the lease on our apartment ends at the end of the month.
We thought everything was finally running smoothly.
Not quite. Today, the plumbers were supposed to finally start up the heating system. Unfortunately, they never got the chance because water was already leaking down one of the walls. So they had to shut it off again and start troubleshooting....
Now guess where the water is coming from???
Bingo! Our favorite electrician had accidentally hit a water pipe back then.
The result: the freshly painted wall has to be opened up again... and if we're unlucky, not only in the living room but also in the bedroom.
I’d say things are really going well.
So even well-known companies with five-star ratings can mess things up!
Winniefred3 May 2019 18:18Oh my goodness. You really made a big mistake. Hopefully, you can still move in!
The problem is caused by an installed outdoor socket. The cable for it was routed through the wall, and in doing so, the only conduit in the entire 8m (26 feet) long wall was hit.
The plumbers opened up the wall around the riser because water was already coming from the sockets (they were damp).
The electricians were also on site and documented the damage and forwarded everything accordingly.
In the worst case, the electrician may have hit the conduit in three other places, as sockets and lights on the terrace and balcony are aligned in a straight line...
This only became apparent when the heating system was supposed to be started up, and water was running through the heating pipes. The plumbers had previously measured everything carefully during the renovation, and the circuit was tight. However, it was then turned off because no radiators had been installed yet.
The electrician started working at the same time as the plumbers and stayed a few weeks longer. He saw the open risers on the upper floor but still drilled at that point on the ground floor.
I hope it’s only that one spot. Otherwise, we’ll have to start all over again...
The plumbers opened up the wall around the riser because water was already coming from the sockets (they were damp).
The electricians were also on site and documented the damage and forwarded everything accordingly.
In the worst case, the electrician may have hit the conduit in three other places, as sockets and lights on the terrace and balcony are aligned in a straight line...
This only became apparent when the heating system was supposed to be started up, and water was running through the heating pipes. The plumbers had previously measured everything carefully during the renovation, and the circuit was tight. However, it was then turned off because no radiators had been installed yet.
The electrician started working at the same time as the plumbers and stayed a few weeks longer. He saw the open risers on the upper floor but still drilled at that point on the ground floor.
I hope it’s only that one spot. Otherwise, we’ll have to start all over again...
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