Diy

Status
Not open for further replies.
brian john

brian john

Senior Member
Location
Leesburg, VA
I was watching Bob' Vila's Home Again today and he was at a factory that builds modular homes. They route all the studs while lying down prior to building a wall and then lay the conductors in kick plating as they go.

Seems a pain to me.

Also this was done by the electrical dept. of the factory no mention that these guys are electricians. Are they? Are they required to be?

This was a NM wire, are these homes allowed in Chicago?


Another DIY show (This Old House) had a monster home with an AV distribution panel, the panel had a line isolation transformer, the installer stated this particular decvice would filter out all utility noise and protect the circuit downstream of the panel from problems also?

Yeah it was a LAZY DAY.
 
Last edited:
I saw it too. It was not going anywhere near Chicago.

I thought it is a slick way to build a house. They build the whole 3300 sf house in four modules that will be bolted together on site.

They showed them picking up what had to be a 50 foot long wall with a crane and setting it in place.

Why would they need to be electricians to do this kind of work?
 
Bob Vila started the show as a side to having work done on his house. He recorded the work as it was being installed. He brought the tapes to the "big" tv stations and they told him to take a hike. So, he went to PBS and the rest is history. With all of the "reality" shows today, PBS was really ahead of themselves way back then.

It is nice to have some lazy days...maybe when I am a little older though. :smile:
 
No, this home would not be allowed under the Chicago Electric Code. They dont even allow modular office furniture with the plastic prewired looms. The furniture is shipped without the wiring, and then greenfield and handiboxes are used to install it. EVERYTHING must be in metal. They dont even allow exit or battery back up lights in plastic housings, they must be in metal housings (and Chicago approved).
 
Has anyone ever notice that ol' Bob V. manages to tick-off one tradesman per show?
:D
:D


Minuteman said:
Pardon me for asking, but why is Chicago so strict?
Click to expand...
Mrs. O'Leary's cow
;)
 
I think This Old House was one of the first reality shows... I remember one gaff where Bob Villa walked on a freshly finished slab in the early days on PBS - then there was a quick cut where the Concrete guys were clearly up-set with him.... Bob came back a bit red faced it seemed. From then on it was "Yeah, whatever Bob!" :rolleyes: The rest of the show seemed pretty tense as well. We can also thank that show for consumers being entirely too involved, and often armed with misguided information.
 
brian john said:
They were wiring houses. If they do no need to be qualified why would anyone that wires houses?
Click to expand...

There is no evidence they are unqualified to do this work, anymore than the people that assemble MCCs at AB, very few if any who are "electricians" are unqualified to do that.
 
Bob:

Let me re-phrase my question.

I did not say they were unqualified I asked if they should be. In my area there is no way a commercial company can wire a residence without licensing.

I was wondering what is in place to verify the units are safe. After all one of the common complaints on this site is unlicensed electricians, moon-lighters and poor quality work and HD which has nothing to do with this thread.
 
Modular homes do not fall under nec codes, they fall under HUD codes. The HUD codes seems to allow some things that the NEC dosen't. Look under the sink, or inside a cabinet door, or sometimes a wood panel covering the panel and there should be a certificate.
 
frankft2000 said:
Modular homes do not fall under nec codes, they fall under HUD codes.
Click to expand...

Are you sure that's not manufactured homes ( Mobile Homes ) that fall under HUD?

The manufacturers of Modular homes claim that they meet state & local codes. Since it's really a house being built useing a different building method I would think they would have to ( non-mobile structure ).

http://homebuying.about.com/cs/modulareducation/a/moludlarhomes.htm.
 
Last edited:
God bless Chicago, i wish NJ would adopt stricter guidelines. Were loosing to many jobs to manufactured products, equipment shows up at the jobsite allready built, whats left for the electrician? Anyone can remember white to white, black to black.
 
IMO the Chicago code takes it to an unnecessary extreme. We've debated the "Romex VS. EMT" issue here many times and we will likely never agree on it, but raceway for everything? Even office furniture??? I know some might see the office furniture wiring as cheesy, but a few hundred thousand office cubicles here in the technology corridor of the East (Boston area) can't be all wrong.

I guess it all depends on what you're used to. In my area, cable methods rule the day and that is unlikely to change. And our buildings aren't burning down at an alarming rate to warrant any type of change. In fact, the Massachusetts amendments to the NEC actually relax some of the NEC rules.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top