Expensive screw

[James L]

Went to look at a house today.
House built 1950s-ish
I was told that suddenly the air conditioner, fridge, and a couple of other things stopped working

Turned out a remodeler is updating a shower.
Installed tile backer board, and gave no thought to the service entrance cable coming through the corner from outside.

He put a screw right into the cable, and immediately half the house didn't work

I cut the wood out of the corner to inspect the cable, and sure enough it blew in half inside the cloth.

POCO came out to disconnect, and they will not consider it an emergency repair. They want to see a city inspection before they'll turn power back on

 

[Buck Parrish]

Did they have nail plates back in the old days?

 

[James L]

Did they have nail plates back in the old days?

I don't know if they were available, but sure not installed here

 

[James L]

Here's where it gets expensive...permit and inspection

Cable comes in to a small panel in the other side of the wall. But the panel is inside an upper kitchen cabinet

 

[tom baker]

60 amp service, Zinsco….

 

[James L]

Notice there's another cable going out of the bottom of that small panel. It's doubled into the main lugs and goes through a crawl space to another panel in the laundry room.

So the panel in the cabinet is a no-no and will have to be turned into a junction box, and 6 circuits run from the laundry panel.

But laundry panel is 40+ feet away and has only H+H+N so the cable has to be replaced

 

[James L]

60 amp service, Zinsco….

Yes. That's another issue.
You can see it's a 60 amp meter base outside.
POCO requires minimum 200 amp base, so it has to be upgraded.

But it's too close to the window and must be moved. And the drop is too low so it has to go through the roof

 

[James L]

Bottom line is one screw is going to require the entire service to be upgraded with disconnect outside and change MB panel in laundry to isolate neutrals, and add circuits back to old panel to become j-box

Price tag for one screw is about $5,600

 

[AC\DC]

o well house will be safer, why would the power company not consider emergency? Seem to be

 

[James L]

o well house will be safer, why would the power company not consider emergency? Seem to be

I dunno.
I wasn't the one to meet them, the remodeler was.
Maybe they thought the remodeler was gonna try to replace it himself

 

[ramsy]

They want to see a city inspection before they'll turn power back on

That is the smartest utility worker I've ever hear of.

Whether its service drop or lateral, never seen UN-FUSED service entrance cable without rigid or concrete encasement.

Was that ever legal ?

 

[AC\DC]

I see that around here a lot. Never leagal around here. Old inspector I was told you just buy him beer.

 

[tom baker]

In WA we are not permitted to use SE cable, or EMT with unfused SE conductors

 

[tom baker]

Did the remodeler know the SE cable was there?
With the relocated service, Will AFCIs be required?

 

[tom baker]

That is the smartest utility worker I've ever hear of.

Whether its service drop or lateral, never seen UN-FUSED service entrance cable without rigid or concrete encasement.

Was that ever legal ?

It’s common to run SE cable from meter to service panel in basement

 

[James L]

Did the remodeler know the SE cable was there?
With the relocated service, Will AFCIs be required?

Yes, he knew it was there.
I guess he thought it was impenetrable or he would miss it.

It'll require AFCI for all the circuit extensions
KCMO is on 2017

 

[ptonsparky]

I've heard bath & kitchen remodels were the most expensive upgrades to a home. This example nailed it.

Have fun!

 

[goldstar]

Yes. That's another issue.
You can see it's a 60 amp meter base outside.
POCO requires minimum 200 amp base, so it has to be upgraded.

But it's too close to the window and must be moved. And the drop is too low so it has to go through the roof View attachment 2560419

I especially like the job the siding guys did

I also like the POCO's job with the point of attachment. You'll have to blow up the photo to appreciate this.

 

[Dennis Alwon]

I don't see any se cable. The overhead looks like bx when I enlarge it and the cable in the shower looks like 10/3 nm. Are my eyes that bad?

 

[Hv&Lv]

Yes. That's another issue.
You can see it's a 60 amp meter base outside.
POCO requires minimum 200 amp base, so it has to be upgraded.

But it's too close to the window and must be moved. And the drop is too low so it has to go through the roof

Is that a fixed window?
Also that doesn’t look like POCO wires coming in.