Welcome to another episode of “my house was wired by a clown”

I popped a skirting board off the other day (in prep for my sparky coming to rewire) and found the previous owner's DIY wiring had nails actually touching the insulation. (wires running well outside of permitted safe zones being the reason for the rewire....)

I wonder if he ever knew how close he came to death?
 
Not a wiring bodge but.... In the house where I am now the previous owners son had clearly played a bit of darts in their bedroom as they had been throwing them into the bedroom wall which we discovered after stripping off the thick textured wall paper. There were loads of holes right in the chase above a new socket that had been fitted, I'm amazed they didn't die pulling out a 240volt dart!

Dave
 
Jez said:
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How is an extractor above a shower an issue? It sounds to me as though you are just looking for things to criticize to be honest!
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Because if its in zone one it has to be selv not 240v mains powered unless it has its own rcd (which it doesnt) and 3 pole isolator outside the bathroom (it doesnt). Unless im reading the regs wrong and you know something i dont?

Fitting & Wiring Extractor Fans in Zone 1
This extends above zone 0 and around the perimeter of the bath or shower basin to 2.25m above the floor level, and included any space below the bath or basin that is accessible without the use of a key or tool. For showers without basins, zone 1 extends out to a radius of 600mm from the fitted water outlet or 1200mm radius for an extended zone 1. (Please see below diagram).


  • Other than switches and controls of extractor fans specifically designed for use in this zone, and cord operated switches, only SELV switches are permitted.
  • Extractor fans designed for use in this zone must be at least IPX4 , or IPX5, where water jets are likely to be used for cleaning purposes.
  • A 30 mA RCD must be provided to the electrical circuit.
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Saytan said:
I popped a skirting board off the other day (in prep for my sparky coming to rewire) and found the previous owner's DIY wiring had nails actually touching the insulation. (wires running well outside of permitted safe zones being the reason for the rewire....)

I wonder if he ever knew how close he came to death?
Click to expand...

My Mum put 3 small picture frames in a row, directly above a light switch :eek:. I think some basic house electrics should be taught at school as a lot of people are clueless and don't even know how to wire a plug.
 
NoobCannon said:
Because if its in zone one it has to be selv not 240v mains powered unless it has its own rcd (which it doesnt) and 3 pole isolator outside the bathroom (it doesnt). Unless im reading the regs wrong and you know something i dont?
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Yes but it isn’t in a zone is it, I have literally put the latest regs in my post, which is a screen grab directly from the latest building regs part p approved document. Your picture is misleading, as although the text is correct in mentioning the height, the picture doesn’t show it. It is much clearer on the official image from the approved document in my post :)

Assuming the ceiling is >2.25m of course, which almost all will be...
 
Jez said:
Yes but it isn’t in a zone is it, I have literally put the latest regs in my post, which is a screen grab directly from the latest building regs part p approved document. Your picture is misleading, as although the text is correct in mentioning the height, the picture doesn’t show it. It is much clearer on the official image from the approved document in my post :)

Assuming the ceiling is >2.25m of course, which almost all will be...
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i will post a picture later when i get
Home.

My setup is inside a shower cubicle with the showerhead in close proximity to the extractor fan its a rain type shower so the showerhead is at almost ceeling height hence my beliefe its zone 1
 
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@Jez That makes no sense lol.

I dont proclaim to be master of ye ever changing regs (they dont apply to 99% of my work)

So the source of water can be as close to the fan as it likes the zone is only measured from the floor?? So you could have a plug socket next to a tap as long as the tap its 2.25 from the floor??
 
I have literally posted the regs above, the picture even shows a shower head :p (Yes, 2.25m is pretty high!)

Hardly anything electrical is regulated, the notifiable work for part P is only a few lines long.
 
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I've attached the relevant information from the 18th which will hopefully clear this up for you. Items may appear to be in a zone but in reality it depends on the height of your ceiling. To put it simply, 240v is not allowed in the zones. However, from the sounds of it, whoever fitted the fan bought the cheapest one from Screwfix.

But to be extra super duper safe, just stick it on an RCD.
 
lewism said:
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I've attached the relevant information from the 18th which will hopefully clear this up for you. Items may appear to be in a zone but in reality it depends on the height of your ceiling. To put it simply, 240v is not allowed in the zones. However, from the sounds of it, whoever fitted the fan bought the cheapest one from Screwfix.

But to be extra super duper safe, just stick it on an RCD.
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Thanks for this. Ive attached a picture to show you all why i was concerned/confused.

I will be removing the fan as its coming away from the ceiling anyway and will replace it with a selv unit with a humidistat anyway for my own piece of mind.

Edit :- measured the floor to ceiling and its 2.35m

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When we moved in this shower was in a right state, downlights falling from ceiling, and water leaking from seemingly everywhere and its using a saniflow shower pump for the waste which is located behind the shower (also leaking)

Turns out that the cubicle had been installed and not siliconed in so water was getting out the sides also underneath the screen door with a missing trim and none of the floor is grouted properly.

The saniflow unit had been duct taped to the floor boards and was leaking as the seals were perished (he tried to fix this with more duct tape)

And that was before all the wiring atrocities found in the loft.

Stil we knew we were inheriting a “done it myself mate” house so im working my way thru it as i go.
 
Thought i would continue this thread with todays episode.

have started pulling the kitchen apart to fix the bodges


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need to cut a hole in the unit as i can see another taped joint behind it but cant reach it. It will be hidden behind the drawers so i wont bother patching the hole just remove/repair the firehazard
 
Oh and we had this excellent attempt, I replaced a light fiting and found an old junction box (minus lid and including the huge hole to get it up there ofc) just stuffed up into the ceeling void another fantastic bodge.

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Blimey, def a house if horrors when it comes to the electrics! Just as well you are a sparky and can sort it all.
 
Thought i had found the worst of it yesterday but it appears not.

looks like i will be removing all the switches and sockets to at least make them safe also. Id like to rip out the lot to rewire the whole kitchen ideally but i think im gonna have to make it safe and just live with the poor cable routing etc etc.

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(Yes the neutrals are all twisted together and taped up also) what a cluster **** of a job
 
dLockers said:
What has he done to that pattress(sp) box?
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Absolutely no idea! I cant do any more today unfortunatly as have family round so cant turn the power off. Might get a chance to look into it more tonight.

theres 4 downlighters on this side of the kitchen and it looks like hes run a separate 3 core cable to each light rather than linking them and brought them all back to the switch and ended up with this mess.

Defiantly wont ever be drilling into the walls in the kitchen thats for sure.

will need to help to remove the oven at some point and see what he could have possible done behind there.
 
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