Electrical Issues – Part 3

Posted by Frank J Delle Donne on May 15, 2014

Observations of a Home Inspector

By Frank J. Delle Donne, Licensed Home Inspector

May 15, 2014

For most people, purchasing a house is the largest purchase they have thus far made. Help ensure that you, “Buy with confidence. Sell with pride” ® by using Regal Home Inspections, LLC.

Please leave a review of this article or of our services. Click Here and then click on, “Write a Review”.

Never perform electrical work yourself unless you are a licensed electrician. Nothing in this article suggests that you should attempt to diagnose any electrical problems you may have or make any repairs yourself. Any attempt to make electrical repairs or upgrades can lead to your death. ALWAYS hire a licensed electrician to perform any electrical work. Electricity kills. Never remove the cover to your circuit breaker panel.

If you’d like a visual inspection of your home’s electrical system because you think there might be problems with it, please call Regal Home Inspections, LLC and we can perform a limited, visual electrical inspection of your system in accordance with the New Jersey Home Inspection laws and ASHI & NACHI Standards of Practice. This is not a “to code” inspection. Our inspection DOES NOT guarantee conformance to local electrical codes.

Introduction

I would predict that 90% or more of the homes that I have inspected have had some sort of electrical system issue. Because of the fact that electricity is very dangerous if not handled by professionals most of the time an electrical issue is determined to be a Material Defect (aka Major Defect). Being classified as a Major Defect in a home inspection report usually means that some corrective action will be taken by the seller prior to closing or that monies have been set aside (escrow) so that the buyer can address the problem after closing occurs. It is very important that if the later of these two situations exist that the buyer use the money for the intended electrical repairs. As defined by NJ State Law, a Material Defect is a condition of the structure or of a System or Component that substantially affects the habitability, value or safety. Since electricity can kill, and often does, electrical issues almost always rise to the level of a major SAFETY issue.

This piece looks at three situations that have recently been found (in the last 2 months prior to the date of this article) that have been highlighted as SAFETY issues and require immediate attention by a licensed electrician.

Double Taps

When working with electricity it is very important to have and maintain a secure, tight connection whenever two pieces of the electrical system are connected together. This applies to situations when two wires are spliced (twisted) together or when one wire is connected to a mechanical connection. The mechanical connection may be a screw on the back side of a light switch or outlet or it may be a screw lug on a circuit breaker in the Main Panel or Sub Panel. Why is a good, tight and secure connection necessary? Without getting too far down into the detail, if there is a loose connection and electricity is flowing there is a high potential for a small gap to occur and sparks (or arcing) to occur. If there’s a less-than-ideal gap then the connection between these two metal components may be a high resistance connection. This could lead to the buildup of heat. Both of these two potential situations can lead to fire.

A double tap is when someone incorrectly tries to connect two wires to the circuit breaker lug and is of concern because most circuit breakers are designed to hold only 1 wire. When 2 wires are installed into a single lug there is a potential that the wires are of differing gauges (sizes and therefore wire diameters). The larger one may be tight but the smaller will have a poor, possibly high resistance connection and that, as we know, can generate heat or arcing and be a fire hazard.

From a circuit breaker function point of view, the breaker should still trip (shut off) if the total current draw reaches the breaker’s trip rating (15amp, 20amp, etc.) due to the total load from the double tap wires.

The photo(s) below show what a double tap looks like.

DSCF6011 — The 2, lower left circuit breaker lugs each have 2 wires into them.

Bad Electrical Panels

Electrical panels should protect people and property from high voltage energy as found inside an electrical panel. Make no mistake, the energy entering and inside the electrical panel is more than enough to kill someone or start a fire. The panel is designed to isolate the energy fields so the hot or ungrounded wires are not energizing metallic components that should not be energized. When energy is present where it shouldn’t be it is sometimes called, “stray” energy.

Of course, all hot electrical components should be insulated as not to be a possible source of electrocution and the Electrical (or Service) Panel is no different.

They should be clean and free of contaminants or damage. The cover should be properly secured using the correct types of screws. Screws used to connect a panel cover are special in that they do not have sharp points like most screws. The screws for electrical panels have flat tipped screws reducing the possibility that the screw will poke a hole in a wire’s insulation and allow electricity to stray to the panel box.

The panel box should be completely sealed. No holes or gaps where someone can poke something in and accidentally get electrocuted. They should be clear of dirt and debris and garbage.

These photos are indicative of a very bad panel. Can you tell why?

DSCF5561 — Rusted screws on breaker and Double Taps

Knob and Tube Wiring (State of the Art in electrical wiring Circa 1900)

It is not too uncommon to find working (energized) K&T wiring in a very old house today. When electricity was first deployed residentially the technology was Knob and Tube. They did not have cable like we have today. Today, a cable is a tube or jacket of metal or plastic or rubber like material and inside there are multiple wires and each wire is insulated with its own plastic jacket. Sometimes the, Ground wire isn’t insulated but the Hot and the Neutral wires that make up the circuit are.

Well in the ”olde tyme” days wiring was different and as mentioned earlier, it’s still here in some old houses. Way back when, the electrician installed individual wires and used ceramic knobs and ceramic tubes to attach and route the wires up the walls and through the floor joists for example. You can see this in the photos below.

In fact way, way back when, they used one wire and looped one big circuit. This is like the old Christmas tree light problem. One bulb goes out and the circuit is broken therefore all the lights go out. This too can be seen in the photo below. Note the one wire going into the lit bulb and one wire out. Remove the bulb, or if the bulb pops, and all the lights on that circuit go out!

So what’s the home inspection philosophy about K&T wiring? Well, ideally, if you have K&T wiring that is energized you should remove it. It’s like still having gas lamps in the house to provide light. You wouldn’t, right? But technically, the mere presence of K&T wiring is not a Material (aka Major) Defect if (and it’s a HUGE if) the K&T wiring was never modified or touched electrically. Heck, it has lasted this long. It can last longer. However, if it was touched, modified, tapped into, etc. it must be removed. It’s good advice and good, prudent practice.

In the photos below look for the white, ceramic knobs and the white ceramic tubes and the wires associated with them.

DSCF5125 — Notice the one wire in and out of the light as well as the ceramic knobs holding the wires off the wood framework.

DSCF5130 — Can you pick out the two wires and the white, ceramic tubes in the wood joist?

Conclusion

There are way too many electrical issues to mention in one article that I have seen in my inspection career. More articles will come but for now, here are a few of the problems that I have seen and thought you might be interested in learning about.

Regal Home Inspections, LLC starts every inspection with the presentation of a folio of information for the client. That folio includes general information but also includes a written introduction to the inspection. I present an initial overview of the main elements detailed in this article; Laws that govern the inspection process, areas that will be inspected and more.

I would appreciate your comments about this article. Please email your comments to frank07722@gmail.com

About the author. I am a NJ Licensed Home Inspector. I am the owner and Inspector at Regal Home Inspections, LLC. In addition to being a New Jersey Licensed Home Inspector I am also a NJ-DEP certified Radon Measurement Technician and Regal Home Inspections, LLC has also collected samples for lead paint, allergens and mold. We are affiliated with the state’s best labs that perform the sample evaluation and testing. We can also help facilitate the testing of septic system and numerous aspects of oil tank evaluations. This includes oil tank integrity testing, tank locate services and soil samples. We work to ensure that the house you’re buying is sound or that you know of any issues.

Understanding the Home Inspection – Setting Expectations

Posted by Frank J Delle Donne on April 30, 2014

Understanding the Home Inspection

Setting Expectations

By Frank J. Delle Donne, Licensed Home Inspector

Originally Posted April 30, 2014

Updated June, 2015

For most people, purchasing a house is the largest purchase they have thus far made. Help ensure that you, “Buy with confidence. Sell with pride” ® by using Regal Home Inspections, LLC.

Introduction

In accordance with New Jersey Administrative Code (NJAC) Chapter 40, Subchapter 15, as of May 29, 2003, “No person shall perform or hold oneself out as permitted to perform a home inspection nor represent or call oneself a home inspector unless licensed pursuant to NJAC 13:40-15.5 or 15.6.”

The aforementioned licensing is well documented in the NJAC and requires a potential home inspector to take approved training from an authorized training service in accordance with the Standard of Practice as detailed by the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) as stated within the NJAC. The candidate is also required to perform forty hours of field work and take a national home inspection test. The candidate must also apply to the state of New Jersey to obtain a home inspection license number. Regal Home Inspections, LLC is licensed with NJ State License number 24GI00125100.

A license may also be obtained if they were in the business prior to May 29, 2003 or if they performed over 200 inspections as an apprentice inspector while working for a licensed inspector.

Starting one’s own inspection business, like Regal Home Inspections, LLC, requires further documentation such as proof of a legal business, Federal Tax information, proof of state regulated minimum insurance (types of coverage and amounts) and other pertinent information must be provided.

Ask your home inspector to provide a copy of their license, proof of insurance, etc. Every inspector must have their state issued license on their person when they are performing a home inspection.

The Inspection

Contrary to popular belief, a NJAC home inspection IS NOT a “to code” inspection. An inspector will not “Determine compliance with codes, regulations and/or ordinances.” according to the NJAC. Please note that this description below is an overview and not intended to cover or address every detail of the NJAC.

The process and procedure of the home inspection is very well documented in the NJAC. New Jersey has these, highlighted requirements (this is not a complete list):

Within 24 hours of setting an appointment (scheduling a date) the inspector must provide the client with a written contract. The contract can be emailed of course but the NJAC cites exactly what the contract must address. A few examples include the date/time of the inspection and the cost. Regal Home Inspections, LLC’s Inspection Agreement is comprehensive and asks for the client’s signature. On a side note, after it is signed, the home inspection company must retain a copy of the signed agreement for five years.
The inspector must provide you with a Home Inspection Report. Click Here For Sample Report Regal Home Inspection, LLC’s reports are very thorough and comprehensive. We use photographs and written text to document our findings. Many photographs are captioned in addition to the detailed explanation. I use arrows and circles to additionally highlight areas of concern or interest in a photograph. One should not rush through the reporting process and quickly hand you a report as they are getting into their car. For every hour I spend on site doing my visual inspection I spend at least another hour preparing the report. Some inspectors simply use a checklist. While technically legal, it does not provide a detailed account of the findings. Some inspectors prepare their inspection report on site. I do not believe that they are providing you with the best service possible. The report is the product you are buying. Insist on a thorough report with a detailed section as well as a Summary Section. At the request of an attorney, early in my inspection career, I was asked to include a Summary Section. This attorney didn’t want to have to read the entire report to find the Material (aka Major) Defects or Safety items. My report contains a Summary Section that re-lists the Material Defects and Safety items that were found during the inspection. The main body of the report has all the detail, photos, maintenance suggestions, serial numbers as well as those important items that are mentioned again, in summary form, in the Summary Section.
The overall inspection and the report must include a description of the Systems and Components inspected as well as a list of any of the specific areas (mentioned below) that were not inspected and why. These are called “Limitations”. For example, during the months of January and February 2014, on many inspections the roofs were completely covered with snow. If inspector’s safety is an issue or due to a condition like complete snow cover, it is accepted that the roof may not be inspected. However, it should be noted in the report as a limitation. As detailed in the NJAC, the Systems and Components to be inspected include:
1. Structural Components
2. Exterior
3. Roofing
4. Plumbing
5. Electrical
6. Heating & Cooling
7. Interior (doors, windows, walls, etc.)
8. Insulation and ventilation
9. Fireplaces, wood stoves, etc.

Recreational elements aren’t listed including spas, swing sets, etc. There are items that are not part of a home inspection, both inside and out. Areas excluded include pools, sheds, etc.

The report should state the significance of the findings. Specifically, were there any “Material Defects” (aka Major Defects) found? And if there were, “Provide recommendation…to repair, replace or monitor a system or component or to obtain examination and analysis by a qualified professional, tradesman… without [the home inspector] determining the methods or costs of corrections”.

This leads us to the core of the discussion and often a bone of contention between inspectors and real estate agents, buyers and sellers. What is a Material Defect? The following definition is an exact quote from the New Jersey Administrative Code Chapter 40, Subchapter 15.

“ ‘Material Defect’ means a condition, or functional aspect, of a structural component or system that is readily ascertainable during a home inspection that substantially affects the value, habitability or safety of the dwelling, but does not include decorative, stylistic, cosmetic, or aesthetic aspects of the system, structure or component.”

As we read this important definition, what are some of its key elements?

The aspects are limited to the Systems and Components as mentioned in 3) a. – i. above.
They are “readily ascertainable.” Remember, this is a visual (and non-destructive) inspection. The inspector is usually hired by the prospective buyer and the prospective buyer does not yet own the house. The inspector does not cut holes in finished basement walls to see if the foundation behind it is sealed, dry and well insulated. The home inspector IS NOT even required to move furniture or storage boxes if these items are prohibiting the inspector from accessing one of the systems or components. Ascertain means to find out or to learn with certainty. Home inspectors should not guess. So the condition or situation must be easily (readily) learned with certainty (ascertained) during the inspection.
“Substantially affects”. Substantially is defined as, “considerable in quantity, significantly large”. “Affect” is defined as “to produce a material influence upon or alteration in”. Does any matter associated with a system or component have a significantly large influence upon the system or component so that it causes a problem with the value, habitability or safety of the dwelling?

This is where the home inspector should apply their training. Let’s look at an example. A “beam” refers to a main structural, element supported at its end points usually by the foundation wall and mid span by columns. It could be a large piece of wood or a steel I-beam. A “joist” is a smaller structural member that often rests on top of a beam (perpendicular to the beam) and it is the structural platform for the floor of a house. A beam should never be notched, cut or have any holes in it. A joist, within reason, can have holes and/or notches. A hole or notch in a beam is a material defect. A hole or notch in a joist may, or may not be a material defect. A notched beam affects the habitability of the dwelling. It needs repair. It is not the inspector’s responsibility to say “the beam will break if you dance on the floor above.” or “a strong wind will cause the house to collapse”. A beam should never be notched! This situation needs to be analyzed by an architect or structural engineer and repaired by a qualified technician or tradesman as that expert deems necessary.

Here’s another that causes angst. A typical forced hot air furnace may have a useful life of 10 – 15 years. In this example, the home being inspected has a forced hot air furnace that is 25 years old. The furnace is part of the HVAC system and it is definitely an element of the home that is inspected. Let’s assume the furnace works. It heats the house but it is 10 years past its useful life. The inspector needs to state the facts; A) The furnace is 25 years old. B) Furnaces typically last 10 – 15 years. C) This furnace is past its expected lifespan. It could stop running any day or it may continue to provide heat for years to come. You can’t tell what may happen during the course of a brief furnace inspection. They should, at least, provide information so the buyer can make an informed decision. The inspector should state the facts and advise the buyer to seek the services of a furnace expert for further analysis. If the buyer (client) wants to negotiate with the seller, prior to closing, for a new furnace that is their option. The age of the furnace may have been part of the seller’s disclosure and a new furnace is already factored into the asking price of the house. That’s not for the inspector to get involved with.

Let’s consider some examples. Those that I think have obvious answers are not answered (like #3 and #5).

A hole in the roof is a material defect.
A furnace that is leaking carbon monoxide gas into the house is a material defect.
Is a closet door that sticks a material defect?
If the pump in the hot tub in the back yard isn’t working, is that a material defect?
Wallpaper is peeling in the kitchen. Is that a material defect? If the cause is a hole in the exterior wall that is allowing moisture to enter the wall it very well may be. If the wall paper is peeling because it wasn’t installed with the proper wall paper glue, it is not.
A kitchen floor tile is cracked. Is this a material defect? If the tile is cracked because someone dropped a hammer on it then no, it is not a material defect. If the tile is cracked because the floor and beam beneath it are falling, then it’s an indication of a material defect elsewhere. You have bigger problems.
A broken electrical outlet above the bathroom sink? Is this a material defect? Does this pose a safety issue for the occupants? Yes, it is a shock hazard.
How about a crack in the sidewalk or a railing that is missing on the front porch? Are either or both of these material defects? They may, or may not be. It depends on the details of the situations and herein hide the challenges for inspectors.

Your inspector shouldn’t be an alarmist. They can point out items that are not material defects in the interest of helping the buyer understand maintenance issues or things that might require maintenance in the near or distant future. They should stay focused on those items that NJAC requires; System and Component Descriptions and Material Defects.

Optional Services

An inspector may provide additional services, but please be aware that some services also require their own licensure or certification and some do not. As an example, NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJ-DEP) requires certification to set and collect devices for a radon tests.

As of this writing, New Jersey does not require regulated certification or licensing to collect samples for lead paint, allergens, mold or conduct indoor air quality tests. The inspector should be familiar with the sample collection procedures. For all of these the inspector is facilitating the test by collecting the sample(s) and sending it (them) to a licensed laboratory in the state or elsewhere (but licensed by the state) for analysis and reporting. Often times the inspector can help you understand the findings of the report.

Summary

The home inspection professional must be licensed and insured in NJ.
A contract must be tendered in a timely manner so the client (usually the buyer) and their lawyer have a chance to review the agreement.
Inspection is visual, non-destructive.
The inspection must produce a written report.
The report must include a description of the aforementioned Systems and Components.
The report must include an accounting of any Material Defects found, implications of those defects, if not self-evident, and recommendations (bring in an expert, etc.).

Conclusion

Understanding the intended scope of a home inspection is important and it is the responsibility of the home inspector to set those expectations such as the systems and components to be inspected as listed earlier and that this is neither a “to code” inspection nor an inspection for cosmetic blemishes.

I would appreciate your comments about this article. Please email your comments to frank07722@gmail.com or you can call on 908 902 2590.

Customer Comments: Regal Home Inspections

Posted by Frank J Delle Donne on April 21, 2014

Clients are now also leaving reviews at Google+. Please visit REVIEWS .

If you are a client, please review our services. Click Here and then follow the on-screen instructions.

The reviews here are typical of the results of a home inspection conducted by Frank and Brian of Regal Home Inspections, LLC. These quotes are taken from a popular online service review website.

“We strive to ensure that every client is as happy with our work.” Frank

Thank you for considering Regal Home Inspections, LLC. Sincerely, Frank & Brian

Chris B.

December 2022

I’ve purchased over 10 homes and the Regal team (Frank and Brian) were by far best, most thorough, organized, professional, and responsive inspection team that I have utilized. Every step of the process (proposal for job, scheduling, execution, report-out, etc.) was clear, timely, and well-done. They completed an extremely comprehensive review of the home and had a detailed report with findings and recommendations back to me with 24 hours. I strongly recommend the Regal team for any/all of your inspection needs.

Erin D.

November 2022

I had a wonderful experience working with Frank and Brian. Both were punctual, professional, and extremely thorough. As a first time home owner, I wanted to be selective who I chose to complete my home inspection and I loved that they were familiar with the area. Frank and Brian surpassed my expectations. The report was extremely detailed. Frank and Brian answered all of my questions and were extremely prompt to respond via email/phone. It is evident they take great pride in their work. I would highly recommend them to others!

Michael P.

August 2022

Frank and his son Brian were extremely professional, thorough and helpful home inspectors. They took the time to explain existing problems, as well as pointing out things that could become problems in the future. The inspection report was incredibly helpful in assessing the priorities that we needed to focus on when fixing up our new home. Our experience with them was top notch and I can’t recommend them highly enough!

Michael B.

December, 2021

Frank and his employees were prompt, professional, and extremely thorough. He personally walked me through pretty much every phase of the inspection and was extremely helpful and informative when I had questions / concerns. Would definitely recommend.

Lynn M.

December, 2021

Frank and his son were a pleasure to work with. They always responded quickly to emails, were on time for the inspection and were very detailed in the inspection. This is the 2nd time I’ve had Frank to do an inspection for us and he was wonderful both times! I give them 10 stars!

Brett D.

2021

Frank and his son Brain were very thorough and explained everything to us as they went through the home. They also supplied us was a very detailed report the next day. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a home inspector.

Mostaque H.

2021

We are very pleased with our experience with Regal Home Inspection (Frank). Not only was the inspection scheduled promptly, it was extremely thorough and we had the detailed report, with photos, in our in -box the same day. Frank came to us as a recommendation and we will be sure to pass his info along to others. Very positive experience all around!!!

Kyle T

2020

Had a home inspected by them. Frank and Brian did a great job, very detailed, thorough, and responsive.

Sam B.

Feb 2020

Frank and his team were amazing! They did an extremely thorough inspection and were very professional throughout. As a first time home buyer they provided me a great deal of comfort in the decision I was making. I highly recommend Regal Home Inspection, as I would not use anyone else!!

Older – To emphasize the long term commitment of Regal Home Inspections, LLC to the client.

4/2014 “Better than I could have ever imagined. Great communication and feedback. Frank made me feel complete at ease the entire time. Pleasure to work with.” C.J., Elizabeth, NJ

3/17/2014 “I was not able to be present at the time of inspection but he was very trust worthy and I am glad with my decision of going with him. He was very helpful in the process of buying my condo.” D.T.

Residential Electrical Problems. Part 2 – Branch Circuit Wiring

Posted by Frank J Delle Donne on December 17, 2013

The Electrical System in Your Home.

Common Problems Found by a Home Inspector.

Part 2 in a Multi Part Series.

Branch Circuit Wiring.

By Frank J. Delle Donne, Licensed Home Inspector

December 16, 2013

About the author. I am a NJ Licensed Home Inspector. I am the owner and Senior Inspector at Regal Home Inspections, LLC. I am a member of the New Jersey Association of Licensed Professional Home Inspectors (NJ-ALPHI) and the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors (NACHI). The standards used to inspect your home’s systems are in accordance with New Jersey State laws, the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) and NACHI Standards of Practice. Regal Home Inspections, LLC can also test your house for Indoor Air Quality; Mold and Allergens. Radon testing is coming soon. We can also facilitate testing of septic systems and oil tanks; tank integrity and soil tests below ground.

Never perform electrical work yourself unless you are a licensed electrician. Nothing in this article suggests that you should attempt to diagnose any electrical problems you may have or make any repairs yourself. Any attempt to make electrical repairs or upgrades can lead to your death. ALWAYS hire a licensed electrician to perform any electrical work. Electricity kills. Never perform electrical work yourself unless you are a licensed electrician.

If you’d like a visual inspection of your home’s electrical system because you think there might be problems with it, please call Regal Home Inspections, LLC and we can perform a limited, visual electrical inspection of your system in accordance with the ASHI & NACHI Standards of Practice. This is not a “to code” inspection. Our inspection DOES NOT guarantee conformance to local electrical codes.

Introduction

This article in the electrical series will cover the Branch Circuit Wiring. Branch Circuit Wiring includes the wiring FROM the circuit breaker box to your outlets, switches and appliances. What is the inspector looking for? What have I found that can become an issue with a Home Inspection Report? Occasionally a home has a Sub Panel which is a second or smaller circuit breaker panel. There are many reasons for their use but for this article, I will deal only with the wiring to outlets, switches and appliances.

General Description

Branch Circuit Wiring is the cabling in your home that distributes the electricity to outlets, switches for lights and other fixtures (e.g. a ceiling fan) and often times directly to an appliance like your furnace or Air Conditioner Compressor. As you may recall, electricity operates in a circuit and the electrons flow from the circuit breaker (or fuse) through the “hot” or “ungrounded” conductor to and through the appliance consuming the electricity and then it returns on (usually) the, “white” or “neutral” wire back to the circuit breaker panel. If that circuit is opened at any point the electrons stop flowing and the appliance will not work. The “open” can simply be a result of a switch being shut off, a light bulb filament breaking, a plug being pulled out of a socket (all normal occurrences thus far) or a connection coming loose. This last one is not normal but nonetheless still stops the flow of the electrons.

In your circuit breaker panel the hot wire is connected to a lug on a circuit breaker. This is usually the black wire and sometimes the red wire. The corresponding white wire is connected to a lug on the neutral bus bar. Please note that specialty circuits such as a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupts (covered in a later article) may be terminated differently. This description applies to 120V non GFCI.

Over the years different types of branch circuit cabling and conductors have been used in homes. Let’s focus this discussion on modern homes and let’s define a modern home built from 1965 to present. So with that in mind the two main types of conductors used are copper (predominant) and for a period of the mid 1960s to the early 1970s aluminum was used. Around this time a third, ground conductor was also commonplace as was the three-prong outlet that we are familiar with. The three prongs are hot, neutral and ground. Both types of conductors were insulated (early on the ground conductor was left bare) and then the conductors were wrapped in a jacket. Metal or Armor jacketing is common and often referred to as, “BX”. Non metal wrapped jackets are very common as well and commonly referred to as, “romex”.

The gauge or thickness of the individual conductors is very important because the type of metal and the thickness of the conductor (among a few other things) determines the electrical carrying capacity of the wires and therefore cables. This capacity is measured in Amps or Amperes and for typical branch circuit wiring varies from 14 gauge copper for a 15 amp circuit breaker to 12 gauge copper for a 20 amp circuit breaker. These are very typical for the vast majority of household circuits and appliances. However when we consider appliances like pools, hot tubs, air conditioning compressors, electric furnaces, electric clothes dryers and other large appliances, 12 and 14 gauge wire is inadequate. This too is a topic for another article. Suffice it to say that the smaller the gauge the larger the diameter of the conductor and these large appliances may require 10, 8, 6 or lower gauge and hence, thicker wire.

Observations

As an inspector I see some pretty awful wiring and would like to share a few examples. If you see things like this in your house it would be wise to call Regal Home Inspections for a thorough inspection and it would be prudent to call a licensed electrician afterward to correct the problems before you try to sell the house.

Here are some examples of poor residential electrical wiring.

Do you think this was installed by a Licensed Electrician? Photo 1 is under a deck. This is “romex” type cabling. Can’t verify that it’s designed and approved for outdoor use. Use of a rigid conduit is appropriate. Not only is this highlighted in an Inspection Report but it will also raise concern that the work was not done by a professional, with a legitimate permit in place and I can assure you that it wasn’t inspected.

Photo 1

An inspector should alert the client that this would have never been done by a qualified, licensed electrician. As a result this will be a clue that work has occurred in this house that may not be legitimate. By this I mean that there may be electrical work that was likely not done with a permit and inspection. Consequently there may be other aspects of the house, like plumbing, structural changes, etc. that may have been done by the homeowner. Not necessarily the person you are buying from but perhaps someone that they bought from and the last inspector didn’t find for whatever reason.

Poorly maintained outlets also seem to be very commonplace in homes that I have inspected. Photos 2, 3 and 4 are examples of outlets and a junction box that should be covered and secure. Some should be completely removed. If you look carefully you can see an outlet without its cover in Photo 2. The issues with Photo 3 include no cover to the junction box, no cover to the outlet, the receptacle isn’t grounded (as indicated by the green test probe) and it should be a GFCI outlet. GFCI outlets are required in unfinished basements. GFCI outlets have been required in unfinished basements since 1990. In Photo 4 is a junction box with wires hanging down. The uncovered junction box is located in an attic space.

Photo 2 Photo 3

Photo 4

I come across numerous light fixtures that aren’t mounted properly and have exposed wires. Here are a couple of examples in Photos 5 and 6. Please note that in Photo 5, a globe should cover the exposed bulb. Although this fixture was in a crawl space I have seen many fixtures like this in closets, stairwells and basements.

Photo 5

Photos 6

These are just a few examples of electrical issues I have found in homes. When inspecting a home I try to identify every electrical problem that I see. As soon as I have identified one, single electrical problem the standard template words include, “consult a licensed electrician” to help/correct/evaluate, etc. Most inspectors will stop there as soon as they find the first electrical problem. In an effort to help the client I try to identify as many issues as I can find in my report. In this manner the client can either have the issues properly priced and ask the seller to fix them or they can evaluate the cost and perhaps ask the seller for some price concession. If the seller isn’t willing or able to pay for obvious corrections, in the case of a bank owned short sale for example, at least the client has a thorough list of the issues and can share that with an electrician and get a more accurate estimate of the repairs. If I find 10 problems with the electrical system, for example, it’s probable that a licensed electrician will find a few more. My findings are not intended to be an exhaustive list nor a list of work items that is required to fulfill the requirements of an electrical work permit but it will give the client an idea of the extent of the work; Minor, extensive or major repairs necessary.

If you are planning to sell your home, give Regal Home Inspections a call and hire us to perform a pre-listing inspection. Here’s the logic. If you allow Regal Home Inspections to perform an inspection before you list you can take care of some of the things up front. You can use the inspection findings to make a list for the seller’s disclosure. More importantly, you can set the price with this knowledge. Think about it…if you ignore the issues now, then when it comes time to execute the contract, the buyer’s home inspector will find these problems. Then you are either negotiating away premium dollars to appease the buyer or you’re hiring an electrician (or a plumber, etc.) at the last minute to make corrections and that will cost you top dollar as well. Deal with the issues you can and disclose the other issues. That’s why at Regal Home Inspections we say, “Buy with confidence. Sell with Pride.”

I would appreciate your comments about this article. Please email your comments to frank07722@gmail.com.

Tag: Home Inspector