Bodges you’ve seen.
Discussion
Previous owner of our place is someone will know and always makes out he is “an engineer” and well qualified and knows what he is doing. (He actually a (very specialised and good) welder).
The bodges he has done on this place are extraordinary- any plumbing I see I literally rip out and redo neatly and properly.
I had replaced every socket and light switch in here bar one in the hall, which a few weeks ago the cleaner said was getting hot then cut out when she was hoovering.
I removed the faceplate. It was siliconed in. This is what I found....
Wires were not actually screwed in to the terminals, earth wires weren’t joined at all - just coiled up in the back box, not attached to faceplate or back box, no sheathing.
Bloke is an utter cowboy. “I’m an engineer, my arse!”
I have some belters of what was done to some joists - I’ll need to dig them out.
The bodges he has done on this place are extraordinary- any plumbing I see I literally rip out and redo neatly and properly.
I had replaced every socket and light switch in here bar one in the hall, which a few weeks ago the cleaner said was getting hot then cut out when she was hoovering.
I removed the faceplate. It was siliconed in. This is what I found....
Wires were not actually screwed in to the terminals, earth wires weren’t joined at all - just coiled up in the back box, not attached to faceplate or back box, no sheathing.
Bloke is an utter cowboy. “I’m an engineer, my arse!”
I have some belters of what was done to some joists - I’ll need to dig them out.
Nowhere near the standard of some on here, but this is what a specialist roofing contractor deemed to be acceptable for the reseating of a loose ridge tile we had recently.
The intake of breath followed by stunned silence from the company's manager when he opened my email and saw the photo was priceless
The intake of breath followed by stunned silence from the company's manager when he opened my email and saw the photo was priceless
There are some belters in here. Some are bloody scary, too!
I'm scared of heights,
I wear glasses.
I'd still do a better job of that with knocking knees and no specs on!
SS2. said:
Nowhere near the standard of some on here, but this is what a specialist roofing contractor deemed to be acceptable for the reseating of a loose ridge tile we had recently.
The intake of breath followed by stunned silence from the company's manager when he opened my email and saw the photo was priceless
I'm not a roofer.The intake of breath followed by stunned silence from the company's manager when he opened my email and saw the photo was priceless
I'm scared of heights,
I wear glasses.
I'd still do a better job of that with knocking knees and no specs on!
Dog Star said:
Previous owner of our place is someone will know and always makes out he is “an engineer” and well qualified and knows what he is doing. (He actually a (very specialised and good) welder).
The bodges he has done on this place are extraordinary- any plumbing I see I literally rip out and redo neatly and properly.
I had replaced every socket and light switch in here bar one in the hall, which a few weeks ago the cleaner said was getting hot then cut out when she was hoovering.
I removed the faceplate. It was siliconed in. This is what I found....
Wires were not actually screwed in to the terminals, earth wires weren’t joined at all - just coiled up in the back box, not attached to faceplate or back box, no sheathing.
Bloke is an utter cowboy. “I’m an engineer, my arse!”
I have some belters of what was done to some joists - I’ll need to dig them out.
I have seen houses where there are engineers, and they are the worst ! the think that they know wha they are doing and can get away with cutting corners as they are well aware of the risks... but trouble is as always its the person behind then that picks up the mess and has to sort it.... dropped a socket in a bedroom used as an office there were 6 1.5 mm twin and earths chock blocked off of a spur socket feeding sockets around the room with no earths... Oh i didnt need earths it was all IT kit double insulated and no earth wires in the plugs and I knew that i was doing it worked and was safe.... eh no it wasnt... and it didnt follow the 18th Edition BS 7671:2018 - Requirements for Electrical Installations, tosser. rewired it all as per requirements and sent him a bill...The bodges he has done on this place are extraordinary- any plumbing I see I literally rip out and redo neatly and properly.
I had replaced every socket and light switch in here bar one in the hall, which a few weeks ago the cleaner said was getting hot then cut out when she was hoovering.
I removed the faceplate. It was siliconed in. This is what I found....
Wires were not actually screwed in to the terminals, earth wires weren’t joined at all - just coiled up in the back box, not attached to faceplate or back box, no sheathing.
Bloke is an utter cowboy. “I’m an engineer, my arse!”
I have some belters of what was done to some joists - I’ll need to dig them out.
ruggedscotty said:
. Oh i didnt need earths it was all IT kit double insulated and no earth wires in the plugs and I knew that i was doing it worked and was safe.... eh no it wasnt... and it didnt follow the 18th Edition BS 7671:2018 - Requirements for Electrical Installations, tosser. rewired it all as per requirements and sent him a bill...
well there's a fantastic example of a little but not knowledge being a dangerous thing... IT equipment is mostly why requirements for high integrity earthing exists!You should have bought him a copy of the said 18th edition, have him put his hands palm down on a hard surface, and break his fingers with the spine.
On a lighter note a plumber installs an ip rated socket:
SS2. said:
Nowhere near the standard of some on here, but this is what a specialist roofing contractor deemed to be acceptable for the reseating of a loose ridge tile we had recently.
The intake of breath followed by stunned silence from the company's manager when he opened my email and saw the photo was priceless
To be fair that looks like rain damage shortly after it was done(surely, nobody is that rough?) I presume the manager got it put right.The intake of breath followed by stunned silence from the company's manager when he opened my email and saw the photo was priceless
Not bodges I've seen, but bodges I've done back when I was a student...
We moved a wardrobe down some stairs by sliding it - naturally it gained momentum and one of the feet or the corner went through the internal wall at the bottom of the staircase, into the boiler cupboard.
Obviously being students we bodged it - I used a Pritt Stick and glued the boiler instructions over the hole, we then painted over it.
I out up a punch bag in my room on a bracket that fell off of the wall and made a fair old mess. This time it was toothpaste, Stanley knife and a coat of paint to repair.
The worry is, I'm currently doing up a property to sell...
We moved a wardrobe down some stairs by sliding it - naturally it gained momentum and one of the feet or the corner went through the internal wall at the bottom of the staircase, into the boiler cupboard.
Obviously being students we bodged it - I used a Pritt Stick and glued the boiler instructions over the hole, we then painted over it.
I out up a punch bag in my room on a bracket that fell off of the wall and made a fair old mess. This time it was toothpaste, Stanley knife and a coat of paint to repair.
The worry is, I'm currently doing up a property to sell...
I was renting. Cheap tiny new build with awful everything. The rad fell off the wall one day after I'd simply put a shirt on it to dry. Water everywhere with inhibitor so I just got a molewrench and clamped it shut, shoved a chair up against it (it was furnished) and left it there til I moved out.
I do feel slightly guilty but I was in my 20s and stupid.
I do feel slightly guilty but I was in my 20s and stupid.
Just refurbed my neighbours bathroom. We took the tiles off the bath wall and there was another layer of tiles underneath which the bath was sealed to with silicone. When we removed the bath it took some of that layer of tiles off so we removed them to reveal another layer of tiles. When we removed them there was yet another layer of tiles underneath. After ordering another skip we removed the thankfully last layer of tiles. Their bathroom is now 50mm bigger now there is only one layer of tiles rather than four..
Not a terrible bodge but a recent one I've found.
My kitchen floor is tiled.
Half the tiles are laid directly on the non-T&G floorboards, so as they move the tiles have all come up.
The other half is laid on a concrete floor.
Well actually it's laid over some very old thin vinyl/lino tiles, which were originally glued down - but not so much now.
All the tiles are now scrap and the whole job has to be redone because a little bit of prep wasn't done.
And another one...
Previous owner added an en-suite (which involved building a stud wall on top of the carpet to avoid buying a set of carpet grippers!)
The (electric) shower is mounted on the party wall.
Despite the wiring being chased in before the tiles, I think he must've forgotten about the water.
Surface mounted pipework up the wall, flexible tap connector goes up into the ceiling, back down the other side, onto a bunch of surface mounted pipework, without a single support.
The other side of the shower cubicle is a stud wall so could've been easily run in there instead, without even doing any chasing.
My kitchen floor is tiled.
Half the tiles are laid directly on the non-T&G floorboards, so as they move the tiles have all come up.
The other half is laid on a concrete floor.
Well actually it's laid over some very old thin vinyl/lino tiles, which were originally glued down - but not so much now.
All the tiles are now scrap and the whole job has to be redone because a little bit of prep wasn't done.
And another one...
Previous owner added an en-suite (which involved building a stud wall on top of the carpet to avoid buying a set of carpet grippers!)
The (electric) shower is mounted on the party wall.
Despite the wiring being chased in before the tiles, I think he must've forgotten about the water.
Surface mounted pipework up the wall, flexible tap connector goes up into the ceiling, back down the other side, onto a bunch of surface mounted pipework, without a single support.
The other side of the shower cubicle is a stud wall so could've been easily run in there instead, without even doing any chasing.
B'stard Child said:
I have to re-do the en-suite over the Xmas holiday and it will reveal my bodge
Last time I did it in 2006 I ran out of tiles I allowed 10% but I had a lot of cuts and I was 3 short - went to the tile place to find they had been discontinued - no stock anywhere
The bathroom cabinet covered 4 tiles if I was clever with the location
Our house came with horrible built in wardrobes. Over a few months I removed them all and installed free standing ones. I had to re-instate all the skirting which had been cut short and the fitted wardrobe butted up against it. Behind one of the wardrobes is a gap where I ran out of skirting on a Sunday afternoon. Only been 14 years now, plenty of time to sort it out Last time I did it in 2006 I ran out of tiles I allowed 10% but I had a lot of cuts and I was 3 short - went to the tile place to find they had been discontinued - no stock anywhere
The bathroom cabinet covered 4 tiles if I was clever with the location
lemansky said:
Genuine laugh out loud, just brilliant.
Here's what was left in a friend's utility years ago when the windows/frames were replaced.
Presenting the ACMEdouble one and two-thirds socket. I believe it's still there, kept for comedy value.
Best bodge we've found here was after searching for the source of a water leak in the area of an en-suite for a room on the top floor.
We discovered that the drain pipe for the en-suite shower ran under the floor to the eaves space, directly through a neatly-bored hole in the soffit and straight into the rain gutter outside.
TBF there are a lot of houses still on combined drainage systems where there was a hopper half way down the rain water fall pipes where the bath discharged in to.Here's what was left in a friend's utility years ago when the windows/frames were replaced.
Presenting the ACME
Best bodge we've found here was after searching for the source of a water leak in the area of an en-suite for a room on the top floor.
We discovered that the drain pipe for the en-suite shower ran under the floor to the eaves space, directly through a neatly-bored hole in the soffit and straight into the rain gutter outside.
lrdisco said:
lemansky said:
Genuine laugh out loud, just brilliant.
Here's what was left in a friend's utility years ago when the windows/frames were replaced.
Presenting the ACMEdouble one and two-thirds socket. I believe it's still there, kept for comedy value.
Best bodge we've found here was after searching for the source of a water leak in the area of an en-suite for a room on the top floor.
We discovered that the drain pipe for the en-suite shower ran under the floor to the eaves space, directly through a neatly-bored hole in the soffit and straight into the rain gutter outside.
TBF there are a lot of houses still on combined drainage systems where there was a hopper half way down the rain water fall pipes where the bath discharged in to.Here's what was left in a friend's utility years ago when the windows/frames were replaced.
Presenting the ACME
Best bodge we've found here was after searching for the source of a water leak in the area of an en-suite for a room on the top floor.
We discovered that the drain pipe for the en-suite shower ran under the floor to the eaves space, directly through a neatly-bored hole in the soffit and straight into the rain gutter outside.
Darkslider said:
Yup, our house has rainwater discharging into the foul drain like this, only round the back though. We have to pay a bit extra to the water company as there's more water to take away and treat, annoyingly as it's only one downpipes worth but there's no other way we could get rid of it unfortunately.
I put a hopper in our gutter and drain the bathroom into that, we have a single drain exiting the property, so it makes no difference. One of our gutters actually drains into the soil pipe, with the gutter pipe effectively venting the drain. I don't know if that's a bodge or not, but it's less pipe on the side of the house and doesn't cause any problems.1950s house we moved into in the 90s. Square pin sockets etc.
Original 50s fuse box with live and neutral fuses and they had just swopped the round pin 15A Sockets with "square" pin, most had the live feed in the neutral connection! I rewired the house and the MEB guy that swopped the feed over to the new consumer unit said it had the best readings he had seen.
Current house, professional alarm install fitted for last owner. Alarm power taken from the FCU that feeds the heating but (1) neutral was connected to the downstream side of the DP FCU and live to the upstram so when you turn off the FCU all the heating system wiring was live ! ! ! (2) Earth was inculated with a bit of white alarm cable sleeving instead of the G/Y earth sleeving.
Current house, had a grant to get some security lights fitted (professionally) and an external sounder fitted in place of the original dummy box. Six months later I took the cover off the consumer unit and guess what - where he had taken the feed for the external lights the earth wire had white alarm cable sheathing (different company but may be the same sparky).
1970s house we owned in the 80s/90s, there was a step in the landing floor about 40mm out from the bathroom wall . . . wall was concrete blocks laid straight on the chipboard (********* builders ), wall parallel with and between joists. A plumber had at some time installed central heating and cut along the chipboard beside the wall and the chipboard had sagged throug lack of support.
Daughter's new house, chipboard with chunks they have taken out of the edge with the fork lift and they still fitted, holes filled with silicon sealant, newel caps glued on with . . . yes, you guessed correctly - silicon sealant. Basin drain in cloakroom boxed in with skirting glued to the floor with silicon sealant and pipe bracket in place but no screws fitted. . . . . I could go on. I was tempted to advise her to reject the house at the final inspection but she just wanted to move in (and we wanted her to move out). She won't have the builders back in the house after she left them with a key to do some work and came home to find sky on at a channel she had never watched.
Original 50s fuse box with live and neutral fuses and they had just swopped the round pin 15A Sockets with "square" pin, most had the live feed in the neutral connection! I rewired the house and the MEB guy that swopped the feed over to the new consumer unit said it had the best readings he had seen.
Current house, professional alarm install fitted for last owner. Alarm power taken from the FCU that feeds the heating but (1) neutral was connected to the downstream side of the DP FCU and live to the upstram so when you turn off the FCU all the heating system wiring was live ! ! ! (2) Earth was inculated with a bit of white alarm cable sleeving instead of the G/Y earth sleeving.
Current house, had a grant to get some security lights fitted (professionally) and an external sounder fitted in place of the original dummy box. Six months later I took the cover off the consumer unit and guess what - where he had taken the feed for the external lights the earth wire had white alarm cable sheathing (different company but may be the same sparky).
1970s house we owned in the 80s/90s, there was a step in the landing floor about 40mm out from the bathroom wall . . . wall was concrete blocks laid straight on the chipboard (********* builders ), wall parallel with and between joists. A plumber had at some time installed central heating and cut along the chipboard beside the wall and the chipboard had sagged throug lack of support.
Daughter's new house, chipboard with chunks they have taken out of the edge with the fork lift and they still fitted, holes filled with silicon sealant, newel caps glued on with . . . yes, you guessed correctly - silicon sealant. Basin drain in cloakroom boxed in with skirting glued to the floor with silicon sealant and pipe bracket in place but no screws fitted. . . . . I could go on. I was tempted to advise her to reject the house at the final inspection but she just wanted to move in (and we wanted her to move out). She won't have the builders back in the house after she left them with a key to do some work and came home to find sky on at a channel she had never watched.
In a similar vein to the layers of bathroom tiles...
I have redone outside our place with all lovely York stone flagging. Most of it from around the house when we moved in, ours and next doors cellars - all cleaned up etc and relays on a new base and one level all round.
We removed the stone flags from the courtyard outside the kitchen, fine and dandy. Underneath was a layer of asphalt. Dig up the asphalt and under that was another layer of flags which was a bit of a bonus (these are inches thick jobs, worth a fortune).
But who the hell tarmacs over beautiful stone flags? Beggars belief!
I have redone outside our place with all lovely York stone flagging. Most of it from around the house when we moved in, ours and next doors cellars - all cleaned up etc and relays on a new base and one level all round.
We removed the stone flags from the courtyard outside the kitchen, fine and dandy. Underneath was a layer of asphalt. Dig up the asphalt and under that was another layer of flags which was a bit of a bonus (these are inches thick jobs, worth a fortune).
But who the hell tarmacs over beautiful stone flags? Beggars belief!
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