Unusual problem with BT wires

[Muncher]

My parents have got a problem with the BT wires which are running to the front of out house, they are pulling the brick they are attached to out of the front wall of the house :o

The wires for both our house and next doors house join to a single mounting point on the boundary of both houses. They are pinned securely to the wall, however the brick appears to have been slightly pulled out from the wall and the cement is broken around it.


The problem is both neighbouring houses are on ntl lines now so the line is no longer required. Where do we stand with this now? I suspect BT will charge us for removing the cable, but it is unclear on whose property it is attached to...

It's also a health and safety issue because the brick it is attached to is immediately above both front doors :o

[Plotloss]

Leave the cable there but detach it from that one brick.

[Muncher]

Plotloss said:

Leave the cable there but detach it from that one brick.

The weight of it will then rip all of the cable clips out of the wall then and hang across out driveway.

[grass widow]

When we had our extension built, we had to get BT to come and move the wires for our house and the two further along. As the wires were on the corner of the house, and the extension was going to cover them.

BT came and moved them for free. I don't think they charge because in effect they are using your property instead of a pole.

You may also be able to claim for the brick being put right.

[john_p]

I would have thought BT would do any repair works for free - otherwise they'd have to get the cable to your neighbour's house by some other route (eg. a pole, as posted above) - wayleaves or something - you might even get some money off them if you're not a BT customer yourself!

I reckon you should ring them and ask

[d-man]

Where do the wires go when they come off the front of the house? My parents had a similar problem as the phone line was caught up in the overgrown branches of a neighbours tree, wind blows the branches around pulling on the wire. Luckily the offending bit of tree was hanging out over the road, so we cut it off and gave it back to them (they'd failed to prune the tree themselves despite being asked several times as it was pulling the phone line down...).

[GreenV8S]

Plotloss said:

Leave the cable there but detach it from that one brick.

As I understand it the brick is supporting one end of the cable which is slung across the garden, so detaching it would probably not work. Do your parents need to keep that cable at all? If so, perhaps they could reinforce the masonry by putting a strap over the loose brick so the tension from the wire is taken on the adjacent bricks as well? That would also ensure that the brick couldn't completely pull out if it continues to get looser. I'm a bit surprised that the wire is applying enough tension to loosen the brick and this may just be one symptom of the wall generally being in a bad state though, in which case you've got far bigger problems to worry about.

[Parrot of doom]

When I moved into my house the old BT line was still attached to the wall. BT wanted money to remove it, so I climbed up a ladder, cut the wire off, let it fall onto the telegraph pole, snipped it above head height, and its still there today, flapping around in the breeze.

When the next BT engineer comes along, he'll just remove it from the head of the pole.