If you dont know what your doing ask someone who does!

[fishin ike]

I have some time off work,thought I would do A small projcet to kill time(bathroom remodel).here's what I have run into 1 -ceiling fan,shut off power to bathroom,killed bar light,2 outlets in grt. rm.& office light.I have now gone through entire basement and still cannot figure whats what. 2 no shut off valves for shower.3 some plates on floor,some 2x4 screwed to floor,all not treated.4 shower balanced on a 2x6.5 old fan hung by coat hangers.After all of that i kept my cool,what killed me is i started hanging the lid,noticed wet insulation,there was no flashing between deck & house.now that i have vented im going back to work.I would like to hear other nightmare remolding stories,so post away.P.S I should have just hit the ice!

[hunter101]

arent old homes fun???)

[Neighbor_guy]

....I would like to hear other nightmare remolding stories,so post away....

I once owned a home that was a converted church/school. I found, when doing some remodeling, that the "new walls" were constructed INSIDE the exsisting walls. giving me some interior walls that were 8.5" thick. I had outside walls that were over 13" thick.

It was nuts.

The plumbing, electrical and HVAC were even worse.....

[icechipper]

Just got done with my basement remodel, house is 30 years old. Bedroom closet was framed up with 2" 18ga finishing nails, electrical makes no sense, kind of like your situation, turn off a breaker for this room and misc outlets and lights go out through out the house. Water, electrical, and gas all come in to the house in seperate places and not in the big utility room. House is a split level, so half high walls in basement, no green treated on the bottom of the wall, boards were rotten and wet all insulation had mildew / mold smell, replaced all and sealed the block walls and added vapor barrier.

[hunter101]

most older homes were wired so electrical circuts coverd more then one room. Thers is a good reason for that but i cant remember what it is at this moment. not sure about new construction tho.

[Farmboy1]

most older homes were wired so electrical circuts coverd more then one room. Thers is a good reason for that but i cant remember what it is at this moment. not sure about new construction tho.

Most old homes had a 60 amp service to them. A couple 15 amp fuses took care of all the power you would need.

I bought a place on the river that I knew was hosed, and needed to be gutted.

1. Interior walls of house were an old trailer house they had burried inside. I removed them all.

2. During demo, I found 5 different subpanels stuck behind walls and in crawl spaces. Seemed like a fire waiting to happen, and what do you do if a fuse blows, crawl through a crawl space?

3. Spiral staircase with no way to get anything larger then a small person upstairs. This has gone away now.

4. Fireplace without a flue inside of it and not thick enough. I was surprised the house did not burn down.

5. Roof on one side had a slop towards the building. When it rained, water sat on the roof until it could find a way in the building.

6. House if on a bluff, and the main roof had a slope that goes towards the bluff so the water runs off, and has no where to go but back at the foundation.

7. Attic space had a host of creatures. I removed bats, snakes, squirrels, and one angry oppossum (he wasn't angry, he played dead, but I was not smiling)

There is a bunch more, but that is what I remember from the top of my head. This is the 3rd time I have bought a place and gutted it, so I have more just don't want to bring up bad memories.

[crothmeier]

Dang, i thought i had it bad when i replaced all of my outlets and there was one that no circuit breaker (that made sense) woudl turn off. . . so i went through all 24 breakers one at a time, turns out it had its own breaker, and it was in a room with 5 other outlets and 2 lights.

All of my circuits were labeled but 4. . . i still dont know what the other 3 control!!

[nofishfisherman]

My story isn't all that bad but it was pretty funny to me.

When I bought my house I knew i wanted to gut and remodel the bathroom. First things first I went and shut off the power to the bathroom. The box was in the basement and when I opened it up to look for the switch that controls the bathroom I found that all the labels must have been written by a comedian.

They were all labeled based on who slept in that room.

Johnny's Room

Susies Room

Our Room

This Room

Etc...

And then there were a bunch that weren't labeled so I just had to play around with them. I just thought it was funny how someone labeled them without the thought that maybe someone else that doesn't know where Susie slept might own the house.

The bathroom remodel was a piece of cake, it was previously done by a professional so it was all done properly. Since it was my first bathroom remodel it was nice to see. When in doubt I just put the new stuff in exactly the way the old stuff was.

[uppdacreek]

I'm not trying to kill this thread but........

Brent what are you doing over here?????LOL

See ya in April dude!!!!!!! I'll have few cold ones for you guys when you ge there!

Ok back to the point..............................

[Farmboy1]

Brent what are you doing over here?????LOL

Ok back to the point..............................

It was a place on the river that I could afford. I guess there was a reason for that????

When she is done, it will be the catfish destination of the upper Mississippi!

[Northland Sportsman]

I found wiring spliced together using band aides in my attic, no box either, just laying in the insulation that way. I have found many other issues but that was the first one that comes to mind and I am surprised it never caused a problem.