DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD

Bad Builders…Maybe?

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Actually, in this case we don’t know who, why, or when this job was done. From the winner of last weeks award [See Award Here] comes this weeks award. Last week we showed you some unsafe outside wiring that ran from a non-RCD’d wire fuse box to a shed, some outdoor security lighting (with no fused spurs), an old step down low voltage light transformer and finally a feed to an old pond that no longer worked. We were also asked to change a coach lantern that had not worked since the home owner moved in.

So we isolated the electrics and systematically removed the old cabling, the security lights and the old ‘garden hose’ trunking which has filled up with water! Once all was cleaned up we added a new outside IP66 RCD protected socket for the safe use of outside garden equipment.  Then we moved onto the outside coach lantern.

What we found was the following:

The home owner had mentioned that they could never find the light switch that operated this light and that changing the bulb made no difference. The reason it never worked was that the light had never been wired up! Amusing? Not really. It’s why we always recommend a Home Inspection Report to check out whether all of the mechanicals are safe,  working and in cases like this, are actually hooked up!

If, like this fitting, it was never hooked up you would have been able to negotiate a better purchase price. The negotiated price must equal or outweigh the problem that requires putting right. In the case of this light fixture it was not an easy fix and the owner decided not to hook up a light. There is a wet room on the other side of the wall so we could not run a new cable straight through the wall. We would have had to add outside trunking and run up to the loft space and run an extension back to the house lighting circuit. Not as easy or as inexpensive as adding just the new lamp as originally planned.

If you don’t check the mechanical issues before you purchase a property you have to pay to get it repaired. The choice is yours.

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