mgbinspect Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 Two Firsts in one day on one foreclosure property: Every now and then we run across stuff that's just unbelievable. To this day, my all time favorite is pulling up to a home with a spacious master bedroom over a 24 x 24 two car garage. Across the center of the garage ceiling was a hefty glue-lam girder, that the home owner had chained sawed away about 2/3 of, to accommodate the motor for his garage door opener. Needless to say, the master bedroom floor had a WICKED sag in it and I was not comfortable hanging out in that room. (It's a wonder he didn't throw a water bed in there.) Today's foreclosure property had a couple of gems, like that: The first beauty is the home owner's solution to a window AC unit that didn't fit. The picture say it all: Click to Enlarge 58.39 KB The second shocker (no pun intended, but I'll take it) - the property had power, with no meter. Someone had true grit to make that happen. I'm not afraid of electricity, but you couldn't have paid me enough to set that scenario up. It's down right scary. Click to Enlarge 55.4 KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Jones Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 Ahhh those are both immediate classic's. They must have been enjoying the steam room effect of the condensation running down from the window a/c unit onto the baseboard heater. Did they tap into a neighbor or just "hot wire" the lateral? Did you keep yourself from snickering? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgbinspect Posted January 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 Ahhh those are both immediate classics. They must have been enjoying the steam room effect of the condensation running down from the window a/c unit onto the baseboard heater. Did they tap into a neighbor or just "hot wire" the lateral? Did you keep yourself from snickering? I peered into the meter box through the plastic cover and the main lines were spliced together and taped with electrical tape. I suppose there's an outside chance the power company did it, but I seriously doubt it. I just can't imagine how one safely does that. I guess, if all the breakers are off, there's no demand, so sparks don't fly, but I don't know for sure. I was stupified... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Jones Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 I couldn't imagine the electric company doing it. They would install a meter for reading the usage right? Either way, that is nut's. I could be wrong(strong possibility), but I would think that the power would have had to been shut down from the street side to attempt this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Raymond Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 That's some mighty fine workmanship. They will be very lucky if no one is there when it burns to the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terence McCann Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 It looks like the tamper-proof lock thnigy is still intact on the bottom of the meter box. Was it Mike? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark P Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 That is baffeling. I might give a call to the power company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgbinspect Posted January 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 It looks like the tamper-proof lock thnigy is still intact on the bottom of the meter box. Was it Mike? Yes, it was, but you might notice that the true lock on the left hand side of the meter box is not complete. The part that attaches to the cover appears to be missing. I have no idea what to make of it, but it's the bank's right now. Who knows what has gone down. It's the freakiest thing I've ever seen, and thinking about hooking it up give me the willies. I have a friend that services high tension lines - where they actually make the truck and bucket "hot". As I stated, I'm guessing if all the breakers are off, there's no demand - so no sparks. But, if you hit the box, look out! I'd be curious to know. I once cut into one of the incoming lines while backing out a course thread panel cover screw. (Of course, I didn't know it was course threaded yet, since I was backing it out.) That was enough fireworks to last me a lifetime. It spot-welded the screw to the panel cover. Left a nice little piece of melted and missing cover steel and threw the main breaker. Sparks FLEW out of the box from everywhere possible. it all happened so fast, I didn't even have time to be scared. To make matters worse - the seller (an elderly lady) was in the next room and immediately went on the offensive. It was fun! She calmed down when I explained what had happened. Since then, I ALWAYS write up pointed and course thread screws used as fasteners for a panel cover - BAD IDEA... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejager Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 The grow-op guys here regularly steal power. They like new homes with underground service, and since we have full basements here, they punch a hole through the concrete, splice into the service conductors underground, ahead of the meter,and only pay the power bill for the 'regular' power usage. If I ever have the chance to see how that is done I will pass on the info! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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