I'm not wired right .....
Thursday October 4th, 5am:
I step off the bottom stair, walk down the hall and flip on the light switch for the kitchen.
*CLICK*
Darkness.
Hmm ....
I walked across the kitchen and tried the other light.
*CLICK*
Darkness.
What the ??????
My appliances are still working (bonus), but I have no lights.
Ok ....
Head to the basement to check the breaker box.
Breaker is flipped ... so I flipped it back.
*SNAP*
It flipped off again.
Flip the breaker again.
*SNAP*
Flipped off .... again.
Um .... ok, something else is happening that keeps flipping the breaker off.
Best to leave it alone till I can get a proper look at it.
Flash forward to the following Tuesday.
I'm back from a lovely Canadian Thanksgiving and I still have no lights.
Jack decides that he'll take a look for me.
He checks all the lights and outlets in the kitchen and dining room.
All good.
Gets into the library.
2 out of the 3 outlets are good .... the 3rd is dead.
He traces it all down to the basement, follows the 40+ year old wiring and finds the source of my
problem.
The original wiring to the library was run in the same hole as a hot water pipe.
Over the process of 40+ years, the protective plastic coating melted away.
The electrical line shorted out and is now the reason why the breaker keeps flipping.
How my house didn't start on fire I have no idea.
I'm just so very thankful it didn't.
And no one was injured.
I have to keep reminding myself of these things as I now call an electrician and get the wiring fixed proper.
Is it weird that I'm still terrified that the house is going to burn down?????
I step off the bottom stair, walk down the hall and flip on the light switch for the kitchen.
*CLICK*
Darkness.
Hmm ....
I walked across the kitchen and tried the other light.
*CLICK*
Darkness.
What the ??????
My appliances are still working (bonus), but I have no lights.
Ok ....
Head to the basement to check the breaker box.
Breaker is flipped ... so I flipped it back.
*SNAP*
It flipped off again.
Flip the breaker again.
*SNAP*
Flipped off .... again.
Um .... ok, something else is happening that keeps flipping the breaker off.
Best to leave it alone till I can get a proper look at it.
Flash forward to the following Tuesday.
I'm back from a lovely Canadian Thanksgiving and I still have no lights.
Jack decides that he'll take a look for me.
He checks all the lights and outlets in the kitchen and dining room.
All good.
Gets into the library.
2 out of the 3 outlets are good .... the 3rd is dead.
He traces it all down to the basement, follows the 40+ year old wiring and finds the source of my
problem.
The original wiring to the library was run in the same hole as a hot water pipe.
Over the process of 40+ years, the protective plastic coating melted away.
The electrical line shorted out and is now the reason why the breaker keeps flipping.
How my house didn't start on fire I have no idea.
I'm just so very thankful it didn't.
And no one was injured.
I have to keep reminding myself of these things as I now call an electrician and get the wiring fixed proper.
Is it weird that I'm still terrified that the house is going to burn down?????
Labels: I have nothing particularly witty or clever to say, Irrational fear, It is what it is
forged in the pits of hell by BlazngScarlet @ 10/14/2012 05:32:00 PM
3 Comments
3 Comments:
not weird at all - *I* would be a bloody basket case....
good luck with the electrician thingy... we need one for the new house too - i am hoping it isn't as serious as your problem :(
hugs
i will attempt many home repairs, but electrical scares the crap out of me! this is why we have circuit breakers, though, and professional electricians who can deal with it!
and very cool that Jack ran down the problem!
I lick open wires.
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