Home Improvement Thread 2: Electric Redo the Loo

Dtknuckles said:
I did flip all the switches, I could double check. It seems weird that I would just be 3 outlets on a breaker. Aren't they usually entire room?
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No. actually we have outlets across several rooms that are split between breakers. I learned that the hard way when switching out outlets and 4 of the 5 were dead and I stupidly assumed the 5th was too without checking. All 5 were in the same room but they were on two different breakers.
 
Dtknuckles said:
I did flip all the switches, I could double check. It seems weird that I would just be 3 outlets on a breaker. Aren't they usually entire room?
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Yeah it would be weird to only be 3 outlets but sometimes electricians do strange things. The GFCI is a good call though...
 
Another thing occurred to me that we have breakers that only half-trip (if that's the word for it). Think of the GFCI being at the breaker rather than the outlet. You have to fully turn the breaker off then back on because it looks like it's still on but might be slightly off...
 
Dtknuckles said:
Ahh I see. No my just got the normal looking outlets. No reset buttons. I'll check the breaker box this afternoon when I get home.
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So if an outlet in your kitchen or bathroom is GCFI and those outlets run on the same circuit, it would knock those out if it were tripped. I have a mother outlet in my master bath which knocks out the master bedroom, the hallway and the guest bathroom.
 
Lee Newman said:
So if an outlet in your kitchen or bathroom is GCFI and those outlets run on the same circuit, it would knock those out if it were tripped. I have a mother outlet in my master bath which knocks out the master bedroom, the hallway and the guest bathroom.
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I had hopes that this was it, but nah. I have a feeling that it was tripped because of the abatement machines.

Is there a way to test the outlets?
 
Dtknuckles said:
I had hopes that this was it, but nah. I have a feeling that it was tripped because of the abatement machines.

Is there a way to test the outlets?
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If you are sure which breaker it is, you could cut the power, take off the face plate of the outlets and check to see if they are correctly wired. If your not sure which breaker it is, you’ll need a wire tester and honestly, given the way this discussion has gone, I would recommend getting an electrician at that point.
 
Lee Newman said:
If you are sure which breaker it is, you could cut the power, take off the face plate of the outlets and check to see if they are correctly wired. If your not sure which breaker it is, you’ll need a wire tester and honestly, given the way this discussion has gone, I would recommend getting an electrician at that point.
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I was afraid I was going to have to cut into the wall. I guess I have to call the claims guy. This shit never ends.
 
Dtknuckles said:
I was afraid I was going to have to cut into the wall. I guess I have to call the claims guy. This shit never ends.
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I'm still confused why you think you need to cut into the wall? The receptacles (outlets) should be interchangeable with new outlets (assuming they are the problem). The wiring shouldn't be the problem either unless you have reason to suspect that someone cut it or it's improperly installed. Outlets are cheap and easy to replace and all you need to check that the wires are dead is a cheap volt meter. Shit you can even do it while the power is still on if you have steady hands and don't touch two wires at the same time.

Did you check the breaker box and flip things off and then back on? If that's not it, it could just be the fuse/breaker is blown and needs replaced at the box. That's a pretty quick fix as well, but I would defer to the electrician to do that.
 
folsom_lives said:
I'm still confused why you think you need to cut into the wall? The receptacles (outlets) should be interchangeable with new outlets (assuming they are the problem). The wiring shouldn't be the problem either unless you have reason to suspect that someone cut it or it's improperly installed. Outlets are cheap and easy to replace and all you need to check that the wires are dead is a cheap volt meter. Shit you can even do it while the power is still on if you have steady hands and don't touch two wires at the same time.

Did you check the breaker box and flip things off and then back on? If that's not it, it could just be the fuse/breaker is blown and needs replaced at the box. That's a pretty quick fix as well, but I would defer to the electrician to do that.
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Maybe because I know nothing about theses things. I just assumed that because it's multiple outlets and I did flip the breakers that it was a cut wire. I'll check the breaker again this weekend and maybe get an outlet tester this weekend.
 
Dtknuckles said:
Maybe because I know nothing about theses things. I just assumed that because it's multiple outlets and I did flip the breakers that it was a cut wire. I'll check the breaker again this weekend and maybe get an outlet tester this weekend.
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I don't mean to keep dragging this on, but did the abetment people plug things in to these outlets? Large fans, lots of power tools, shop vacs? Trying to think of things that would cause a circuit breaker to completely fail. Were they cutting things out of walls?
 
folsom_lives said:
I don't mean to keep dragging this on, but did the abetment people plug things in to these outlets? Large fans, lots of power tools, shop vacs? Trying to think of things that would cause a circuit breaker to completely fail. Were they cutting things out of walls?
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They did not cut into that wall specifically. Between the moisture mitigation and abatement people a lot of things were plugged into the wall down there.
 
Dtknuckles said:
Not really. He came one day, but my wife organized it so he would come monthly. She hasn't hear from him since then. Honestly , I did want him to come because I'm in the process of redoing everything to low maintenance California native plants. Most mow and blow gardeners would ruin that. I go to my first gardening class this weekend and then I will enroll in a three day garden design class at the end of the month. Fall is planting time in Southern California. I recently solarized a portion of the front lawn in prep for an expanded bed. Expect pictures in the fall.
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I want to do either native plants or edible garden with mine. I'm in Louisiana, so everything grows here.

My husband saw that lawn dinosaur statues exist and now he wants to plant a bunch of jungle looking plants (again, I live in a subtropic zone so these types of plants do well here), so we can have a huge dino diorama on our lawn. Boring lawns are no fun.
 
nolalady said:
I want to do either native plants or edible garden with mine. I'm in Louisiana, so everything grows here.

My husband saw that lawn dinosaur statues exist and now he wants to plant a bunch of jungle looking plants (again, I live in a subtropic zone so these types of plants do well here), so we can have a huge dino diorama on our lawn. Boring lawns are no fun.
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Yea that sounds fun. A whole land of the lost thing.

My gardening class starts this Sat. Had to make a scales drawing of my front yard and all.

My wife wants to keep some lawn in the front so I will have to find a native grass, but that is a job for next year. Right not I'm concentrating on a big bed that I dug out over the summer and a slope to the left side of my house.
 
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