Bad practices in 1970s House Bashing.

[Pete999]

Worked fo a Large West Country Building and Civil Engineering Firm for a while.
The Guy who was the electrical Manager was a tight fisted so and so, he would not supply us qith cable clips, we had to use cable off cuts and plaster board nail to make our own, they won't be seen so whats the problem was his answer.
Fitting Ceiling Roses and Batten Holders, he had another trick, he supplied us with 1 1/2 no6 screws for this task, the only stipulation was use 1 and push a plaster board nail on the other side, so each ceiling fitting had 1 screw and 1 nail as fixings, why did you put up with that? you may well ask. Whilst I don't condone this type of thing, when you had a new Wife and Baby as well as a Mortgage you did as you were told, I lasted about 9 months, anyone else got any horrors, or are the frightened to say? there is no statute of limitation mind you.

 

[telectrix]

it'seven worse him following me round on my prestige repair jobs, nit picking..

 

[Deleted member 109422]

I watched my first awful boss attach a large storage heater to a stud-work wall with plasterboard fittings....those wind in screw things...

 

[littlespark]

We still used a wind-up megger in the 90's but not as the certified tester. Also a modified doorbell with croc-clips. One-person continuity tester. When you heard the bell ring from the other end of the job, you knew you had a circuit.
And the voltage tester was a 20w lamp in a lampholder with singles coming out of it. Bright light was 240v back then... Dim light was 110v. We even had a 3 phase tester; 2 lamps in series across any 2 phases

The wind up tester was the right of passage for any new apprentice... along with the dead arms/legs sitting in the middle of a 3 seat transit van.

Holding the bare ends of the wire as someone else slowly turned the handle. Tingly finger time. Then slowly speeding up to the point where you just couldn't feel the wire so it slipped from your grip.

I think I was up to tingly elbows before it dropped out.

 

[littlespark]

I watched my first awful boss attach a large storage heater to a stud-work wall with plasterboard fittings....those wind in screw things...

Ive seen the same thing, until they started using the umbrella fixings. but the type of people in the houses where the heaters were going were rough enough to pull those off the wall too.

 

[KEV 1 N]

My parents house (built 1972) and my house (built 1965) both houses ex council, The sockets were wired as a “spider” so a 6mm T&E (or imperial equivalent) would leave the DB to a central joint box under the floor and from there a 2.5 radial to each socket.
I’ve never came across this method else where for sockets (except a similar method for lighting)

Was this a common practice in those days or were the sparks just being rough?

 

[Pete999]

My parents house (built 1972) and my house (built 1965) both houses ex council, The sockets were wired as a “spider” so a 6mm T&E (or imperial equivalent) would leave the DB to a central joint box under the floor and from there a 2.5 radial to each socket.
I’ve never came across this method else where for sockets (except a similar method for lighting)

Was this a common practice in those days or were the sparks just being rough?

Seen on a lot of new builds as well

 

[Adam W]

My parents house (built 1972) and my house (built 1965) both houses ex council, The sockets were wired as a “spider” so a 6mm T&E (or imperial equivalent) would leave the DB to a central joint box under the floor and from there a 2.5 radial to each socket.
I’ve never came across this method else where for sockets (except a similar method for lighting)

Was this a common practice in those days or were the sparks just being rough?

I've seen it a few times on old lighting circuits, along with wire nuts, twisting the CPCs together and any number of other unnecessarily dubious practices which used to be the norm back in the day.

 

[Squid]

Worked fo a Large West Country Building and Civil Engineering Firm for a while.
The Guy who was the electrical Manager was a tight fisted so and so, he would not supply us qith cable clips, we had to use cable off cuts and plaster board nail to make our own, they won't be seen so whats the problem was his answer.
Fitting Ceiling Roses and Batten Holders, he had another trick, he supplied us with 1 1/2 no6 screws for this task, the only stipulation was use 1 and push a plaster board nail on the other side, so each ceiling fitting had 1 screw and 1 nail as fixings, why did you put up with that? you may well ask. Whilst I don't condone this type of thing, when you had a new Wife and Baby as well as a Mortgage you did as you were told, I lasted about 9 months, anyone else got any horrors, or are the frightened to say? there is no statute of limitation mind you.

Never bodge a job, I had two kids by the age of 25 and a mortgage on a house in London and never sold my soul.

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

I dont think the state of some new builds is much better @Pete999 .. When you go in and add a few new down lights or some additions it is always a case of wondering what you will find in the voids and ceilings. I saw some wiring recently that was held to a joist with grab adhesive! they must have run out of clips so decided to put dollops of the stuff on the joist and push the cables into it and smooth over! admittedly it held them firm, but not exactly good workmanship is it.
Have also seen cupious amounts of silicone sealant used in a loft where the roofing had been damaged, they must have thought it was quicker to just cover the hole and leak than repair!
You will know what i mean @Pete999 when i say the best built houses in Bath are the ex-authority ones, the clerk of works for the council as it was then were known for being like a sgt major and wouldnt let things slide or pass if it wasnt up to standard. compared to a lot of other stuff in the area these ex-authority homes are built solid and have stood the test of time better than new builds ever will where its a race to the bottom on price and quality to maximise profit and the directors bonus.

 

[Pete999]

I dont think the state of some new builds is much better @Pete999 .. When you go in and add a few new down lights or some additions it is always a case of wondering what you will find in the voids and ceilings. I saw some wiring recently that was held to a joist with grab adhesive! they must have run out of clips so decided to put dollops of the stuff on the joist and push the cables into it and smooth over! admittedly it held them firm, but not exactly good workmanship is it.
Have also seen cupious amounts of silicone sealant used in a loft where the roofing had been damaged, they must have thought it was quicker to just cover the hole and leak than repair!
You will know what i mean @Pete999 when i say the best built houses in Bath are the ex-authority ones, the clerk of works for the council as it was then were known for being like a sgt major and wouldnt let things slide or pass if it wasnt up to standard. compared to a lot of other stuff in the area these ex-authority homes are built solid and have stood the test of time better than new builds ever will where its a race to the bottom on price and quality to maximise profit and the directors bonus.

Agree

 

[Pete999]

Seen on a lot of new builds as well

Had a look with a Mate of mine at some Flats etc wired by the SWEB, believeit or not the wiring came in a box CU already made up as were the large JBs just ha to look at the plans, and follow the instructions, think it was a trail install brought in from Europe, I wan't working at the site just went for a looksee, interesting, but with no experience of the system, I can't comment that much. What was interesting was any spare cable was tucked up out of the way.

 

[Adam W]

I agree with Pete.

 

[Adam W]

I agree with Pete.

Agreed

 

[Adam W]

I agree with Pete.

I disagree but I thought I should chime in anyway in order to boost my post count.