Been doing a rewire.......

[Loki]

Hi,

Been doing a full rewire on a social housing 2 bedroom house.
Lifted the floorboards to find that the house has been rewired in the past.
The sockets were really low maybe 75mm off the floor, also the original cables to the sockets had be cut with about 3 foot left connected to the old rewire via terminal connectors wrapped in tape & far to much outer sheath stripped back.
Not a quality job done lol.

Now new cables are in, sockets & switches at the usual 450mm / 1200mm heights.
New crabtree CU, 2 afdd & rcbo's, revive 7 fans in kitchen & bathroom, 2nd fixing still to do.

Give it 6 - 12 months & tenant will probably have trashed the place lol

 

[Zerax]

My old Mum (God bless her) used to get really annoyed that she had to scrimp and save for years to be able to afford, say a new kitchen, when council tenants would get it all for free !

Originally, if you were given council housing you considered yourself lucky to have it. These days everyone is 'entitled' to it !

 

[Dave OCD]

The thing is I've worked in many rented homes that are spotless and occupied by really nice decent people as well as the stereotypical type popular on this thread. I've also worked in the homes of well off 'professionals' [Including senior doctors for example] which are utterly filthy. I never discriminate against people who don't own a home,that's just utter snobbery,and to say they get everything provided for free is generally nonsense, they do pay rent.
And apart from the lucky ones who get a good inheritance I suspect fewer and fewer people will be able to afford their own homes as time goes by, many who can easily afford the mortgage payments [often less than rent] just can't get the ridiculous deposit together that's required now.

 

[SparkyAndGeorge]

Did social housing for a little bit once. Never again... used heroin needles lying around, dog excrement on the carpets and to top it off a colleague was threatened with a knife by a drug crazed tenant. No thanks.

 

[James]

Did social housing for a little bit once. Never again... used heroin needles lying around, dog excrement on the carpets and to top it off a colleague was threatened with a knife by a drug crazed tenant. No thanks.

I've been to private rentals that are worse.
we all know the score, can tell if you want to accept the cup of tea if its offered within 30 seconds of walking in the door.

 

[Welchyboy1]

What is it with doctors houses being filthy?, ive had this more than a few times now

I realise they are super busy but surely they can get a cleaner in

Worrying really!

I do maintenence for a LOT of property management blocks and most have been built within the last 5-8 years, all really nice private rented flats(ok you get the odd nasty, but generally nice)

But each have got a social housing section and they are all the same in every block, throughout essex, dirty dumped sofas and rubbish discarded everywhere, load music blaring at all times, constant smell of weed, groups of mothers outside smoking in their dressing gowns at all times of the day. Nearly every kid has a motor bike or scooter with a broken exhaust which they drive up and down relentlessly, without helmet when im sure they should be in school. Most tenants have a least one dog which is nearly always a staff bull terrier.

If i get a call out for vandalism, 9 times out of 10 thats where its likely to be

I know this is not every tenant, but the general theme is, when some people dont have to work hard for something they dont really respect it. Im far from a snob but its simply the truth. I know, I live it every day.

 

[Charlie_]

What is it with doctors houses being filthy?, ive had this more than a few times now

I realise they are super busy but surely they can get a cleaner in

Worrying really!

My doctor done a lovely job of cleaning out my back passage a while ago

 

[GBDamo]

There seems to be a general hint on this thread that social housing tenants are less worthy of a safe electrical installation than more 'upmarket' types. Kind of makes some of us look like tw@ts IMHO....

I read it as they are less likely to have possessions valuable enough to warrant the additional expense.

I don't think that's too ----tish a position to take, I don't think I have possessions valuable enough to warrant an AFDD.

Off on a tangent but if a social tennants did have possessions valuable enough to warrant AFDDs then why do they need social housing?

 

[Dave OCD]

I thought AFDDs were more about reducing the risk of an electrical fire, so more about potentially saving lives than possessions ?

 

[Dave OCD]

What is it with doctors houses being filthy?, ive had this more than a few times now

I realise they are super busy but surely they can get a cleaner in

Worrying really!

I do maintenence for a LOT of property management blocks and most have been built within the last 5-8 years, all really nice private rented flats(ok you get the odd nasty, but generally nice)

But each have got a social housing section and they are all the same in every block, throughout essex, dirty dumped sofas and rubbish discarded everywhere, load music blaring at all times, constant smell of weed, groups of mothers outside smoking in their dressing gowns at all times of the day. Nearly every kid has a motor bike or scooter with a broken exhaust which they drive up and down relentlessly, without helmet when im sure they should be in school. Most tenants have a least one dog which is nearly always a staff bull terrier.

If i get a call out for vandalism, 9 times out of 10 thats where its likely to be

I know this is not every tenant, but the general theme is, when some people dont have to work hard for something they dont really respect it. Im far from a snob but its simply the truth. I know, I live it every day.

In fairness I agree with you there mate, you put it very well. I don't see as much of the really bad stuff here in Cornwall so I guess I'm lucky.
Your point about people not looking after things nowadays seems to be a common theme with many many people now. The number of new and nearly new cars I see that don't seem to have ever been washed for example is an eye opener. Have people become lazier or just too busy browsing tw@tbook to actually do anything else ?

 

[Strima]

What is it with doctors houses being filthy?, ive had this more than a few times now

I realise they are super busy but surely they can get a cleaner in

Worrying really!

I do maintenence for a LOT of property management blocks and most have been built within the last 5-8 years, all really nice private rented flats(ok you get the odd nasty, but generally nice)

But each have got a social housing section and they are all the same in every block, throughout essex, dirty dumped sofas and rubbish discarded everywhere, load music blaring at all times, constant smell of weed, groups of mothers outside smoking in their dressing gowns at all times of the day. Nearly every kid has a motor bike or scooter with a broken exhaust which they drive up and down relentlessly, without helmet when im sure they should be in school. Most tenants have a least one dog which is nearly always a staff bull terrier.

If i get a call out for vandalism, 9 times out of 10 thats where its likely to be

I know this is not every tenant, but the general theme is, when some people dont have to work hard for something they dont really respect it. Im far from a snob but its simply the truth. I know, I live it every day.

I've worked in some delightful places in London that have some of the most atypical social housing known to man, or woman...

Dog waste smeared on door handles, razor blades glued to handrails and dirty syringe needles snapped off in switches.

 

[pirate]

In a previous life my work took me to many different homes. It is wrong to generalise, albeit in some geographical areas you do see a pattern...
Doctor's houses: quite often chaotic, but not always
Tenanted properties in the private sector: Usually neat and tidy, especially those with a high rent
Social housing: very dependent on location, but usually fine
Big, private houses with stables: often a midden!

Where there are horses and/or dogs, it seems the owners lavish time and money on their animals, less so on their houses, even though they clearly have plenty disposable income...however you are much more likely to be offered a decent glass of claret than a cup of tea, so all good!

 

[telectrix]

we have 4 dogs and although a lot of attention is lavished on them, 'er indoors does keep the house clean and (generally) tidy, sometimes to the point of OCD. I keep telling her that the washing up/ ironing/dust etc. will stilll be there in the morning, sometimes I need to watch her dusting the coffee table , don't need dust in my beer when I'm watching Air Crash or Animal Cops..

 

[pirate]

One category of customer which is the same across all house types...those where there are handcuffs and masks hanging off the bedposts, and an array of "unusual" chargers on the dressing table...without exception they are laid-back and amusing and always a pleasure to deal with!

 

[pirate]

PAT can be fun!