Some advice for those buying an old home (a lil long)

We bought our house last year. It was built in 1952. There were issues we knew about but many more that we didn't that could have and probably should have been picked up by the inspector. Those problems cost us tens of thousands of dollars. We are lucky that we could afford to have the issues fixed. This last one, however, still has us shaking.

We put in CAC at the beginning of July. It works fabulous, but after putting it in, we realized that the existing electrical system could not support it as well as all of the other electrical items we have so we went for a full upgrade. Coincidentally (or not), after the CAC went in, we smelled something funky in Jeremy's room - a sort of burning smell. We thought at first it was the motor in the ceiling fan. Nope. We thought it may have been something in the new duct work from the CAC so they CAC company replaced it completely but that was not the case. The smell was not constant - rather sporadic.

When the electricians came to do the upgrade, they looked at the outlets in the bedrooms. They got to Jeremy's room which is not all that big. There were two outlets (one not used covered by his crib) and another maybe 2-3 feet away from it near the window. We figured that they used one outlet for a window a/c unit and the other for other stuff. BUT the one behind the crib couldnt support the power and looked like THIS...:


when he took it apart. This is the outlet that is directly linked to the panel downstairs in the basement which was completely corroded and replaced - everything is brand new and we have room for more stuff when we gut the basment. The electrician said it took years to get this way but would have been a matter of time before a fire would have been started.

This would have been a horrible fire that would have started in my defenseless infant son's room. This is a fire that would have gotten as hot as 5000 degrees (or so says the electrician) and would have destroyed our home and our family. It wasn't until they left that we realized how serious this was and I was shaking. DH was a lil shaken up as well.

We do not have recourse in regard to the inspector but I would strongly advise anyone buying a home, particularly an OLD home, to have an additional set of eyes, whether it be an electrician or electrical engineer to look at the existing system of the home you want to purchase. Spend the extra money and do this.

I am just happy that we are all safe and that my house is still standing. I can only take comfort in knowing that my desperate need and selfishness to live like a queen with CAC in my home saved us.

Re: Some advice for those buying an old home (a lil long)

I got chills reading this.

I am so glad that it was fixed and nothing serious happened!
A fire, especially an electrical one in my house is my biggest fear!

Re: Some advice for those buying an old home (a lil long)

OMG! So glad that they caught this and you are ok.

This has be very nervous though since we recently bought a place that was a flip and we had some new outlets installed by a family friend who said the electric is a mess and they had wires in the wall with no covers on them. I am nervous that now i should have every single outlet checked out-would you be able to fm me the information for your electrician and how much it cost to have them come check out the outlets?

TIA!

Re: Some advice for those buying an old home (a lil long)

Id be happy to make a recommendation. They saved our home and our family. Maybe Im a little dramatic but I think about a fire in Jeremy's room and I start to tear.

Re: Some advice for those buying an old home (a lil long)

This could also be used as a reminder of the importance of having smoke detectors in every single bedroom! In the horrible case that a fire did start your family would have time to escape before things became tragic.

Re: Some advice for those buying an old home (a lil long)

Wow, this gives me chills. Our home is around the same age, and had an addition put on (kitchen).

After we moved in DH realized how shoddily most of the work had been done by the previous owners.

Re: Some advice for those buying an old home (a lil long)

thanks for your kindness in sharing this. we have a brand new construction, but foresee buying an older home down the road. great advice and happy you caught this in time!

Re: Some advice for those buying an old home (a lil long)

Re: Some advice for those buying an old home (a lil long)

ugggggggggggh I really simply cannot believe your inspector didn't look at this stuff, or did just a superficial inspection. It's probably THE MOST COMMON reason for house fires.

I am borderline PARANOID about home fires, as my dad was FDNY so we've got an accepted offer on a house now and during the inspection our guy went over ALLLL of the electrical issues (it's all in good shape but we'll need to upgrade, the house hasn't been updated in decades).

Thank GOD you found it; so f'n scary. I'd probably still write a SCATHING letter to the inspection company including the photo. And I'd cc my real estate agent in case they run into him/them again.

Re: Some advice for those buying an old home (a lil long)

We had a 1938 and now a 1928 house - both times the 1st thing that they recommended was upgrading the electricity. We did it before we moved in. That is very scary I'm surprised that no one suggested that to you. I'm so glad you all were able to catch it before something worse happened

Re: Some advice for those buying an old home (a lil long)

Posted by colette

ugggggggggggh I really simply cannot believe your inspector didn't look at this stuff, or did just a superficial inspection. It's probably THE MOST COMMON reason for house fires.

I am borderline PARANOID about home fires, as my dad was FDNY so we've got an accepted offer on a house now and during the inspection our guy went over ALLLL of the electrical issues (it's all in good shape but we'll need to upgrade, the house hasn't been updated in decades).

Thank GOD you found it; so f'n scary. I'd probably still write a SCATHING letter to the inspection company including the photo. And I'd cc my real estate agent in case they run into him/them again.

Re: Some advice for those buying an old home (a lil long)

When you buy a house that is at least 40 years old or older I would ask when is the last time the electric is upgraded and plugs looked at. We knew our's was original except for one room which was converted from the garage in the 1970'. We wished we planned better to rewire all the rooms that we resheet rocked but we didn't. The wires were looked at, plugs were all replaced (this is highly recommend to make sure all plugs are grounded) our box was upgraded. The only thing I am not happy with is our attic electric and some basement stuff. I plan on hiring a new electrician when we have money to start pulling this "crap" out. I was told by our inspector and our electrician we hired to do most of our work to wrap all wires that had the protective covering eaten or deteriorated. I don't find that acceptable so I want it removed.

Re: Some advice for those buying an old home (a lil long)

Re: Some advice for those buying an old home (a lil long)

Oh i am completely with you. People don't realize that inspectors really only get a small amount of issues. My brother purchased a two year old house and in three years he realized the electric was wrong, his dryer wasn't properly ventilated, his furnace wasn't hooked up properly and the inspector saw none of this. I think the whole house inspection field needs a complete overhaul in how they are licensed.

Our inspector was great but like all inspectors not perfect, we had a LIPA audit and found our furnace wasn't fire safe since we didn't have fire rated sheetrock above the entire furnace/hotwater heater area. Considering FHA required to repaint the entire exterior of the house, pay for another inspector to inspect sil on of the house to see if it was soo bad it needed replacement due to old terminate damage but didn't notice that the furnace wasn't properly guarded against fire. I still haven't put all the sheetrock up yet but plan to this winter when we do more inside work in the basement. It amazes me the complete b/s it is to buying a house. Now not even two years into the house three windows have broken seals and don't keep opened/locked properly.

Re: Some advice for those buying an old home (a lil long)

Posted by Goldi0218

Posted by colette

ugggggggggggh I really simply cannot believe your inspector didn't look at this stuff, or did just a superficial inspection. It's probably THE MOST COMMON reason for house fires.

I am borderline PARANOID about home fires, as my dad was FDNY so we've got an accepted offer on a house now and during the inspection our guy went over ALLLL of the electrical issues (it's all in good shape but we'll need to upgrade, the house hasn't been updated in decades).

Thank GOD you found it; so f'n scary. I'd probably still write a SCATHING letter to the inspection company including the photo. And I'd cc my real estate agent in case they run into him/them again.

I have to think of a way to do this properly. My sister is an attorney so maybe I'll ask her to help me write it so I don't sound like a raving lunatic.

Message edited 8/7/2011 6:02:32 PM.

Re: Some advice for those buying an old home (a lil long)

Wow! Luckily everything had a good outcome.

we had a similar issue, and luckily I had been downstairs doing laundry exactly when the light switch (it was the furnace switch) started smoking! And luckily my DH was home too, he turned the breaker off to the switch and was able to replace it.

Our house is from 1962. Everything was original. The electric was the first to get upgraded. We needed to put in 220 amps before they would install our CAC. And we had our electrical guy replace every single outlet in the house since the wiring was totally crazy, they were all 2-prong outlets, and most were run from the on-off switch across the room. We did a lot of electrical work to have that issue corrected.

I bet it would still be worthwhile to get all others in the house checked.

Re: Some advice for those buying an old home (a lil long)

That's so scary. Thanks for posting.

My house is from 1951 and has the original electric. I know we need to upgrade but I've been putting it off, thinking some blown fuses would be the worst of our problems. Now I know better! I'm in Nassau too, if you want to recommend your electrician.

Re: Some advice for those buying an old home (a lil long)

Leslie, thank you for this post. DH and I were told that we needed to upgrade our electric when we had our inspection, but we still haven't. We have very old 100 amp service with push circuit breakers. DH has replaced some outlets, but I'm sure we need new wiring at well. This post is going to help us act more quickly on it. I'm so glad your family is okay.

Re: Some advice for those buying an old home (a lil long)

Posted by Goobster

Posted by Goldi0218

Posted by colette

ugggggggggggh I really simply cannot believe your inspector didn't look at this stuff, or did just a superficial inspection. It's probably THE MOST COMMON reason for house fires.

I am borderline PARANOID about home fires, as my dad was FDNY so we've got an accepted offer on a house now and during the inspection our guy went over ALLLL of the electrical issues (it's all in good shape but we'll need to upgrade, the house hasn't been updated in decades).

Thank GOD you found it; so f'n scary. I'd probably still write a SCATHING letter to the inspection company including the photo. And I'd cc my real estate agent in case they run into him/them again.

I have to think of a way to do this properly. My sister is an attorney so maybe I'll ask her to help me write it so I don't sound like a raving lunatic.

That's very scary and thank God you found it.

But I wonder, is it really something an inspector could or should be picking up? They don't do a full electrical inspection. What do you think he could have inspected that would have discovered this? Seriously asking, not being snarky.

And I am also wondering, if that line was overloaded (I am assuming this is why that outlet looked all melty, or is it?) then why didn't that breaker trip? Why didn't the CAC guys realize you did not have enough amperage to support the CAC?

I worry about my electrical ALL the time. Our inspector did remove the panel of the circuit breaker box to look at some things but I still worry about what he could not see.

Re: Some advice for those buying an old home (a lil long)

Re: Some advice for those buying an old home (a lil long)

that's so scary- I am so glad that everything was discovered before it was a problem but I am furious for you that the inspector was not more thorough- I would have expected them to find that too- thank you for posting this and glad everything is ok

Re: Some advice for those buying an old home (a lil long)

I am so glad that you found this before something happened.

Re: Some advice for those buying an old home (a lil long)

Oh Leslie. How scary. I thought about you last night as I put my son to bed. The what-ifs.

I guess the one piece of mind that you can take from this is that you caught it before it got worse, and that now the electrical will be fixed, the RIGHT way, and not just to get done.

I hope you have many peaceful nights of sleep in your home for all the years to come.

Message edited 8/8/2011 11:16:59 AM.

Re: Some advice for those buying an old home (a lil long)

YES YES and YES.

Leslie, praise God you caught it in time.

Electrics is something you don't eff with in an older home. I caught a similar issue in my home growing up b/c I heard a sort of "sizzle" sound in one of the outlets. our entire home would have burned down.

it is extremely frightening and you have every reason to be shaken by it.

our current home was built in 1800. it has had many electrical upgrades (including actually getting electricity ) but in the very near future we are going to have it upgraded again.

I am so happy that all is well now in your home. someone is smiling down on you!!!

Re: Some advice for those buying an old home (a lil long)

Goob, when our home was inspected the inspector checked the voltage or output or whatever you call in in EVERY outlet. he would plug this thing into it. If the outlet was dead, he would have told us the problem and written it down in his report for either us or the homeowner to fix before closing.

it should have been caught I think.