All Forum Posts by: Brad Smith

House we just bought has problems with it's gas heater heat exchanger being rusted and possibly a source of CO.  When the tech came out to look at it, he said the AC compressor, heater and "coil" were mismatched.  The air handler/coil is a 4 ton and the AC and heater are 3 1/2 ton.  For 1700 sq ft, we need it all to be 4 ton... I'm told.

I asked them to just replace the heater and we'll do the AC later.  Nope, won't do it in parts.

Whats up with that?  Was told it creates problems but I thought they were separate units simply using the same duct work.

Would love to know more!

Chad, 

I had previously pulled a couple of the receptacles in the newer part of the house, ones with three prong capacity.  Old part only has two hole outlets.  There is a ground wire running to the ones I pulled and it runs back into the wall like the other wires.  When I put my volt meter to the hot side and the ground, I'm only getting 60 +/- VAC.  The electricians I've talked to have all said that whoever installed it probably tied that ground to the neutral somewhere, maybe back at the panel but I haven't been back over to look yet.  I didn't see any bootleg jumpers as in your illustration.  In any case, I'm told that this still provides some degree of protection, i.e., grounding. 

May go ahead and install the GFCI's.  I just don't want them tripping all the time and causing tenant problems if there's not a good reason to do so.  Most people I've communicated with say they will still work without a ground wire attached but, interestingly, I called the local electrical supply house yesterday and they guy said they wouldn't.  Maybe he's used to dealing mostly with electricians who wouldn't likely install them that way, dunno.

Thanks for the helpful and fun conversation!

Thanks, folks, I have talked to two licensed electricians (see thread our of San Antonio about DIY) and I am going to use one... when the time is right.  Now I feel more comfortable waiting especially since I HAVE to replace the heater.  Bad heat exchanger on a gas unit (CO), mismatched heater/AC and coil.  

I'm also replacing the false grounded plug face plates with two prong.  

Def want inspection so that's why I'm getting a contractor.  Cancelled my permit application and got my refund.  :-)

MATT... AWESOME!  Thanks!  I don't want to ASSUME (you know what that does, right?) anything when it comes to an issue that carries such liability with it.  That's great feedback, much obliged!

Chris, 

If I'm reading this right, you said the risks are huge but it sounded like you weren't doing anything about it.  Am I reading that right?  

No screw in fuses, all breakers but I do have THREE panels!  The house was added on to in the 60's and I bet it started with one in a closet in the middle of the old section.  The new section had it's own interior panel added and there's also one outside but can't tell when that happened.  I'm definitely going to move everything to one panel outside when the work is done.  The old wiring runs under the floor... pier and beam.  The new addition has a flat roof so the wiring runs through the rafters somewhere.  It's going to be hard to rewire. Might pull everything through the crawl space under the house and just fish them out for the new section.

I don't think there's any knob and tube wiring but, since I haven't crawled under the house yet, dunno.  The inspector didn't mention it and I think he would have.  I think this house was built after that was discontinued.

I've looked into tenant contracts that simply say the property is leased "as is" and would explain that to anyone interested. 

Thanks,

Brad

Just bought an older house and have explored rewiring.  As was mentioned in another thread, I'm thinking about waiting until winter time to get bids on the work because everyone seems to be swamped in my area (San Marcos, Tx) at the moment.  I was told because of recent floods... dunno.  

I talked to one electrician who said he had a friend who had an older property that he was leasing as is... old wiring and all.  What are the risks of leasing with 50's wiring, basically, no grounding? 

Thanks,

Brad

I'm just up the road in San Marcos and was looking to do the very same thing for an older house we just bought.  I was even buying materials to do the work.  THEN I learned that, to get a homeowner's permit (I wanted it inspected), I had to fill out a form stating that this would be for my HOMESTEAD!  Basically, I can't get a permit to do my own work on a rental.  One of the people I was talking to about this said that it was basically the same way in San Antonio so, if you haven't looked into, that might answer your question.

Also, as has been stated, I don't think you'll find any electrician willing to risk their license and bonding to allow you to do the work under their license. I tried that route, no dice.

Just bought a rental built in the 50's.  Galvanized pipes under the house (pier and beam).  Haven't been able to turn the water on yet but I'm guessing the flow will be blocked somewhat.  Expecting the worst and plan to replumb as much as I can myself.  Looked but haven't found local codes yet but I'm expecting CPVC for hot water lines.  If blocked, I'm guessing better to use CPVC for supply lines, too.  

I sure hope the line coming into the building is copper!