OT - OMG! Fire Hazard Warning to Home Owners

I just got a couple of quotes about the electrical wiring repairs needed in
my home. It's going to cost about $2,000 just for the electrical work, not
even counting buying the hot water heater and the installation of that by a
plumber! That's enough of a shock, but it gets worse.

One electrician asked me what kind of breaker box I had and where it was.
First, it's not supposed to be in a clothes closet, so they'll have to take
it out, put a junction there, and place the circuit breaker outside.
Second, he told me that what we have, a 150 watt Federal Pacific Stab-Lok
circuit breaker, is a known fire hazard (there's even a web site all about
it: http://www.inspect-ny.com/fpe/fpepanel.htm). He said we were extremely
lucky that the house hasn't burned down!

I guess we'll have to find the money for this somewhere because we certainly
can't leave this the way it is even if we didn't need a new hot water
heater - I wouldn't be able to go anywhere and leave the cats in the house
with a clear conscience, for sure! I'm just glad we found out about this
before a tragedy happened!

If you're a home owner you might want to check out your breaker box to make
sure it isn't one of these.

--

Hugs,

CatNipped

See all my masters at: http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/

"CatNipped" wrote in
:

I just got a couple of quotes about the electrical wiring repairs
needed in my home. It's going to cost about $2,000 just for the
electrical work, not even counting buying the hot water heater and the
installation of that by a plumber! That's enough of a shock, but it
gets worse.

One electrician asked me what kind of breaker box I had and where it
was. First, it's not supposed to be in a clothes closet, so they'll
have to take it out, put a junction there, and place the circuit
breaker outside. Second, he told me that what we have, a 150 watt
Federal Pacific Stab-Lok circuit breaker, is a known fire hazard
(there's even a web site all about it:
http://www.inspect-ny.com/fpe/fpepanel.htm). He said we were
extremely lucky that the house hasn't burned down!

I guess we'll have to find the money for this somewhere because we
certainly can't leave this the way it is even if we didn't need a new
hot water heater - I wouldn't be able to go anywhere and leave the
cats in the house with a clear conscience, for sure! I'm just glad we
found out about this before a tragedy happened!

If you're a home owner you might want to check out your breaker box to
make sure it isn't one of these.


Do your neighbours have the same circuit breaker? If their house burns
down, it could spread to yours... Might be a good idea to tell then what
you learned.

Gee, your troubles never stop, do they?

Bobble

"bobblespin" wrote in message
...
"CatNipped" wrote in
:

I just got a couple of quotes about the electrical wiring repairs
needed in my home. It's going to cost about $2,000 just for the
electrical work, not even counting buying the hot water heater and the
installation of that by a plumber! That's enough of a shock, but it
gets worse.

One electrician asked me what kind of breaker box I had and where it
was. First, it's not supposed to be in a clothes closet, so they'll
have to take it out, put a junction there, and place the circuit
breaker outside. Second, he told me that what we have, a 150 watt
Federal Pacific Stab-Lok circuit breaker, is a known fire hazard
(there's even a web site all about it:
http://www.inspect-ny.com/fpe/fpepanel.htm). He said we were
extremely lucky that the house hasn't burned down!

I guess we'll have to find the money for this somewhere because we
certainly can't leave this the way it is even if we didn't need a new
hot water heater - I wouldn't be able to go anywhere and leave the
cats in the house with a clear conscience, for sure! I'm just glad we
found out about this before a tragedy happened!

If you're a home owner you might want to check out your breaker box to
make sure it isn't one of these.


Do your neighbours have the same circuit breaker? If their house burns
down, it could spread to yours... Might be a good idea to tell then what
you learned.

I didn't even think of that, but you're right I will tell them about it.


Gee, your troubles never stop, do they?

Yeah, that's just the way my life works - always has and probably always
will. It doesn't do any good to whine about it (though that never stopped
me ;), so I've just resigned myself to that fact.

Hugs,

CatNipped


Bobble

"CatNipped" wrote

| snip buying the hot water heater
| snip even if we didn't need a new hot water heater

I've always wondered why people think they need to heat hot water.... I own
a water heater, but if I already had hot water, I wouldn't need a heater for
it.

"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
"bobblespin" wrote in message
...
"CatNipped" wrote in
:

I just got a couple of quotes about the electrical wiring repairs
needed in my home. It's going to cost about $2,000 just for the
electrical work, not even counting buying the hot water heater and the
installation of that by a plumber! That's enough of a shock, but it
gets worse.

One electrician asked me what kind of breaker box I had and where it
was. First, it's not supposed to be in a clothes closet, so they'll
have to take it out, put a junction there, and place the circuit
breaker outside. Second, he told me that what we have, a 150 watt
Federal Pacific Stab-Lok circuit breaker, is a known fire hazard
(there's even a web site all about it:
http://www.inspect-ny.com/fpe/fpepanel.htm). He said we were
extremely lucky that the house hasn't burned down!

I guess we'll have to find the money for this somewhere because we
certainly can't leave this the way it is even if we didn't need a new
hot water heater - I wouldn't be able to go anywhere and leave the
cats in the house with a clear conscience, for sure! I'm just glad we
found out about this before a tragedy happened!

If you're a home owner you might want to check out your breaker box to
make sure it isn't one of these.


Do your neighbours have the same circuit breaker? If their house burns
down, it could spread to yours... Might be a good idea to tell then what
you learned.

I didn't even think of that, but you're right I will tell them about it.


Gee, your troubles never stop, do they?

Yeah, that's just the way my life works - always has and probably always
will. It doesn't do any good to whine about it (though that never stopped
me ;), so I've just resigned myself to that fact.

Hugs,

CatNipped


Bobble

Lori you may want to check with your state since your home has problems
and in need of upgrading. You might qualify for some state rebates by doing
the upgrades. When I replaced my water heater just recently. I went with
a energy efficient one. The state gave me a rebate for going green. The
water heat was $800 including installation. The rebate got me $200 back on
it

I am thinking of adding solar power completely to the house a cost of
$24,000;. If I can find a descent finance company that won't raped me. The
state of Florida along the power company with give me a rebate of up to
$16,000 for doing it and also the power company will end up paying me for
not using my allotted share of energy.. The state of Florida will basically
pay for a back up generator if you use natural gas after the rebates
another project I am looking at for this place.


PS I am glad you all are ok. I take it the kids are alright in New Orleans?

On Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:34:30 -0500, CatNipped wrote:
I just got a couple of quotes about the electrical wiring repairs needed in
my home. It's going to cost about $2,000 just for the electrical work, not
even counting buying the hot water heater and the installation of that by a
plumber! That's enough of a shock, but it gets worse.

One electrician asked me what kind of breaker box I had and where it was.
First, it's not supposed to be in a clothes closet, so they'll have to take
it out, put a junction there, and place the circuit breaker outside.
Second, he told me that what we have, a 150 watt Federal Pacific Stab-Lok
circuit breaker, is a known fire hazard (there's even a web site all about
it: http://www.inspect-ny.com/fpe/fpepanel.htm). He said we were extremely

Make sure you get a second opinion.

I had a bad breaker box and the electrician told me that the roof over
the patio constituted a "flat roof" and that the power pole needed to
go up eight feet higher and that the ground had to connect to a
plumbing line which entered the house from the otherside. $2000 job.

I got the home warranty people to fix it. The pole was fine the way
it was and a ground rod directly behind the breaker box was all that
was needed. $700 charged to the home warranty people. The city
inspectors had absolutely no problem with the work.

CatNipped wrote:
I just got a couple of quotes about the electrical wiring repairs
needed in my home. It's going to cost about $2,000 just for the
electrical work, not even counting buying the hot water heater and
the installation of that by a plumber! That's enough of a shock, but
it gets worse.
One electrician asked me what kind of breaker box I had and where it
was. First, it's not supposed to be in a clothes closet, so they'll
have to take it out, put a junction there, and place the circuit
breaker outside. Second, he told me that what we have, a 150 watt
Federal Pacific Stab-Lok circuit breaker, is a known fire hazard
(there's even a web site all about it:
http://www.inspect-ny.com/fpe/fpepanel.htm). He said we were
extremely lucky that the house hasn't burned down!
I guess we'll have to find the money for this somewhere because we
certainly can't leave this the way it is even if we didn't need a new
hot water heater - I wouldn't be able to go anywhere and leave the
cats in the house with a clear conscience, for sure! I'm just glad
we found out about this before a tragedy happened!

If you're a home owner you might want to check out your breaker box
to make sure it isn't one of these.


Does homeowners insurance cover any of this? At least maybe the cost of
replacing the water heater?

Jill ---clueless about home ownership and terrified of becoming one YIKES!

"AZ Nomad" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:34:30 -0500, CatNipped
wrote:
I just got a couple of quotes about the electrical wiring repairs needed
in
my home. It's going to cost about $2,000 just for the electrical work,
not
even counting buying the hot water heater and the installation of that by
a
plumber! That's enough of a shock, but it gets worse.

One electrician asked me what kind of breaker box I had and where it was.
First, it's not supposed to be in a clothes closet, so they'll have to
take
it out, put a junction there, and place the circuit breaker outside.
Second, he told me that what we have, a 150 watt Federal Pacific Stab-Lok
circuit breaker, is a known fire hazard (there's even a web site all about
it: http://www.inspect-ny.com/fpe/fpepanel.htm). He said we were
extremely

Make sure you get a second opinion.

I had a bad breaker box and the electrician told me that the roof over
the patio constituted a "flat roof" and that the power pole needed to
go up eight feet higher and that the ground had to connect to a
plumbing line which entered the house from the otherside. $2000 job.

I got the home warranty people to fix it. The pole was fine the way
it was and a ground rod directly behind the breaker box was all that
was needed. $700 charged to the home warranty people. The city
inspectors had absolutely no problem with the work.

I wish we had kept our home warranty (it's mandated for 1 year after
purchase of a house here in Texas, but you can let it lapse after that).

This was a second opinion - cheaper and *much* more knowledgeable than the
first. The electrician was recommended by a friend who does home
inspections. I looked up everything he told me online and it appears he's
giving us a considerable discount.

He has to remove the breaker box from the closet, install a junction there
and seal it up, put a new, much larger breaker box outside, run a 240
conduit up into the attic (we have a 2 story), rewire my office off the
garage (there's currently a wire running across the garage ceiling, stapled
up!!!), check all outlets, and bring everything in the house up to code.
Not too bad a deal for about $1,800 (he gave us an additional discount for
paying in full in cash - Ben's mom loaned us the money to do so). All in
all, I think it's probably the best deal we'll find. We're also lucky to
have already have copper wiring (a miracle given the condition of the rest
of this money pit), so they won't be tearing up our walls.

Hugs,

CatNipped

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
CatNipped wrote:
I just got a couple of quotes about the electrical wiring repairs
needed in my home. It's going to cost about $2,000 just for the
electrical work, not even counting buying the hot water heater and
the installation of that by a plumber! That's enough of a shock, but
it gets worse.
One electrician asked me what kind of breaker box I had and where it
was. First, it's not supposed to be in a clothes closet, so they'll
have to take it out, put a junction there, and place the circuit
breaker outside. Second, he told me that what we have, a 150 watt
Federal Pacific Stab-Lok circuit breaker, is a known fire hazard
(there's even a web site all about it:
http://www.inspect-ny.com/fpe/fpepanel.htm). He said we were
extremely lucky that the house hasn't burned down!
I guess we'll have to find the money for this somewhere because we
certainly can't leave this the way it is even if we didn't need a new
hot water heater - I wouldn't be able to go anywhere and leave the
cats in the house with a clear conscience, for sure! I'm just glad
we found out about this before a tragedy happened!

If you're a home owner you might want to check out your breaker box
to make sure it isn't one of these.


Does homeowners insurance cover any of this? At least maybe the cost of
replacing the water heater?

Jill ---clueless about home ownership and terrified of becoming one
YIKES!

No, a home warranty would have, but we let ours lapse after the mandatory 1
year (in Texas) after purchasing the house - if ever faced with that
quandary, keep it, it would have saved us *thousands* of dollars if we had!

Hugs,

CatNipped

"hopitus" wrote in message
...
On Sep 26, 1:34 pm, "CatNipped" wrote:
One electrician asked me what kind of breaker box I had and where it was.
First, it's not supposed to be in a clothes closet, so they'll have to
take
it out, put a junction there, and place the circuit breaker outside.
Second, he told me that what we have, a 150 watt Federal Pacific Stab-Lok
circuit breaker, is a known fire hazard (there's even a web site all
about
it: http://www.inspect-ny.com/fpe/fpepanel.htm). He said we were
extremely
lucky that the house hasn't burned down!
I guess we'll have to find the money for this somewhere because we
certainly
can't leave this the way it is even if we didn't need a new hot water
heater - I wouldn't be able to go anywhere and leave the cats in the
house
with a clear conscience, for sure! I'm just glad we found out about this
before a tragedy happened!
If you're a home owner you might want to check out your breaker box to
make
sure it isn't one of these.
CatNipped

There is a whole lotta stuff on the Net about this breaker box,
including an already
settled and expired class-action suit from homeowners with it in New
Jersey. I am
not going to read all the stuff (yawn) but some attorney had a blog
which included
the type lawyer needed to pursue a suit of your own about this hazard
in each state..
Here's the Houston list:

http://www.the-injury-lawyer-directo...X_houston.html
The New Jersey class-action settled in spring, 2005...if there is one
in TX it may not
be settled at all,, I am sure Ben can find out details re this.
Also, your builder is under the gun legally for putting the thing in a
closet.
I dunno how old your house is. Looks like the breaker box business is
fairly up-to-date.

The house was built in 1974 and we bought it in 2003. I can pretty
confidently say that the inspector was paid off, just going by the *major*
problems we've had since purchasing it. I don't think any honest inspector
would have let something *that* major, and *that* dangerous go had he not
been paid off.

It's our fault too for rushing into the deal, but I was two weeks away from
being laid off and it was either purchase this house or not be able to buy a
house at all. We didn't know at the time that I'd have to take a job making
just half of what I was making, so our fixer-upper became our albatross in
about a New York second!

I'll look into the class action, but it probably won't apply to us since we
weren't the ones to have it installed.

Hugs,

CatNipped