Justin Hernandez Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 So the homeowner had bought the house a few months ago and decided to put new floors and baseboards in. He found quite the surprise when he removed the baseboard in one of the bedrooms, about five feet of live wire popped out. He had no idea what to do so he called his friend which is an electrical inspector. He came over confirmed the wire is hot and told him the bad news that he is/was stealing power. The inspector referred me because we are also friends. The dead giving away was that there was about 2-3 inches of concrete poured outside around the down pipe by the meter outside. I repair a lot of grow houses about one a week, its big business here in Miami. I can walk into a house and in about five minutes I can tell if it was a grow house. Its unfortunate that this homeowner bought the house without knowing it was a grow house. Hes trying to go back to the realtor to get money for the repairs but most likely he won't get any money because the house was bought as is. All he had to do was call an electrician before he bought the house to perform an inspection. It would have been only a few bucks and I would have found the issue outside in no time. Grow houses are everywhere theirs one on every street in poor and wealth areas no one is immune to it. So time to dig up the mess, this was the most sloppiest connection done I've ever seen even the utility guys said the same thing. Usually its very nicely done and to my surprise there was two sets of wire one was going to the neighbors house!!! As you could imagine things got crazy after that no one knew the neighbor was stealing power from his house. I didn't get any pictures of the repair things got busy I just changed the 90 and pulled new wire from the transformer to the meter about 100 feet or so. I hope you can tell whats going on in the pics the one picture with the wood floors shows were the drywall was cut to tuck the wire in behind the baseboard. Sorry about the long post guys hope you enjoy it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comp56 Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 som bitch...buyer beware........but seriously you usually don't buy a car without driving it why buy a house without an inspection done by someone anal........I'd rather have my heart broken cause there are way to many things wrong than buy it and find out when its to late..... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigmikez Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 Man that's crazy... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisK Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 So your friend is having his power stolen by his neighbor? WTH?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMack37 Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 Wow, what a mess. Hopefully things turn around for the positive after this speed bump. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimboS1ice Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 That's crazy, never thought about grow houses stealing electricityJimboSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Hernandez Posted December 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 So your friend is having his power stolen by his neighbor? WTH? ?I understand if you're confused because I'm confused just reading what I wrote..lol I don't know the homeowner personally the inspector is the person I know. There's two sets of wire one is going in the homeowners bedroom than another set went towards the neighbor house and stopped at the property line between the two houses. Power is being stolen from the utility company as they tapped into the line before the meter. I hope I clarified things 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Hernandez Posted December 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 som bitch...buyer beware........but seriously you usually don't buy a car without driving it why buy a house without an inspection done by someone anal........I'd rather have my heart broken cause there are way to many things wrong than buy it and find out when its to late.....I can understand that someone doesn't want to spend money on a house and than not buy it. But banks are willing to work with you if a problem is discovered they will fix it before you buy the house or give you the money for the repairs. Buying a house is the biggest purchase you will make in your life and to not get an inspection is crazy. Of course you can't see behind baseboards or walls but in this case it was obvious once I saw the concrete outside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Hernandez Posted December 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 That's crazy, never thought about grow houses stealing electricityJimboSent from my iPhone using TapatalkThat's one of the first things they do steal power and set up a panel in a bedroom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comp56 Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 funny in Ontario Canada you pretty much have to get a safety on a car that passes before you can licence it, banks will give you money if the prices are right but tend to frown if it is as is.....I don't know why for houses it's not mandatory to have an inspection paid for by the seller if the buyer wants a second opinion then they pay? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrull Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 Sad. Here in norway, it doesn't matter if what you sold was "as is". If the condition is substansially lower then what you could expect, you should have a pretty good case. You can't just write off your responsibility just like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Hernandez Posted December 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2015 Sad. Here in norway, it doesn't matter if what you sold was "as is". If the condition is substansially lower then what you could expect, you should have a pretty good case.You can't just write off your responsibility just like that.Welcome to U.S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poisonfangs85 Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Dang, From the title of the post I thought this was a How To...my mistake. But seriously folks. I have seen several pictures from this type of situation. I am surprised more and more guys are not frying themselves trying to steal juice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comp56 Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Dang, From the title of the post I thought this was a How To...my mistake.But seriously folks. I have seen several pictures from this type of situation. I am surprised more and more guys are not frying themselves trying to steal juice.well I guess they are not able to tell you about it...lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyMcGrath Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 Who on earth did the work? That would require either working with live wires or knowing someone at the power company to do a full disconnect from the transformer and then hooking in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comp56 Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 Who on earth did the work? That would require either working with live wires or knowing someone at the power company to do a full disconnect from the transformer and then hooking in.I don't think these guys that are stealing power care or know much about codes or proper procedures .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyMcGrath Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 I don't think these guys that are stealing power care or know much about codes or proper procedures ....True. I wasn't even talking about the quality. I was just referencing the danger in doing said work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kruton Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 True. I wasn't even talking about the quality. I was just referencing the danger in doing said work.I wondered the same thing Ricky. I didn't know how they did it without contact with the electric company. Maybe some of the growers sell to some electricians and get a little help on the side! I wonder how more people aren't getting toasted stealing copper.Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryNY Posted December 10, 2015 Report Share Posted December 10, 2015 I don't know about "as is" in this case. I hate lawyering up but the homeowner could threaten to sue the seller and neighbor and they might fear criminal prosecution as well and settle for paying the repair costs. You never know... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Hernandez Posted December 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2015 Dang, From the title of the post I thought this was a How To...my mistake.But seriously folks. I have seen several pictures from this type of situation. I am surprised more and more guys are not frying themselves trying to steal juice.Haha, I would get sued so fast.Its easy,Step 1. Find extension cordStep 2. Plug into neighbor's outletStep 3. Enjoy it!! The people who steal wire get fried, the ones who steal power don't. Who on earth did the work? That would require either working with live wires or knowing someone at the power company to do a full disconnect from the transformer and then hooking in.They do it hot, to be honest it is simple when dealing with pvc pipe just hit the pipe with a hammer to break it. Than use a Insulation piercing connector to connect the wire together. When they cut a hole in the side of a steel Rigid conduit to steal power I'm like how the hell did they do that without nicking the wire. Then they fill the pipe up with spray foam to keep it from shorting out, which makes it a pain later on to rip it out and replace everything. I have never done it, but have been offered a few times and a lot of money to do it. I can't risk a license or jail time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Hernandez Posted December 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2015 I wondered the same thing Ricky. I didn't know how they did it without contact with the electric company. Maybe some of the growers sell to some electricians and get a little help on the side! I wonder how more people aren't getting toasted stealing copper.Sent from my SM-N900V using TapatalkThe people don't get toasted stealing copper all the time because its an inside job most on the time. When I work in some businesses that have been closed/abandoned the lugs on the transformers are opened all the way and the wire is gone. I don't care how big you're truck is or if you even have a tank you are not going to pull the wire off a lug that is tighten down. What happens is someone from the utility company comes by opens the transformer and takes the wire off the lug and than locks the transformer up and calls his buddy to pull the wire. Also some of the subcontractors the utility company hire do it as well I don't know about "as is" in this case. I hate lawyering up but the homeowner could threaten to sue the seller and neighbor and they might fear criminal prosecution as well and settle for paying the repair costs. You never know...Paying a lawyer will always cost more than the repairs themselves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfwjr Posted December 11, 2015 Report Share Posted December 11, 2015 Wow that looks nasty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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