I think my house is trying to kill me

[sudz]

So, I moved in almost exactly 2 months ago.

We took a picture in front of the sold sign, Like nerds.
A tree branch fell where we were standing 20 minutes later.
Fridge blows up and sprays water everywhere.
Light fixture in basement gets a short and nearly catches fire (melted)
All in the first 2 days.

Today, the dimmer switch in the front hall broke, not allowing us to have light in the foyer. Replaced.
JUST after replacing it, Megan yells that something is on fire in the laundry room. I run down, A florescent bulb has burned out, but has melted the socket it was in, and the plastic is indeed on fire.

And of course the whole house wreeks of burning plastic, and we're having our house "warming" tomorrow. Apparently my house thought it meant house burning...

[peterm15]

So, I moved in almost exactly 2 months ago.

We took a picture in front of the sold sign, Like nerds.
A tree branch fell where we were standing 20 minutes later.
Fridge blows up and sprays water everywhere.
Light fixture in basement gets a short and nearly catches fire (melted)
All in the first 2 days.

Today, the dimmer switch in the front hall broke, not allowing us to have light in the foyer. Replaced.
JUST after replacing it, Megan yells that something is on fire in the laundry room. I run down, A florescent bulb has burned out, but has melted the socket it was in, and the plastic is indeed on fire.

And of course the whole house wreeks of burning plastic, and we're having our house "warming" tomorrow. Apparently my house thought it meant house burning...

Did you get your house inspected?
If so I'd be calling the inspector. There is major electrical problems in your house. Is it a newer or older house.

[RedRaptor]

Sounds haunted.

[Hyperion]

Did you get your house inspected?
If so I'd be calling the inspector. There is major electrical problems in your house. Is it a newer or older house.

This

[boyracer]

........get out........

[trulankan]

Did you get your house inspected?
If so I'd be calling the inspector. There is major electrical problems in your house. Is it a newer or older house.

+1

[mazdaspeedemon3]

Sounds haunted.

........get out........

Haunted for sure, get a priest in there asap

[sudz]

LOL, I'm fairly handy, and the inspector was great.

Really, it was an original old dimmer switch, but it was hooked up to CFL lights that couldn't be dimmed, so we just used it as an on-off switch.

The Cheap, 18 dollar T8 Shop Lights - Ok, that one was screwy, I've never seen a burned out T8 or T12 light heat up s omuch it melts and burns.

And then the other light that melted, Cheap, Made in china stuff. It was a 12 volt halogen adapter that fried- Nothing wrong with the house. I borrowed my dad's plug tester (checks for shorts, miswiring etc) and EVERY socket passed in the house.

Haunted is more like it, lol.

House was built in 79. No aluminium wiring. (thank god)

[trulankan]

this reminds me of that commercial...i think it was for realtors or something

[silverstarmazda]

is it the house at the end of the street? get a well known inspector as stated above^ some inspectors do a crap job and leave things missing on purpose...

[schmat66]

one word... MOVE

[asyed]

one word... MOVE

I second this notion .....i wonder if there is a law against concealing this kind of stuff from the buyer since it just seems morally wrong to hide these problems and then run away.... you should atleast contact the previous owner and question them.....

[silverstarmazda]

I second this notion .....i wonder if there is a law against concealing this kind of stuff from the buyer since it just seems morally wrong to hide these problems and then run away.... you should atleast contact the previous owner and question them.....

if someone was hurt, cant they sue them? that or the inspector? theres gotta be some sort of law against selling an unsafe house.

[asyed]

if someone was hurt, cant they sue them? that or the inspector? theres gotta be some sort of law against selling an unsafe house.

I sure hope they can....I dont know much about real estate....all I know is that it is the law to state if the house has been previously used as a grow op since that can damage the structure....

[peterm15]

At this moment inspectors can't be held liable.

Is knob and tube a possibility.

If I were you I'd check the quality of The rest of your stuff.

Just goes to show you. There is certain things you shouldn't cheap out on. ( not you. The previous owner. )

[silverstarmazda]

I would wear a helmet and thick rubber gloves and go over the house entirely after you switch all the breakers open to see if anything else is about to fail. did you buy the house for cheap by any chance? (no need to list the price). ive had friends (first time home owners) who had to sell the house back out because it was getting ridiculous.

[leungalv]

At this moment inspectors can't be held liable.

Is knob and tube a possibility.

If I were you I'd check the quality of The rest of your stuff.

Just goes to show you. There is certain things you shouldn't cheap out on. ( not you. The previous owner. )

If the inspector inspected the house and was negligent in his inspection, why wouldn't the OP be able to sue in tort law?

[Rob23]

LOL, I'm fairly handy, and the inspector was great.

Really, it was an original old dimmer switch, but it was hooked up to CFL lights that couldn't be dimmed, so we just used it as an on-off switch.

The Cheap, 18 dollar T8 Shop Lights - Ok, that one was screwy, I've never seen a burned out T8 or T12 light heat up s omuch it melts and burns.

And then the other light that melted, Cheap, Made in china stuff. It was a 12 volt halogen adapter that fried- Nothing wrong with the house. I borrowed my dad's plug tester (checks for shorts, miswiring etc) and EVERY socket passed in the house.

Haunted is more like it, lol.

House was built in 79. No aluminium wiring. (thank god)

ive seen many T8 with melted sockets it happens. the dimmer switch obviously shouldn't have a CFL light bulb. and the other light that shorted, it happens. but for all this to happen at once its strange.

[Marta]

Sounds haunted.

+1.

[Nooby31]

this reminds me of that commercial...i think it was for realtors or something

The one with the naked old couple washing there car next to the home owners??

Haha

[Default User]

Haunted - Nah. Just a string of bad luck. It happens to the best of us.

Moving isn't really the best solution - especially since your 3-4 months into the house. That's like tellin someone to sell their brand new car because their headlight went out a week after they got a parking lot door ding.

Shit happens. Unfortunately in your case, it's got the ****ing runs.

Kinda like owning a VW. Once one thing goes bad - its like ****ing clockwork.

Light melting is maybe from greasy or dirty connections. CFL bulb on a dimmer is a no-no. Spray febreeze all over the house and soft panels (drapes, carpet, etc) and open up all the windows.

[rajin929]

welcome to the joys of home ownership.

[The Wolf]

Lol, don't move. Nothing that has happened screams major wiring issues to me

[m_bisson]

Do you have fuses or a breaker panel?

If it's fuses, check to see if they're 15 amp, 30 amp, etc...
You really only want 30 amp circuits where you'll be using high drain devices, like lawnmowers or saws if you have some sort of work shop. The stove and dryer will have their own stuff, so leave that alone. You can go ahead and pop 15 amp fuses where any 30 (or higher) ones are. Buy the fuses with the built in switch/breaker because then you're actually not ANY worse than one of the new breaker panels.

If you notice that the new 15 amp fuses keep blowing then it means there are way too many things running off that one circuit, or there is something shorting out inside the wall. If you only have bad problems on one circuit then it might not be too expensive to fix, depending on how things are wired. A lot of the older wall outlets have the wires pushed into the back of them, rather than wrapped around a screw type terminal. These can wiggle lose over time and cause problems just from plugging things in. That's super easy and cheap to fix.

** The reason you might see 30 amp or higher fuses is because the last owners had problems blowing 15 amp fuses all the time. They basically just hid the problem but didn't actually fix it. Get an electrician in if you're not sure, it's cheaper than real estate fees :p

[sudz]

There was a Fuse Panel in there (CEB) and it had clear ARC marks inside it. I replaced it the second day I was there with a brand new breaker panel.

House has 100 amp service.
All the regular runs and kitchen splits are 15 amp. 20 amp to AC, 30 amp to Stove.

I'll be running a separate circuit for my TV/Soundsystem... just because.
And another two lines outside, one GFI for the pool/back deck, and another to the Garage, because when I get power tools going and such I know it'll start popping. (paticuarly because the 7 amp pool pump is plugged into the same circuit currently)

The bones are fine... they just bought nice looking Dirt Cheap made in china shit to stage the house, and its all ****ing up now.

Good news is, I had my Housewarming - 250 bucks to home depot! Let the repairs continue! lol

(I've spent 820 at home depot since I moved in 2 months ago)