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What he was actually telling you is the wiring wasn't up to code. In a bathroom or kitchen, according to code you have to run 12 gauge wire (more copper in it as opposed to standard house wire) to upgrade to 3 pole outlets *grounded*.
But if the existing wire is a smaller gauge (usually 14 house wire) you have to change the entire circuit with 12 or the grounded outlet will not function properly and fires start. So he was correct to tell you about it.
I can't comment on whether you got ripped off or not because I wasn't there to see what he actually did. Whatever trade you have coming into your home is going to try to upsell. That's just the way it is unfortunately.
If he ran new wire all the way from the electrical panel to the circuit then there is a cost of wire and connectors and new 3 pole boxes and grounded outlets. The cost can be: $20/per outlet; the wire itself is $1.50/ft; boxes $6/ea, wages a min of $35/hr. Their company will take a profit over and above the actual work order cost.
It only has to be brought up to code if it's newly worked on. Old houses are bought & sold every day and pass inspection, being allowed to keep older wiring that was up to code at the time the wiring was installed.
These homeowners were not experiencing any other problems with other wiring, so shouldn't have allowed "work" to be done.
If they wanted an inspection of the wiring in the rest of the house, they could have arranged to have that done. But unless you rewire the whole house, it's impossible to have it all inspected and assured there wouldn't be a short at some time in the future. In fact, that can happen with new wiring.
I tried to have an old house's wiring inspected once and found that electricians didn't want to do that. I got a sort of inspection...it's old wiring, what else could he say. But it would've been up to code at the time, as far as he knew. Waste of money.
It only has to be brought up to code if it's newly worked on. Old houses are bought & sold every day and pass inspection, being allowed to keep older wiring that was up to code at the time the wiring was installed.
These homeowners were not experiencing any other problems with other wiring, so shouldn't have allowed "work" to be done.
If they wanted an inspection of the wiring in the rest of the house, they could have arranged to have that done. But unless you rewire the whole house, it's impossible to have it all inspected and assured there wouldn't be a short at some time in the future. In fact, that can happen with new wiring.
I tried to have an old house's wiring inspected once and found that electricians didn't want to do that. I got a sort of inspection...it's old wiring, what else could he say. But it would've been up to code at the time, as far as he knew. Waste of money.
Interesting. This same electrician kept pushing the company’s free 10-point inspection. Fortunately, I have had had enough life experience to know exactly what these “free” inspections are all about, so I declined …multiple times.
Yup. Had a plumber come the other day. I was told in advance that there would be a fuel surcharge for every k over a 50-kilometer round-trip. 50k is 30 miles, and the town where the plumber is just 12-15 miles away depending where in town they are located.
He did the work and said no fuel surcharge, we were just under. So I guess that is a thing now.
That’s actually OK, as long as they disclose the extra charge up front. It’s illegal to tack it on as an extra charge at the end … previously unannounced.
Everyone where I live charges a fee to get to my house. (and I don't live in any remote area ..... they've done this for as long as I can remember). I thought the cost of 'getting there' was part of a business' expenses. When did this get passed on to the customer?
Everyone where I live charges a fee to get to my house. (and I don't live in any remote area ..... they've done this for as long as I can remember). I thought the cost of 'getting there' was part of a business' expenses. When did this get passed on to the customer?
How else do you think business expenses would be covered? Charity?
He didn’t run a new wire anywhere. He said he was going to have to do that (and it was going to be difficult) but it turns out he didn’t. He found the wire he needed somehow in the wall right behind the fixture or in the fixture, then just took out the bad wire and hooked up the good one … and attempted to charge us almost $800. We wound up only paying $665 after I complained twice. Still sucks …
Trust me you will pay WAY WAY more than that in the future for your actions. Right or wrong when contractors have a problem customer they share that customers name with other contractors/businesses. Then whenever that person wants pretty much anything done they WILL be charged more than would regularly be charged. I owned a construction company for over 20 years and lists of problem customers are very common. 99% of complaints/problems come from 1% of the customers.
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