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#1
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Problem: Fuses to Breakers
Hello,
I'm hoping to get some insight on a dilemma. I'm not an expert at explaining this type of thing, so please forgive me if this all sounds confusing. We (my wife and I) recently purchased a home, had our inspection, and were waiting for a few final details to be taken care of before the closing. One of which was that the current owners would agree to replace the fuse panel in the basement with breakers. The current power for the house is 100 amp. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, until the people we're buying the house from said they couldn't put the breakers in after all (despite the fact that they agreed to do this in writing). The reason being? In order to replace a fuse box with a breaker panel in this particular city, a person is required to upgrade to 200 amp service. This wouldn't be that big of a deal, but they happen to have a patio built in the area where the power comes into the house, and if the upgrade goes from 100 amp to 200 amp, there are stricter regulations on what can be near the power lines, etc. To make a long story short, the existing deck would have to be altered or removed. This would create quite an expense, so obviously they don't want to do it. This is the only way they can put the breakers in according to the city. We don't really want a power upgrade, and have no real use for it, but would really like the breakers install for insurance reasons and added safety (if we don't have the breakers, our premiums rise and we're unable to take advantage of discounts, etc.). So does anyone have some advice on this? Is there a way around the codes for this city? From what I understand, it's not a state thing, just for this community. We're currently looking into it on our end. Or, if we can't have the breakers put in with the current 100 amp system, should we force the owners to come down in price or to compensate us in some other way? After all, they did agree to do this. And if they don't, it puts us in a bad position. Please, if you have an opinion or some advice on this, please let me know what you think. Thanks, Mick |
#2
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What a pain. I am surprised you have to go to 200 amp. I would bet
money there's no way around that code item. Whatever you don't make the seller do, *you* will have to do when you sell the place. Assume that the day after you buy the house you have to sell it for some reason - where does that leave you ? I would make them do everything, or else deduct the full cost of doing everything. Including the deck alteration and all that. Depending on the height of the house I 'think' they may be able to raise the point at which the electrical supply line connects to the house, rather than lowering the deck. You'd want to ask someone who knows about that, esp in your locale. To go from 60 to 200 they have to run a new line anyway I think so maybe they could reattach it higher. Anway, basic point - either make them bring it up to code, even if it means ripping out the deck or whatever, or else deduct the full cost of all the electrical and deck work from the price. The sellers know they have a problem and making them fix it, or deducting the cost, is perfectly reasonable. They're in the same position as if they still had gas lighting. |
#3
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#4
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In article .com,
wrote: Hello, I'm hoping to get some insight on a dilemma. I'm not an expert at explaining this type of thing, so please forgive me if this all sounds confusing. We (my wife and I) recently purchased a home, had our inspection, and were waiting for a few final details to be taken care of before the closing. One of which was that the current owners would agree to replace the fuse panel in the basement with breakers. The current power for the house is 100 amp. I don't know if they are still available or if they would satisfy the insurance requirements, but if you can find them, replace the fuses with "Mini-Breakers" which screw into the fuse sockets. I have only seen them with the standard (light bulb type) screw base so if you have the type S fuses, your outa luck. -- Rich Greenberg Marietta, GA, USA richgr atsign panix.com + 1 770 321 6507 Eastern time. N6LRT I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67 Canines:Val, Red & Shasta (RIP),Red, husky Owner:Chinook-L Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/ Asst Owner:Sibernet-L |
#6
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"Eric Tonks" etonks@sunstormADD-DOT-COM wrote in message
... If you "force" the seller to do it, they will do as little as possible as cheaply as possible, you may not be happy with the results, but they will have lived up to their obligation. That is very good advice. I had a similar situation with a house that I bought some time ago. The seller considered himself to be a competent electrician / carpenter / painter, but I spent most of my remodeling effort fixing his 'improvements'. Definitely get the price of the house lowered and do the renovations yourself (or have them done by professionals). If I hadn't done so, his repairs would have increased even further the number of things I had to fix. The earlier advice that YOU will have to fix anything that you allow the current seller to wiggle out of is another good piece of advice. Many buyers kindly allow the sellers to ignore some important item, thinking that it isn't important to them, but when they try to sell the house themselves, they end up paying for the same repairs. Somehow, the next buyer's home inspector is always more thorough than your own home inspector was. Take heed to the advice. It is wisdom that they probably paid a price to gain. Greg |
#7
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On 5 Mar 2005 00:50:54 -0800, someone wrote:
I would make them do everything, or else deduct the full cost of doing everything. Who died & made you King? Easy to talk big when you are not actually in your deal. What Buyer has going for him: Seller agreed to do it. What Buyer has against him: NEITHER party knew that a 200 amp upgrade and thus a deck reconstruction would be necessary. Thus, Seller could argue that this part of the contract is founded on what is known as "MTUAL MISTAKE". How many years you wanna litigate this? Sure, Buyer might be able to pull out of the contract for this. Maybe even get bought off. But how ya gonna "make them" do all this work instead? What if they won't? This could get nasty. Interesting to see the grand pronouncement of what YOU would make them do. Maybe you should assume Buyer's contract and then we could watch while you show us how you make them. Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file. |
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