A home inspection was done on my home in preparation for a sale. The
inspector reported "the electrical service entrance wire is in direct
contact with the wood fascia and should be repaired."

The service wire has a strain relief on the facia and goes through a
hole in the facia board on is way to the service panel in the
basement.

My home was built in 1965. It appears this service wire routing was
common practice then, I expect building codes have changed, but that
older homes are grand fathered. What advice would you give on the
necessity of changing this?

PaulF

Paul Ferguson wrote:
A home inspection was done on my home in preparation for a sale. The
inspector reported "the electrical service entrance wire is in direct
contact with the wood fascia and should be repaired."

The service wire has a strain relief on the facia and goes through a
hole in the facia board on is way to the service panel in the
basement.

My home was built in 1965. It appears this service wire routing was
common practice then, I expect building codes have changed, but that
older homes are grand fathered. What advice would you give on the
necessity of changing this?

That sounds strange. In '65, I would've expected NEC to require some sort of
conduit from the weatherhead to the fuse / breaker box. Where the heck is the
meter in this setup?

As you say, if it met code when built, you're not required bring it up to code.
If you're just moving out, I wouldn't mess with it.

You either have a C/O on the house from when it was built, which includes
the electrical wiring or if you've upgraded the service you should have some
certificate that shows it complied at the time it was installed. My only
question would be the current condition of the service entrance cable. If he
is indicating that it is in bad condition, this is a separate matter.
"Paul Ferguson" wrote in message
...
A home inspection was done on my home in preparation for a sale. The
inspector reported "the electrical service entrance wire is in direct
contact with the wood fascia and should be repaired."

The service wire has a strain relief on the facia and goes through a
hole in the facia board on is way to the service panel in the
basement.

My home was built in 1965. It appears this service wire routing was
common practice then, I expect building codes have changed, but that
older homes are grand fathered. What advice would you give on the
necessity of changing this?

PaulF

I don't put a lot of faith in home inspectors. Their experience and
qualifications can vary. If this becomes an issue with the attorneys and
buyer I suggest that you have a qualified electrician look at it or perhaps
your local electrical inspector.


John Grabowski
http://www.mrelectrician.tv



"Paul Ferguson" wrote in message
...
A home inspection was done on my home in preparation for a sale. The
inspector reported "the electrical service entrance wire is in direct
contact with the wood fascia and should be repaired."

The service wire has a strain relief on the facia and goes through a
hole in the facia board on is way to the service panel in the
basement.

My home was built in 1965. It appears this service wire routing was
common practice then, I expect building codes have changed, but that
older homes are grand fathered. What advice would you give on the
necessity of changing this?

PaulF

"Paul Ferguson" wrote in message
...
What advice would you give on the
necessity of changing this?

PaulF



Tell him it passed code in '65, then tell him to go fly a kite.
From this post and you other post in regard to the vent, this guy does not
have a clue!
Tell the buyer the home is sold "as is". If they have a problem with it they
can get it repaired themselves.

Home inspectors are generally a joke. Most references I have seen to home
inspection, that I have seen, indicate that the inspector can not even tie
his own shoes, but yet a home sale will pass or die on his report.
Greg

Paul Ferguson wrote:
A home inspection was done on my home in preparation for a sale. The
inspector reported "the electrical service entrance wire is in direct
contact with the wood fascia and should be repaired."

The service wire has a strain relief on the facia and goes through a
hole in the facia board on is way to the service panel in the
basement.

My home was built in 1965. It appears this service wire routing was
common practice then, I expect building codes have changed, but that
older homes are grand fathered. What advice would you give on the
necessity of changing this?

PaulF



This falls under the heading of "What could be done to this
house to make it brand new and up to current code standards".
I had a homeowner call me in to do an estimate on installing
grounded circuits and 3 prong outlets throughout an 80 year
old home to comply with the home inspection checklist. When
he found out that it would require rewiring the entire house
and installing a new service, he decided against compliance
with that line item.

Home inspectors,...right!

--
Robert Allison
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX

Paul Ferguson wrote:
A home inspection was done on my home in preparation for a sale. The
inspector reported "the electrical service entrance wire is in direct
contact with the wood fascia and should be repaired."

The service wire has a strain relief on the facia and goes through a
hole in the facia board on is way to the service panel in the
basement.

My home was built in 1965. It appears this service wire routing was
common practice then, I expect building codes have changed, but that
older homes are grand fathered. What advice would you give on the
necessity of changing this?

PaulF




The inspector is probably a pimpley-faced kid who has never seen SE
cable run without a conduit, or someone who just took a weekend course
and has no practical experience.

I'm not sure if it would pass inspection now, but I think it *might* if
it had a proper service cap. Tell the inspector to get F'ed, and tell
the buyers it only has to meet code for when it was installed in the
60's and if they want to redo they can do so at their own expense after
they buy the house. Whoever paid the inspector (probably the buyer) got
screwed; you might want to helpfully tell them that.

Best regards,
Bob

zxcvbob wrote:
Paul Ferguson wrote:

A home inspection was done on my home in preparation for a sale. The
inspector reported "the electrical service entrance wire is in direct
contact with the wood fascia and should be repaired."
The service wire has a strain relief on the facia and goes through a
hole in the facia board on is way to the service panel in the
basement.

My home was built in 1965. It appears this service wire routing was
common practice then, I expect building codes have changed, but that
older homes are grand fathered. What advice would you give on the
necessity of changing this?

PaulF




The inspector is probably a pimpley-faced kid who has never seen SE
cable run without a conduit, or someone who just took a weekend course
and has no practical experience.

I'm not sure if it would pass inspection now, but I think it *might* if
it had a proper service cap. Tell the inspector to get F'ed, and tell
the buyers it only has to meet code for when it was installed in the
60's and if they want to redo they can do so at their own expense after
they buy the house. Whoever paid the inspector (probably the buyer) got
screwed; you might want to helpfully tell them that.

Best regards,
Bob

Bob
Service Caps are not required by the US NEC. It specifically allows the
installation of type SE service cable by forming it into a gooseneck.

230.54 Overhead Service Locations.
(B) Service Cable Equipped with Raintight Service Head or Gooseneck.
Service cables shall be equipped with a raintight service head.
Exception: Type SE cable shall be permitted to be formed in a gooseneck
and taped with a self-sealing weather-resistant thermoplastic.
--
Tom Horne

Well we aren't no thin blue heroes and yet we aren't no blackguards to.
We're just working men and woman most remarkable like you.

zxcvbob writes:
The inspector is probably a pimpley-faced kid who has never seen SE
cable run without a conduit, or someone who just took a weekend course
and has no practical experience.

I'm not sure if it would pass inspection now, but I think it *might*
if it had a proper service cap. Tell the inspector to get F'ed, and
tell the buyers it only has to meet code for when it was installed in
the 60's and if they want to redo they can do so at their own expense
after they buy the house. Whoever paid the inspector (probably the
buyer) got screwed; you might want to helpfully tell them that.

Best regards,
Bob

I think you are all missing the point here. The inspection and
associated inspection contingency clause give the buyer the right to
walk away from the offer if more than $X (typically $250 in our area)
in issues are found during inspection.

Basically, anything an inpsector finds (and they always find
something) can be used either as grounds for walking away from the
deal or trying to negotiate a price concession.

If the local market conditions in general and the price you set on
your house in particular are such that you want to sell more than
buyers want to buy then it doesn't matter whether the inspector is
right or not. You may lose the sale if you don't accomodate the
buyer. On the other hand, if conditions favor the seller, then hang
tough since either the buyer will accept the sale as-is or you can
move on to the next eager buyer.

The point is that it has nothing to do with right vs. wrong and
everything to do with negotiations and the relative buyer vs. seller
power.

As an FYI, sale of our condo just fell through because based on the
results of the inpsection, the buyer wanted the following:
1. Replace all the windows (condo has beautiful wood double hung
windows that are 70 yrs old and therefore a little loose)
2. Upgrade electrical service to 200A (for a condo!) from current 60A
3. Replace *all* outlets with GFI !?
4. Fix broken radiators (which actually work, but inspector didn't
feel heat on them on the Spring day he tested them)
5. Run a dedicated outlet for refrigerator

In the end it didn't matter who was right or wrong. We were unwilling
to meet the conditions since we thought we could do better, so buyer
walked.

HorneTD wrote:
zxcvbob wrote:

Paul Ferguson wrote:

A home inspection was done on my home in preparation for a sale. The
inspector reported "the electrical service entrance wire is in direct
contact with the wood fascia and should be repaired." The service
wire has a strain relief on the facia and goes through a
hole in the facia board on is way to the service panel in the
basement.

My home was built in 1965. It appears this service wire routing was
common practice then, I expect building codes have changed, but that
older homes are grand fathered. What advice would you give on the
necessity of changing this?

PaulF




The inspector is probably a pimpley-faced kid who has never seen SE
cable run without a conduit, or someone who just took a weekend course
and has no practical experience.

I'm not sure if it would pass inspection now, but I think it *might*
if it had a proper service cap. Tell the inspector to get F'ed, and
tell the buyers it only has to meet code for when it was installed in
the 60's and if they want to redo they can do so at their own expense
after they buy the house. Whoever paid the inspector (probably the
buyer) got screwed; you might want to helpfully tell them that.

Best regards,
Bob


Bob
Service Caps are not required by the US NEC. It specifically allows the
installation of type SE service cable by forming it into a gooseneck.

230.54 Overhead Service Locations.
(B) Service Cable Equipped with Raintight Service Head or Gooseneck.
Service cables shall be equipped with a raintight service head.
Exception: Type SE cable shall be permitted to be formed in a gooseneck
and taped with a self-sealing weather-resistant thermoplastic.


Thanks for the clarification.

The local farm store sells service caps made specifically for type SE
cable -- it looks like they are mainly to keep the rain out of the hole
in the wall where the cable passes thru. The electrical code probably
doesn't care, but I would want something to keep the rain out (perhaps
locating the thru hole up near the soffit where it's protected and using
electrical putty would be enough)

Bob

blueman wrote:

zxcvbob writes:

The inspector is probably a pimpley-faced kid who has never seen SE
cable run without a conduit, or someone who just took a weekend course
and has no practical experience.

I'm not sure if it would pass inspection now, but I think it *might*
if it had a proper service cap. Tell the inspector to get F'ed, and
tell the buyers it only has to meet code for when it was installed in
the 60's and if they want to redo they can do so at their own expense
after they buy the house. Whoever paid the inspector (probably the
buyer) got screwed; you might want to helpfully tell them that.

Best regards,
Bob


I think you are all missing the point here. The inspection and
associated inspection contingency clause give the buyer the right to
walk away from the offer if more than $X (typically $250 in our area)
in issues are found during inspection.



My point was that the inspector (like most but not all home inspectors)
was an idiot who collected a big fee to take a dump. Then someone has
to clean up the mess as a condition of the sale.

Bob

"blueman" wrote in message
...

I think you are all missing the point here. The inspection and
associated inspection contingency clause give the buyer the right to
walk away from the offer if more than $X (typically $250 in our area)
in issues are found during inspection.


True enough, I guess it depends on how bad you want to sell the home. To bad
the home inspector is an idiot, and a sale will hinge on his findings.
Negotiate, or tell them the house is sold "as is".
I get a kick out of it when a buyer wants something repaired before they buy
a home. I would probably agree with the inspectors findings, and negotiate
the price down slightly. Why bother to fix it. If the seller walks, another
will come along and the next home inspector will probably miss what the
first saw, and find some other made up problem.

Too many people get their hearts involved in a home sale. Agree on a price,
or don't. It is that simple. After we made the first offer on our house we
withdrew a the first offer we had made, and gave a new offer that was $5000
less! The seller had not even said yes or no to the higher offer. I just
found out something that made the home worth less in my mind. Of course the
seller called me, he was all freaked out! I told him to accept the offer or
let it go! After all was said and done, I raised my offer $500 and it was
accepted! Saved myself $4500 on the deal.
Buying or selling you need to be ready to walk away if the deal is not
right.
Greg