A modest proposal:

When you do work on your house, or have work done, try to be a good
"neighbor" to the people that will follow you in the house.

I don't begrudge you the oddities you may find necessary to enjoy your
abode. There are some things that drive me a little crazy, wallpaper
for example, that I wouldn't ask you to give up. Just don't do
short-sighted unnecessary things that will cause grief later on, maybe
even for YOU, if you change your mind.

I just spent the better part of an hour excavating a ceiling box in my
front room. The previous owners apparently didn't like ceiling light
fixtures. I don't begrudge them that. But the guy who did it didn't
put a cover on the box. He packed the box solid with plaster,
entombing the wires, wire nuts (which fed another active light) and
threaded hardware. In what was apparently a second process, he applied
a second layer of plaster to even off the ceiling.

The outside layer chipped out easily enough. But the plaster in the
box was applied with great care, making sure to fill every nook and
cranny. It wouldn't chip out with a hammer, especially because the box
was just suspended between two beams and thus flexed upwards when hit.
Using a drill, a tiny pry bar and a couple of screwdrivers I managed
to slowly pick away the plaster without (I hope) damaging the wires,
in much the same way paleontologists tease stegosaur bones out of
stone.

Try to keep this in mind. Maybe we'll all benefit.

Greg Guarino

"Greg G" wrote in message
...

I just spent the better part of an hour excavating a ceiling box in my
front room. The previous owners apparently didn't like ceiling light
fixtures. I don't begrudge them that. But the guy who did it didn't
put a cover on the box. He packed the box solid with plaster,
entombing the wires, wire nuts (which fed another active light) and
threaded hardware. In what was apparently a second process, he applied
a second layer of plaster to even off the ceiling.

I'm curious-- how did you know the box was there in the first place?

Patrick

On Sat, 26 Nov 2005 14:26:22 -0500, "Patrick Cleburne"
mgcleburne@csa wrote:

"Greg G" wrote in message
.. .

I just spent the better part of an hour excavating a ceiling box in my
front room. The previous owners apparently didn't like ceiling light
fixtures. I don't begrudge them that. But the guy who did it didn't
put a cover on the box. He packed the box solid with plaster,
entombing the wires, wire nuts (which fed another active light) and
threaded hardware. In what was apparently a second process, he applied
a second layer of plaster to even off the ceiling.

I'm curious-- how did you know the box was there in the first place?

Patrick


You could see a roughly circular "patch" in the ceiling. It wasn't a
terrible job, but easy enough to see. I also saw the fixture location
in my neighbor's house, which is the same as mine.

Greg Guarino

Wait...maybe they were onto something. If we pumped the entire conduit and
box system full of plaster wouldn't it conduct heat between wires and pipe
better than air? And you could overload/overheat to the point of molten
insulation which would have no where to go and no room for fire! I like
it!

tongue firmly in cheek

On Sun, 27 Nov 2005 04:21:05 GMT, Steve Kraus
wrote:

Wait...maybe they were onto something. If we pumped the entire conduit and
box system full of plaster wouldn't it conduct heat between wires and pipe
better than air? And you could overload/overheat to the point of molten
insulation which would have no where to go and no room for fire! I like
it!

Would you mind posting your address? Perhaps we could make a public
list of houses whose owners are unusually, shall we say, ingenious?

tongue firmly in cheek

Oh. Never mind...

Greg Guarino