David Nebenzahl wrote:
....
would possess an electrician in those days to drive a nail instead of
using a screw?

Dropped the screw, didn't have a replacement. Then again, there's
nothing to say it wasn't done later, either.

--

Replaced a light switch in my friends' house in San Francisco yesterday.
House built in the '20s, in what I call "storybook" style (stucco, fake
half-timbering).

Switch started to come out easily enough: got the top screw out OK, saw
that the rather large switch was partially plastered over and stuffed
into the barely-large-enough box (this was a big old-school ceramic
switch). But the bottom screw just wouldn't come out. Tried to find the
slot to clean the paint out of it, but couldn't seem to find it no
matter how much I scraped. Dang, looks like there is no slot. WTF???

Turned out to be a NAIL, which I managed to get out after prying under
the head with a screwdriver, then getting a claw hammer in to pull it
out. Minimal cracking to the plaster which will be patched later. Oddly,
I was able to get both screws of the new switch in w/no problem.

My friends' electrician friend (real electrician, license and all) who
came over later said he has seen this a lot. First time I had, though.

This was obviously done when the house was built. Just wondering what
would possess an electrician in those days to drive a nail instead of
using a screw?


--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

David Nebenzahl wrote:
Replaced a light switch in my friends' house in San Francisco yesterday.
House built in the '20s, in what I call "storybook" style (stucco, fake
half-timbering).

Switch started to come out easily enough: got the top screw out OK, saw
that the rather large switch was partially plastered over and stuffed
into the barely-large-enough box (this was a big old-school ceramic
switch). But the bottom screw just wouldn't come out. Tried to find the
slot to clean the paint out of it, but couldn't seem to find it no
matter how much I scraped. Dang, looks like there is no slot. WTF???

Turned out to be a NAIL, which I managed to get out after prying under
the head with a screwdriver, then getting a claw hammer in to pull it
out. Minimal cracking to the plaster which will be patched later. Oddly,
I was able to get both screws of the new switch in w/no problem.

My friends' electrician friend (real electrician, license and all) who
came over later said he has seen this a lot. First time I had, though.

This was obviously done when the house was built. Just wondering what
would possess an electrician in those days to drive a nail instead of
using a screw?


ran out of screws? I dunno.

I do know that I have a box of NOS "spec grade" switches that's pretty
darn old; they predate the requirement for a grounding screw on the
frame. They have the screws included and they are retained by little
cardboard discs (similar to the plastic squares used today) so I'm not
sure just how far back you'd have to go to run into a switch that didn't
come with permanently retained screws.

nate


--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

David Nebenzahl wrote in
.com:

Replaced a light switch in my friends' house in San Francisco
yesterday. House built in the '20s, in what I call "storybook" style
(stucco, fake half-timbering).

Switch started to come out easily enough: got the top screw out OK,
saw that the rather large switch was partially plastered over and
stuffed into the barely-large-enough box (this was a big old-school
ceramic switch). But the bottom screw just wouldn't come out. Tried to
find the slot to clean the paint out of it, but couldn't seem to find
it no matter how much I scraped. Dang, looks like there is no slot.
WTF???

Turned out to be a NAIL, which I managed to get out after prying under
the head with a screwdriver, then getting a claw hammer in to pull it
out. Minimal cracking to the plaster which will be patched later.
Oddly, I was able to get both screws of the new switch in w/no
problem.

My friends' electrician friend (real electrician, license and all) who
came over later said he has seen this a lot. First time I had, though.

This was obviously done when the house was built. Just wondering what
would possess an electrician in those days to drive a nail instead of
using a screw?



Certain things don't change over time. Guy just wanted to Get 'er Dun.

"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
.com...
Replaced a light switch in my friends' house in San Francisco yesterday.

snip

Before re-carpeting my own home I decided to remove the doors to trim for
clearance, as the floors were all vct. The first one was in the hallway,
since I was there to turn on the A/C. I picked up my battery drill, opened
the utility room door and found both hinges fastened with three 1 1/2"
roofing nails. Earlier that year I had replaced that hall light switch and
found the old clicky one fastened to the paneling cutout with wood screws,
and NO box.

wrote in message
...
\

He didn't want that switch removed because there's a dead body in the
wall right behind it. Go ahead, look behind the box and be prepared
for the shock of a lifetime. (Thats the shock that killed the body
behind the wall). Since this is in San Francisco, the deceased body
is a result of dispute between jealous gay lovers.

Now THAT is some detective work!

On 6/1/2009 12:01 PM spake thus:

On Sun, 31 May 2009 13:23:10 -0700, David Nebenzahl
wrote:

Replaced a light switch in my friends' house in San Francisco yesterday.
House built in the '20s, in what I call "storybook" style (stucco, fake
half-timbering).

Switch started to come out easily enough: got the top screw out OK, saw
that the rather large switch was partially plastered over and stuffed
into the barely-large-enough box (this was a big old-school ceramic
switch). But the bottom screw just wouldn't come out. Tried to find the
slot to clean the paint out of it, but couldn't seem to find it no
matter how much I scraped. Dang, looks like there is no slot. WTF???

Turned out to be a NAIL, which I managed to get out after prying under
the head with a screwdriver, then getting a claw hammer in to pull it
out. Minimal cracking to the plaster which will be patched later. Oddly,
I was able to get both screws of the new switch in w/no problem.

This was obviously done when the house was built. Just wondering what
would possess an electrician in those days to drive a nail instead of
using a screw?

He didn't want that switch removed because there's a dead body in the
wall right behind it. Go ahead, look behind the box and be prepared
for the shock of a lifetime. (Thats the shock that killed the body
behind the wall). Since this is in San Francisco, the deceased body
is a result of dispute between jealous gay lovers.

Well, he (murderer) musta embalmed the body, because I couldn't smell a
thing.


--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

wrote:

He didn't want that switch removed because there's a dead body in the
wall right behind it. Go ahead, look behind the box and be prepared
for the shock of a lifetime. (Thats the shock that killed the body
behind the wall). Since this is in San Francisco, the deceased body
is a result of dispute between jealous gay lovers.

What's even more horrid is that it took the victim WEEKS to die!