Tekkie® wrote:

You going to remedy this mess? I like the jaunty nail cable support!

There's a *lot* of work that needs to be done to this particular house,
much of it being of higher priority, but I think it *would* be good to
correct that particular area, especially since it's right next to the
water heater.

The reason that non-galvanized nail is so rusty is that the nearby
water heater has leaked and flooded that basement at least twice that I
know of. The last time, hammering of the pipes hear the heater's output
connection hose had caused a spraying leak to spew from the part of the
(flexible) hose where the flexible material meets its ridgid end peice.

I created a fine mist that went unnoticed for however long, until it got
so bad that the water was draining faster than it could fill and the
heater's internal breaker tripped, finally creating a symptom when the
hot water was no more.

So yeah, it's probably a good idea to straighten up the electrical in
that area.

And that reminds me of yet *another* thing that needs to be done: the
water heater has no drainpan, and the overflow valve is just connected
to a short, angled pipe that's pointing straight down at the basement
floor.