Now I find that Rob did not do his electrical work to code. And he did not make the closet square. And he did not do the support for the closet shelf square either. He did not do the floor correctly the first time.
On the other hand, I think he ultimately did do the floor correctly (and very nicely), install the window nicely, and most of the sheetrock work and painting looks first rate to me. So I could use him again to install windows or flooring or do general sheetrock replacement and soundproofing. But before going back to Rob I'm going to give John's contractor a chance.
What were Rob's mistakes?
1) He put two electrical boxes in the wall without covers. When he was doing this, I asked if that was up to code, including San Antonio building code. It seemed somewhat common-sense that electrical boxes should not be sitting in a wall where you might drill through them, etc. Huffing a bit, he insisted that they were. Well as I expected they are not. Electrical code requires all boxes inside the wall to have access covers. You know where they are, they can be fixed, and if a fire starts inside it will be obvious outside, and they will not direct flame back into the wall itself.
2) Rob used 14 gauge wire on a circuit which has a 20 amp breaker. Electrical code requires that the breaker be changed, and that only 12 gauge wire be used for new hookup even on a 15 amp circuit.
Other than the need to change the breaker, which John Jones will do next time, and which is a problem throughout my house it turns out, I do not see these as immediate safety concerns. I think John was a bit overdramatizing the issue with fires starting in hidden boxes. But I have agreed to have it all redone soon, not only to have all the known errors fixed, but possibly to fix unknown errors. When you see the one you may worry about the other. Rob is clearly not licensed to do electrical work, not qualified, and not especially good at it.
On the other hand, I think he ultimately did do the floor correctly (and very nicely), install the window nicely, and most of the sheetrock work and painting looks first rate to me. So I could use him again to install windows or flooring or do general sheetrock replacement and soundproofing. But before going back to Rob I'm going to give John's contractor a chance.
What were Rob's mistakes?
1) He put two electrical boxes in the wall without covers. When he was doing this, I asked if that was up to code, including San Antonio building code. It seemed somewhat common-sense that electrical boxes should not be sitting in a wall where you might drill through them, etc. Huffing a bit, he insisted that they were. Well as I expected they are not. Electrical code requires all boxes inside the wall to have access covers. You know where they are, they can be fixed, and if a fire starts inside it will be obvious outside, and they will not direct flame back into the wall itself.
2) Rob used 14 gauge wire on a circuit which has a 20 amp breaker. Electrical code requires that the breaker be changed, and that only 12 gauge wire be used for new hookup even on a 15 amp circuit.
Other than the need to change the breaker, which John Jones will do next time, and which is a problem throughout my house it turns out, I do not see these as immediate safety concerns. I think John was a bit overdramatizing the issue with fires starting in hidden boxes. But I have agreed to have it all redone soon, not only to have all the known errors fixed, but possibly to fix unknown errors. When you see the one you may worry about the other. Rob is clearly not licensed to do electrical work, not qualified, and not especially good at it.
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