Electricity is probably the area where most home inspectors are the most uncomfortable.

Sometimes it's because electricity is inherently difficult to understand because of all the weird terminology -- volts, watts, amperage.

Sometimes it's because we don't know what someone might have done to the electric system in their home under the false believe that if it works after they worked on it, then they must have done a bang-up job.

Too often, they did, indeed, do a bang-up job.

When I'm to do an inspection and someone tells me that the Seller is an electrician, I know that I'm going to find electrical problems that I wouldn't find anywhere else. It's not that they don't know better, it's that they practice what so many people practice: "Do as I say, not as I do."

In the following two pictures, you can see a big orange circuit breaker at the top of the electric panel.

That's a commercial circuit breaker, meant to be used for commercial applications in commercial electric panels. While it barely fits here in this electric panel, there are two basic problems:

1. First, that is a 175-amp commercial circuit breaker and this electric panel is rated for 125 amps. Ooops.
2. Second, if you have an electrical problem that requires you to file an insurance claim, when the insurance company sees this over-amped commercial circuit breaker in this residential panel, I can virtually guarantee you that your claim will be denied due to improper workmanship and installation.

It never seems to fail that when the Seller is a plumber, electrician, roofer, chimney sweep, etc., that's the area where most of the problems will be discovered by a home inspector like me.

Previous week's posts

1. Is this not the most beautiful lizard you have ever seen in your life? - 6/21/09
2. A California home inspection first for me - 6/21/09
3. SST (Speechless Sunday with Text): You take my chair, I take your pillow.... - 6/21/09
4. ActiveRain brings us back together after a six-year split - 6/20/09
5. Balboa Park water lily slide show - 6/20/09
6. Viking Range refrigerator recall - 6/20/09
7. Foto Friday: It just takes a little balance. I know I can do it. - 6/19/09
8. Camera review: Canon EOS Rebel XSi - 6/18/09
9. WWW (Wordless Wednesday with Words): Takin' it easy - 6/17/09
10. How to have fun when the Realtor is late.... - 6/16/09
11. Do you have a yellow thingy? - 6/15/09

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