Very narrow electric panel box access - and in a bathroom?
There should be very good access in front of, and plenty of clearance under, over and beside an electric panel box.
The minimum clearances are defined by code!
The reason for that is obvious. Electrical components need to be gotten to and have excellent light provided for when work needs to be done.
There are places electric panel boxes should not be - behind cabinets added to the kitchen, in very small closets and behind clothing, and especially not in bathrooms!
So when I could not find the electric panel box in this particular house, and knowing where it had to be, I looked into the newly-created basement bathroom and groaned.
Obviously the new bathroom hid the panel box, but the access door was only 12" wide!
I was able to get my svelte self inside, and was disappointed to find another thing I suspected.
The infamous Federal Pacific Stab-lok panel box.
Misinformation about this box and its components are rife.
A lot of the misinformation is put out there by home inspectors - that the box has been recalled, that the box regularly has fires, that it has been proclaimed unsafe by the CPSC, etc.
None of that is really true, but my insurance company expects me to tell my clients about the reputation that's out there.
On my reports I put information about the box, and put a link to the CPSC, and what it says, and that is about it. I always recommend that older wiring, and panel boxes, be considered for replacement.
This box, however, was inaccessible not only by the small door and closet that blocked it, there was no light back there, and the wall framing was only 4" in front of the cover!
Notice that the two screws on the left side of the cover are missing. You can't get to them! And the two on the right were wood screws with sharp points! That in and of itself is exceptionally dangerous, and I did not remove them. Breakers were also missing, so somebody, not a professional, has been inside this box. It needed professional evaluation right now.
My recommendation: sometimes decisions on buying a house has to be made on one thing alone. This bathroom is a big deal - no permit, dangerously wired, and blocking a panel box - all of these things represent a big, big reason to avoid this house.
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