Thursday, March 28, 2024

Is that SUPPOSED to Happen When I Turn on the Dishwasher?

April 14, 2015  
Filed under Blog

old roof, John Silva, The Fix-It ProfessionalsWhat year was your home built? When many of the homes in the Bay Area were built, “cable” was the thing that attached the “rabbit ears” to your television, an “entertainment center” was a record player with a built in radio and kitchen gadgets were mainly operated by hand. 

If your home was built before plugs had three prongs, it might explain some of the odd things that happen when you turn on an appliance. We like to call homes like this “Houses with Character.” Recently a client called because the light in her kitchen had gone out yet again. She was tired of having to get the ladder to replace the florescent lights and decided it was time to upgrade to LED lighting. Little did she know how much of a character her home would turn out to be!

While we were replacing the old light, she mentioned that she was concerned about the wiring because the house was old and had a reputation of being “remodeled by a maniac.” This wasn’t our first visit to re-repair her home. Problems like the sink being sealed to the counter with white glue, and kitchen cabinets that were incorrectly installed (and pulling away from the walls) had become “normal” and we had fixed quite a few of them. 

Shortly after we replaced the light, she was greeted with “that electrical smell” so back out we went. It turns tools, John Silva, The Fix-It Professionalsout when the kitchen was remodeled, the “maniac” decided to move the location of the light to the “new center” of the room – away from the safety box and with wiring that’s not up to today’s code. Oh and did we mention the insulation they used was newspaper? (Yes you read that correctly) In essence, her home is an outdated firetrap that needs to be entirely re-wired. Better that she find out now than when there’s a fire.

Does your home show any of the same symptoms that hers does?

  • When you turn on the dishwasher the cable reception becomes pixilated
  • Cable boxes keep “going out” and need to be replaced
  • You can only have two appliances running in the kitchen at once or you blow a fuse
  • You have fuses (instead of a breaker box)
  • When you turn on your modern entertainment center the lights in the adjacent room flicker
  • When you run the washing machine, the lights in the upstairs bathroom flicker.
  • When you turn on the light in the bathroom, there’s a 2 to 3 second delay before the light comes on.

TV Stand, John Silva, The Fix-It ProfessionalsWe see problems like this in older rental homes all the time. The tenant calls the landlord because the expectation is when you rent a home all of their modern electronics and kitchen gadgets will work. When the home is your own, it could be that you’ve learned to live with inconveniences like this because it’s part of the home’s character.

You don’t have to put up with it! The Fix-It Professionals are expert electricians and can help you with everything from minor wiring problems to re-repairing what the last handyman did. If you’re ready to stop putting up with those nagging problems with your home, just give us a call! Our new March Special was created with you in mind. Read on for our April 7-14 special.

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