>The colour coding of wiring has changed and it seems to tie in with the new regs. So I guess thats how they would tell. Its still a grey area but I'm sure it will start showing up in surveys soon.
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>When I was doing wiring I loved pulling out the old stuff. Old fabric covered wire in beautifully made wooden conduit with wooden lids. No wonder places burnt down.
>

We have similar regs here. A friend of mine who is an engineer does his own wiring, and then just gets a licensed electrician in to vet it.

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>>>New building regs mean you can't do your own electrics any more. Thats a real pain.
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>>I didn't know that but how are the "building regs police" supposed to know if that bit of wiring was done before or after the new reg?
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>>>
>>>Nice trick used to be removing a chimney stack downstairs but not upstairs.
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>>Someone I knew opened up an old fireplace to find a kitchen chair wedged in to support the chimney above.
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>>I my house they had partly knocked through a room, leaving it neither one thing nor the other, as you still had to walk round this section of wall. I had the whole thing replaced with an RSJ and, when I took the remaining wall out I found that it was single-skin and bowed, supporting 2 storeys above. I left a bit of the orig to make an alcove. Some time later I had to replace the floorboards. As I got to the alcove I discovered that there was nowt below flooboard level supporting gthe remaining wall that was supporting the RSJ! i.e 3 storeys - and the roof! (The floor below had been knocked through and had an RSJ, but there was nowt between it and the wall above. I quickly got some engineering bricks in the void.
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>>I'm so happy I needed to replace the floorboards!
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>>>>When I first moved into my Victorian House I didn't know squat about fixing up. Now I'm a wiz. I've had to renovate and improve the house from under my feet. Every time I took a wallpaper scraper to the walls all the lath and plaster would come off, and wheer it joined the ceiling - replace with plasterboard (many old buildings in the UK have/hjad shot plaster due to vibes from the nazi bombs, and Brighton, with its foundries and loco factories had been a target.
>>>>
>>>>In the 70s the "old-fashioned" and unwanted cast-iron fireplaces and marble surrounds had been removed, walls had been half knocked through, with no support for the 2 storeys above, bannisters had been replaced by 70s' floor-to-ceiling wooden slats, etc., etc. All these I had to reinstate, as well as plumbing (rads and stuff), elecs, repairing the outside rendering (4 floors of it!) and decorating the elevations, et al. It's been a labour of love.
>>>>
>>>>Believe me, the victorians were what we call "gerry builders" (cowboys). Not the case in my house but some others in the street - the basements and who knows how much of the main walls, covered by renndering, are made of bungaroosh.
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>>>>BTW I didn't know the TLA "DIY" was used in the US, but that is th common expression here, with "DIY superstores".
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>...
>>>>>
>>>>>>Here is a question I honestly don't know the answer to. What is the quality of new home construction in other developed countries? Are they going through the same thing or is current American construction indefensibly shoddy? Facts please, thanks.
>>>>
>>>>I read only recently that UK houses are the wotrst in Europe for style, workmanship and insulation.
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>I'd also like to know.
>>>>>
>>>>>---
>>>>>"tub stopper" is another funny expression... what do you do when someone yells "stop that tub" in a comedy movie, when a bathtub slides downhill? Use the tub stopper?
>>>>
>>>>We call that a plug.