I finally got to see the inside of a panel I wired three years ago

I was called back to a house in Oak Park for a new circuit, and the owner had taken the cover off. Three years ago, I spent a full afternoon making those wires perfect, with neat bundles and clean bends. Now, it looks like a bird's nest because the homeowner added a bunch of smart switches himself and just stuffed the extra wire in. He told me, 'It was easier to just push it all in there.' Has anyone else had a neat job completely undone by a DIY project?

3 comments

3 Comments

umak891h agoTop Commenter

Right, but doesn't it make you wonder how many of those switches are even gonna work right with all that extra wire crammed in there? The airflow thing is real, I've seen bundled up wires cause a breaker to trip from heat. Plus all that extra copper flopping around is just asking to short out on something metal. Homeowners usually just see it as "extra wire" and not a fire risk, which is the scary part.

jenny_sullivan972mo ago

Honestly, that's just how it goes with homeowners.

hollym822mo ago

Ugh, that's so frustrating to see your hard work get messed up. I get what @jenny_sullivan97 is saying, but it's not always the homeowner's fault for trying. They just don't know how much space and airflow those boxes actually need.