Wiring The Wrong House
Wiring the Wrong House
When the REA was bringing power to the farm homes, a lot of people began doing electrical work, resulting in unusual happenings.
In one instance two houses were being built about a block apart. One contractor had the bid on one house. Another contractor had the bid on the other one. The crew from the first contractor finished with their work and left. When the crew from the second contractor arrived at their job, the reported back that the house was already wired.
The first crew had wired the wrong house. Not to worry though, contractors in those days were not so demanding. They got together and decided to switch jobs and do the work in the name of the other contractor. I have seen some rough competition between contractors, but in those days it was all new and everyone got along better.
One time a contractor was working on a fine old house. One fellow was in the basement with a drill, drilling through the floor into what they thought was a wall. (By the way – this was not a cordless drill. It may not have even been a powered drill.) When he thought he was through the floor and into the wall cavity, he began pushing the drill up and down and calling; “Can you see it? Can you see it?”
The guy up above was watching for the bit to come through and saying; “No I can’t see it. No I can’t see it.” Then, off to the side, in the middle of the floor, he caught sight of an old fashioned flat iron (one used for ironing clothes – usually heated on a wood stove) jumping up and down. Moving the flat iron exposed the moving bit from the fellow down below. They had missed the wall by several feet.
How do you patch a hole in an old fashioned hard wood floor?
On another occasion an electrician was drilling up through the floor, again thinking he was coming into a wall. He also missed the wall. He did come up through the floor of the dining room. This guy managed to drill into the leg of an old oak table.
I guess that one could be covered up by just leaving the table where it was.