Oh Sh** Moment

I was up in an attic yesterday and just finished pulling a wire behind a knee wall, when my foot slipped off the joist and went to the knee through the living room ceiling.

On the positive side, it was a smooth ceiling so i won't have to try to match a popcorn ceiling.

Reply to
Tommy
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I had a similar experience in a condo in CT many years ago except I went in up to my hips. One of my techs was working nearby and heard me yell. He came running and had a great laugh at the sight of my legs dangling through the ceiling.

The customer had assured me that all the plywood flooring in the attic was screwed down. I stepped on one piece that wasn't. It was a bathroom ceiling. I hired a drywall guy to replace the ceiling and repaint it. Fortunately, the wallpaper wasn't damaged.

The client was out of the country at the time. I finished the installation and left a note explaining what had happened. The drywaller did such a good job that the client said he couldn't tell anything had been done. Other than a couple of bruised elbows and a little $$ loss, it worked out OK. The lesson learned was never to believe anyone about attic flooring. :)

Reply to
Robert L Bass

I *hate* when that happens!

Reply to
Matt Ion

"Robert L Bass" wrote in news:_wmzi.5944$iA.609@trnddc05:

I just refinished it myself. it was a small hole and i'm not without skills. i,m just gald it was olny one foot or i'd have been stuck or dropped all the way through,

Reply to
Tommy

My brother in law went right through the ceiling, and landed on a small glass dining room table...He wasn't hurt at all due to his experience in bar fights. The customer used 1/2" particle board on the attic floor, and it got wet from the AC flex vents. The customer was nice enough to claim partial responsibility. Let's just say it could have cost me big time. I paid for the table & repair, the customer had his contractor brother do the drywall repair at cost...and yes it was popcorn ceilings.

Jim Rojas

Tommy wrote:

Reply to
Jim Rojas

Jim Rojas wrote in news:46ce06d5$0$18966 $ snipped-for-privacy@roadrunner.com:

That's funny. You don't see many glass top tables in the bars around here.

That's about right though. 1/2" particle. jeez, that's just enough to give you a false sense of security.

Reply to
Tommy

Hmmmm.... funny how folks expect the contractor to pay for it when they, not the contractor, do something totally wrong like that.

Reply to
Bob La Londe

I was working on a 440V 1500 Amp fire water pump in NYC 20+ years ago. Building super swore he shut off the power. Luckily I treat it like it was live anyway. My screwdriver slipped out of my hands and melted in half when it hit the power terminals...all I saw was a blue flash...I could not see anything but blue for hours...my fault for trusting someone else like that. I was connecting relays to monitoring pump run, and pump power failure for the gravity tank on the roof. I took the rest of the day off... :)

Jim Rojas

Tommy wrote:

Reply to
Jim Rojas

oh man was youse lucky!

| >> My brother in law went right through the ceiling, and landed on a small | >> glass dining room table...He wasn't hurt at all due to his experience in | >> bar fights. The customer used 1/2" particle board on the attic floor, | >> and it got wet from the AC flex vents. The customer was nice enough to | >> claim partial responsibility. Let's just say it could have cost me big | >> time. I paid for the table & repair, the customer had his contractor | >> brother do the drywall repair at cost...and yes it was popcorn ceilings. | >>

| >> Jim Rojas | >>

| >>

| >

| > That's funny. You don't see many glass top tables in the bars around here. | >

| >

| > That's about right though. 1/2" particle. jeez, that's just enough to give | > you a false sense of security.

Reply to
Crash Gordon

"Tommy" a écrit dans le message de news: Xns9995B1B0643DCtommynospamcom@216.168.3.44...

the exact same feeling a diy have with his self installed and self monitored security system..

Reply to
Petem

Building super swore he shut off the power. Luckily I treat

in half when it hit the power terminals...all I saw

trusting someone else like that. I was connecting

the roof. I took the rest of the day off... :)

When I was a teenager a friend of my parents told me this story. He was in naval engineering school during the start of WWII. During a lab class the prof, a ranking officer, was lecturing the class on proper safety procedures when working on RF transceivers. Like TV sets, they held major voltage for quite a while after being turned off. One of the students, instead of listening, was jiminexing around inside a 5 or 10KW radio with a big screwdriver when he hit something live. According to my friend, there was a loud bang and a blue flash. The cadet jumped back and fell on his olson. The front end of the screwdriver was gone.

The prof strode over and started yelling in typical military fashion, "What the frank are you going to do when you work on 50,000 Watt transceivers?!?

"Well sir, I think I'll start with a bigger screwdriver..."

I think he said they washed the guy out. I really don't know if it was true or if he made it up but I got a kick out of it and never forgot the smart-olson answer. :^)

Reply to
Robert L Bass

ROFL!!!

Reply to
Frank Olson

Having seen (and worked on more than a few fire pump controllers), you musta been pokin' around in the wrong part of the cabinet. In my experience the low voltage connections are usually at the bottom and the high voltage terminals are protected (and physically separated at the top)... Mind you, the oldest unit I've serviced is around 18 years old. Please verify for yourself that power is indeed turned off before working on any high voltage equipment. I made the same mistake myself a number of years ago (only it wasn't a fire pump) and "trusted" a nincompoop electrician when he said... "Don't worry, the power's off".

Reply to
Frank Olson

The pump looked like it was installed in the 1940's. and it had no idicator lights outside or inside to be found. Which is why I was still so cautious.

Jim Rojas

Frank Ols>> I was working on a 440V 1500 Amp fire water pump in NYC 20+ years ago.

Reply to
Jim Rojas

I got in crap from an oil company bigwig once when working inside a fuel dispenser (the kind in a gas station) on an under-construction site for not ensuring the power was off and locked out... didn't seem to matter to him that what I was working on required power and could only be configured and tested with the power on. Duh?

The site super actually found it mildly amusing that said bigwig subsequently failed them on the "safety inspection" for that...

Reply to
Matt Ion

Hey, They don,t call 'em sparky's for nothin.

Reply to
Tommy

"Petem" wrote in news:Jfrzi.5548$ snipped-for-privacy@weber.videotron.net:

FUN-E!

Reply to
Tommy

And yet... it was a professional installer who fell through the floor and ruined the customer's ceiling. Funny indeed. :^)

Come to think of it, of the thousands of mishaps and false alarms described in ASA over the last nine years or so, all but a couple have been professionally installed mishaps and professionally installed false alarms. Hysterical!

Reply to
Robert L Bass

"Robert L Bass" a écrit dans le message de news: tbMzi.66$u21.64@trnddc08...

And none of your diy never did a mishaps?

but like my old man used to say,only people that do nothing never do anything wrong.... so lately you've been doing nothing wrong..(on the installation side....)

Reply to
Petem

in up to my hips. One of my techs was working nearby and

legs dangling through the ceiling.

s screwed down. I stepped on one piece that wasn't. It

repaint it. Fortunately, the wallpaper wasn't damaged.

on and left a note explaining what had happened. The

ing had been done. Other than a couple of bruised elbows

believe anyone about attic flooring. :)

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D>

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D>

Well, I glad to see you survived your bout with lung cancer. I see you still like to tell tall tales though. I thought ceiling studs down there were on 24 inch centres, no way you would have stopped at the hips, in fact, I'm surprised they didn't find you in the basement.

Reply to
mikey

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