A: I also received an e-mail from another woman with similar concerns. Thank you both for your feedback, as you raise valid points about dumping water onto public or private rights of way.
It's been said that two people can look at the same sentence and come to two completely different conclusions. My gosh, I've been married, I should know this as well as the next person!
In response to the original question about decommissioning a swimming pool, I wrote, "Disconnect all electrical and water pipes. Take a jackhammer and blow several holes in the bottom to allow water to drain."
My unwritten assumption was that the pool water would have been drained before commencing with said jackhammer, and certainly before disconnecting electrical or plumbing — making those tasks that much safer, dryer and more efficient.
The aforementioned holes would allow small amounts of rainwater that built up in the bottom of the decommissioned pool to drain into the soil beneath.
Picture the drain hole in the bottom of your flowerpot: The hole keeps the geranium from drowning. You wouldn't want a mud pit over the top of the decommissioned pool, right?
I hope this clears this question up.
Unfortunately, I now have a visual in my head, courtesy of these two women, that I cannot seem to shake. If anyone out there has a picture of a scuba diver ferociously jackhammering the bottom of a pool, please send it in and we'll print it as an example of how not to decommission your pool!
Electrical safety is key
March is not National Electrical Safety Month, but nonetheless, Ron Fuller and I want to remind people that electrical safety is important every month. Fuller is the state Department of Labor and Industries' chief electrical inspector.
Fuller's inspectors check work done by building owners and electricians, not other handymen, plumbers or general contractors. Of the electrical projects they see, the correction rate is eight times higher for owner-done work than with certified electricians.
Also, people who actually bother to get permits are generally going to be more concerned with doing a higher-quality job. In other words, the jobs that state inspectors don't see are the ones where the really big problems tend to crop up.
A typical example is a home I am acquainted with on Whidbey Island, where the young occupant decided to install a new light fixture in his bathroom.
Unfortunately his ambition far exceeded his abilities. In wiring the light, he placed the ground and the hot wires inside the same connector. This action caused the entire plumbing system to come alive, giving new meaning to "an invigorating shower."
It took an electrician a full day to trace down the source of the problem. Basic electrical safety rules are broken every day by well-meaning people. They are potentially put at risk, and so are future occupants of the house. A basic permit is less than $50, and the protection it provides is immeasurable.
Permits are not required for switch or receptacle changes, but are for hard-wired equipment such as a dishwasher or water heater. Some 300,000 hard-wired appliance replacements are sold in this state every year, but the state issued a total of 120,000 permits and did 250,000 inspections, most of them for new construction.
And how many of us have ever gotten permits for hard-wired appliances? Only 500-1,000 per year, and I would venture to say that most of those were L&I employees.
How many plumbers changing these appliances are also licensed electricians?
Darrell Hay answers readers' questions. Call 206-464-8514 to record your question, |
