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most commercial electricians will do that, it's standard practice.
nate
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13 years ago
I want outlets like this.
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13 years ago
om...
There are a total of 13 screws holding on various switch plates in my office, which is in an suburban office park. The building was remodeled about 4 years ago, so the office is fairly "new".
All 13 screws have the screw slot set vertically.
I just took a stroll down to the 1st floor where they are putting the finishing touches on a complete gut/remodeling as we combine 2 office locations. Every screw that I looked at, whether it was in a hallway, in an office or under the cubicle furniture, was vertical.
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13 years ago
.com...
yup, it's just one of those little things that shows pride in your work.
If you have an electrican do work for you and the screw slots are
*not* all aligned, that might be a sign that you should check some of their other work.I'm not saying that either if they *are* aligned that you necessarily got a good job, or if they are *not* aligned that you got a bad job, but it is pretty much universal for a pro sparky to align the slots, so lack of alignment I consider to be somewhat worrisome.
nate
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13 years ago
Why did they remove the requirement from the electrical code if it made sense?
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13 years ago
This is the first time I've ever heard such nonsense. WTF would it possibly matter? LMAO!!
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13 years ago
I do hundreds of things that the homeowner will never see and would never notice on every job. I think that paying attention to detail means all details. I don't like Holmes on Holmes, and I think he's a putz (at least he comes across that way on the tube), but on this we agree.
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13 years ago
And it's pretty hard to not point out that pride in your work requires anal-retentivity training.
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13 years ago
com...
If at your age it has to be explained to you, no - it won't matter to you. There is no functional difference. Just as painting all of the walls of your house the same color is more 'functional' than all of those fussy different colors. It's an aesthetic thing. A professional that doesn't worry about aesthetics is not a professional.
Ever see a panelboard that looks like spaghetti? Still works just fine, right? No functional difference. But a professional cares how it looks and, at least in the case of the panelboard, tries to make it easier for the next guy.
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13 years ago
"Steve Barker" wrote
I'd say you need to get out more. It is a common practice among journeymen electricians, and it shows that what is behind the cover plate will be right, too. It's a signature thing, not practiced or understood by sloppy workmen.
Steve
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13 years ago
it doesn't, but like I said, it's a sign. Shows pride in your work.
nate
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13 years ago
I bet if you'd asked over on alt.home.repair someone would have told you how to do it yourself. ;-)
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13 years ago
The screws holding the plates on my outlets are random. I just looked over at the wall switch, all horizontal. ;-)
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13 years ago
You know, I can see both sides of this discussion. (We haven't started arguing yet, but trust me, it's coming!)
Vertical screws *could* mean "pride in their work" and "that what is behind the cover plate will be right, too" or it could mean a couple of other things:
1 - "I'll put lipstick on this pig and they'll think I did a quality job."2 - "I *think* I know all about wiring, but I really don't know a damn thing about it. The one thing I do I know is that the pros set their screws vertically, so I'm going to do that too. I, therefore, must be a pro."
Bottom line: vertical screws may not mean anything at all...then again, they might.
You really don't know unless you pull a few covers and see what's behind the curtain.
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13 years ago
Are you saying that electricians have their head up their ass?
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13 years ago
Who said they removed the "requirement" from any code. It was a safety issue, independent of any "code", AFAIK.
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13 years ago
[snip]
What pleases MY eye it what is more useful. Toilet paper dispensed off the top of the roll makes it easier to see and access the end.
And I'd rather have a towel next to the kitchen sink, than plastic mistletoe.
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13 years ago
[snip]
Even when they're LOOSE?
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13 years ago
I was just messing with you. ;)
This is another one of those things where there's tons of "I'm 100% sure it's this way!" on every side.
Th following forum's info is a bit old, but it seems to cover the bases pretty completely and I'm not aware of any changes:
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There are reasonable arguments for having the orientation either way. Hospitals and industrial and government facilities might have their own requirements, but there's no definitive answer in residential construction. At least not yet. The general tide seems to want to have the ground up, but that would put strain on the cord of almost every electrical device with a power brick plug, which has to be more dangerous than the slim possibility of something contacting the neutral and hot prongs and arcing.
The likelihood that all receptacles will have to be protected by arc- fault breakers would be a more likely change to the code, and they're already halfway there with bedrooms.
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13 years ago
You're worried about how pretty something is that you're going to clean your butt with? Do you buy scented toilet tissue? D'oh!
TDD
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13 years ago
I had an architect insist on a vertical screw slot on outlet and switch plates because the groove will collect dust if it is horizontal. :-)
TDD