Reasonable timeframes for council repairs?

dekaspace

Funny story to tell, hope people don't focus on wrong thing though is that I rang yesterday just to enquire if any updates, and mentioned the damaged socket, girl said she would send out an electrician today to fix it, instead got a visit from plasterer to fill in the gaps around the socket.

She must of booked it wrong, so arranged one for tommorow, in the meantime I attempted to reverse the light socket myself and tightened it to much that it shattered a minute after I finished it so thats getting replaced tomorrow anyway. (it was upside down if you understand what I mean) funny thing is it does work I just had to put gaffer tape on top so the wires aren't exposed now.

Yes I could do it myself but with what I did to it the first time lets not risk it lol, I wonder if it was incorrect screws as one went in with no hassle even though I aligned both fine, another took a lot of effort to turn, but then the side that shattered was the one with the screw that went in easy.

So two funny things there.

G_M

Nothing funny there.

You're a tenant waiting for an electrician who the LL has agreed to send. So you decide to DIY. That's daft, not funny.

You DIY a socket and over-tighten the screw and shatter the (presumably plastic) socket. That too is daft, not funny.

Gaffer tape on a socket? What can one say!? :doh:

Why are you not doing as advised - eother leave well alone and wait for the electrician, or better still switch the circuit off at the CU?

dekaspace

G_M wrote: »

Nothing funny there.

You're a tenant waiting for an electrician who the LL has agreed to send. So you decide to DIY. That's daft, not funny.

You DIY a socket and over-tighten the screw and shatter the (presumably plastic) socket. That too is daft, not funny.

Gaffer tape on a socket? What can one say!? :doh:

Why are you not doing as advised - eother leave well alone and wait for the electrician, or better still switch the circuit off at the CU?

Actually you have totally misunderstood what I said, they were NOT sending out a electrician for the light socket

And its strange as some of the advice was to "do it myself" ,

I have gaffer taped over the remains of the sockets 2 pieces so its one whole, not gaffer tape over bare socket.

Use some logic lol.

The cracked part of socket slides together like a jigsaw, the tape is to stop it moving, as it it the 2 pieces slot together, and don't fall off on their own, the bigger piece is still screwed in and not moving, its just a straight crack in a line above and below one of the screws.

Would you rather I walk about in pitch black all night?

So that faceplam you did has a different meaning to you thought!

Davesnave

Back in the real world, I climbed on my roof to sort something out today, just like I always climb on my roof, get in a drain or shovel mud and chicken poo etc etc; it's my way of life here. If I don't do it, no one else will.

Bloomin' switches have been hanging off in some of our rooms for a couple of years now, but we're in the middle of a long-term rewire and I need some longer screws for them. Electricians didn't have any and I only see them once in a blue moon, if I'm lucky. Yes, there are gaps around the edges, too because the plasterer never quite gets it right, but there's this marvellous stuff called Polyfilla......

Gosh, I'm rambling! But then I'm a pensioner, nearer 70 than 65, so that's OK. Despite being old and dotty, I might not stick my fingers in a socket if I think about it hard enough....

Err...what was the question?

seven-day-weekend

The OP is a person with mental health problems. People with these problems often fuss and worry about things when it isn't strictly necessary, that's the nature of mental illness.

Please people, have a bit of kindness here.

breaking_free

Reasonable timeframes for council repairs? (Title thread)

To answer your question, I think the six weeks you've been quoted is fair (compared to the private rental market). Inconvenient, but fair.

When the taxpayer is paying for it, 'As long as it takes' doesn't seem so unreasonable. My regular electrician has given me a two month lead time to come and look at some work I need doing. He's not going to do the work after two months - he's just going to look at it and give me a quote. I dream of having electrical jobs done in six weeks...

I'm sorry if I come across as harsh but you must realize that the majority of us on this forum are not having any works to our homes carried out for free AND it takes months to get a qualified tradesperson (depending on where you live). I'm in the South East where every man and his dog is renovating, so all the tradies have jobs booked up months ahead of time.

I do take my hat off to the poster above for pointing out that we should perhaps be a little kinder in our responses.

dekaspace

breaking_free wrote: »

Reasonable timeframes for council repairs? (Title thread)

To answer your question, I think the six weeks you've been quoted is fair (compared to the private rental market). Inconvenient, but fair.

When the taxpayer is paying for it, 'As long as it takes' doesn't seem so unreasonable. My regular electrician has given me a two month lead time to come and look at some work I need doing. He's not going to do the work after two months - he's just going to look at it and give me a quote. I dream of having electrical jobs done in six weeks...

I'm sorry if I come across as harsh but you must realize that the majority of us on this forum are not having any works to our homes carried out for free AND it takes months to get a qualified tradesperson (depending on where you live). I'm in the South East where every man and his dog is renovating, so all the tradies have jobs booked up months ahead of time.

I do take my hat off to the poster above for pointing out that we should perhaps be a little kinder in our responses.

And at same time as the taxpayer is paying for it people won't bat an eyelid, but theres plenty of working tenants in social housing.

And the context of the question was specifically relating to being reasonable given it is social housing, not homeowners who may wait long times as they have to do it themselves.

IF I owned my own home I would do these repairs myself, why think any differently? I taught myself basic diy over the years because of past problems, at my last home I put in new plug sockets when one cracked when a electric heater overloaded and died, at a student house the landlord wanted £50 to put a new backplate on a extension for a socket under a sink (which was a health risk) in bedroom, I got part myself which cost less than £1 and did it myself.

If the socket broke and it was my fault I would fix without getting council involved but it was specifically broken before I moved in.

Its not getting done for free, the rent covers it though my rent is paid for by benefits and I paid taxes before I went on benefits.

I mean no disrepect or offense there but people are looking at it as free housing therefore I should take what I get.

ripplyuk

Don't get yourself electrocuted dekaspace. Things like exposed wires and gaffa tape sounds worrying. I don't think you should try to fix it yourself and I also wouldn't expect anyone to sit in the dark until the council sort it out.

I also live in a council house (though I'm starting to feel worried about mentioning that on this forum) and I know that my council do not permit tenants to try to fix anything to do with electrics, water etc by themselves or without permission. If I want to get a tradesman in, I have to write to the head office and wait for confirmation which they say will take up to 6 weeks. By that stage, it's quite likely the council would have fixed it for me anyway.

There's also the issue that anything I do to the property without permission, I become responsible for, if it causes problems or damage, either now or in the future.

OP, just don't use the socket and hopefully the council will fix it soon.

dekaspace

ripplyuk wrote: »

Don't get yourself electrocuted dekaspace. Things like exposed wires and gaffa tape sounds worrying. I don't think you should try to fix it yourself and I also wouldn't expect anyone to sit in the dark until the council sort it out.

I also live in a council house (though I'm starting to feel worried about mentioning that on this forum) and I know that my council do not permit tenants to try to fix anything to do with electrics, water etc by themselves or without permission. If I want to get a tradesman in, I have to write to the head office and wait for confirmation which they say will take up to 6 weeks. By that stage, it's quite likely the council would have fixed it for me anyway.

There's also the issue that anything I do to the property without permission, I become responsible for, if it causes problems or damage, either now or in the future.

OP, just don't use the socket and hopefully the council will fix it soon.

I should be clear, theres no exposed wires as I put the 2 pieces back together, then tape over the plastic so its all intact, there would of been exposed but still not easily accessed wires had I not done that.

Having a look at it the cracked area is far smaller than I thought, its more the edges around one of the screws which is why if I put the plastic back where it was it doesn't fall off, the tape is just there to hold that plastic on.

If I glued it together you would struggle to even know its damaged, the socket does work but not going to use it, and theres another socket in hall that controls that light so I can use that.

Davesnave

breaking_free wrote: »

I do take my hat off to the poster above for pointing out that we should perhaps be a little kinder in our responses.

I wasn't being unkind; just saying much the same as you, but in a different way with a touch of humour.

I think somee of the responses are confusing, mine included.

But it's true, I can't get a plasterer without at least a 3 month wait.... and I'll not say what my wife had to threaten in order to get the electricians to make the living room 'live' by Christmas! Hadn't seen them in about 6 months; they're always in an area of 'poor mobile reception.'

These are the sort of everyday, real-world problems many of us have, regardless of what house we own or rent. I don't think it does harm to tell the OP this, or to say that his problems are just like ours really.

We all get by.