So, what am I? Follow the trail. (I'm A Cute Homeowner Electric Job)
I start here, in the crawl space, at a power strip plugged into a long extension cord, itself plugged in 40' away, along with a light fixture for the furnace unit that's under there. I am wrapped up with electric tape, and oh so cute! I like that!
From there I go out through a crawl space vent, which is covered so nobody can see what's really going on. From this spot I go under a deck, which is low to the ground and so covered with lattice that no one can get underneath. Mr. Jay, the home inspector trying to figure me out, couldn't see where I go from this opening. I like that!
He thinks I go to service a receptacle on the side of the deck. And from there another cable comes out, runs along the ground and up this post. See how I disappear into the roof of this small little hut? That roof covers a hot tub, and there is a ceiling fan. It's certain that I service the ceiling fan, but no one can see how I'm connected inside the space. And from there another wire comes back out! How we go together inside there might also be with electric tape, but I'm not telling! Like I said, I like that!
Well, here's the end of the line! The homeowner who put me together sure likes electric tape! And yes, at this spot I am hot! You should see me do the Cha-Cha! Hot! See how I'm attached to the side of the post? That's code!
But none of the rest is to code. I had to give them a feint here and there. I like that!
My recommendation: so what am I? I'm a cute homeowner electric job! Homeowner work is homeowner work. It's fine if you want to do this stuff to yourself and live with it. But when it comes time to sell your house, don't foist it off onto someone else! It's dangerous! It's not to code! It wasn't done with a permit! Insurance almost surely won't cover it if something goes wrong! But it does make for a fun blog! I like that!
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC 
Based in Bristow, serving all of Northern Virginia.
Office (703) 330-6388 Cell (703) 585-7560
Hmmm....I can see someone doing that, however. Maybe the plan was to fix it right later, but later didn't come?
My understanding is the hut and hot tub were installed in 2003, Dennis. Surely the plan is to fix it later...
Says he, with a wink.
It's amazing what people do -- they probably thought they did a great job!
Oh vey. Looks like a mess and not very safe.
You should see the structural "repairs" he did in the crawl space, Kat!
Debbie - messy, dangerous and not the only thing!
Good morning Jay! Reminds me of the Fram oil filter commercial! Enjoy your day!
Good morning Jay,
This might help next time!
Make yourself a great day.
Nice, isn't it fun tracking stuff like this down? I had one the other day that the guy had an orange extension cord running from the attic, plugged into an outlet by the attic light switch, down into the garage to plug in his extra refrigerator. It ended up being about 30' long. The minds is a terrible thing...
Why did I have the song Follow the Yellow Brick Road playing in my head while I read this post? I guess the owner thought if the light continued to come on, all was OK. Sad.
A bit like that Wayne! Start to finish, there is a logical progression.
Raymond - the Gordion light switch knot. Alexander defeated it by cutting it with his sword. In this case, it's the yellow.
Fred - this is your wire. This is your wire on fridge. The wire is a terrible thing to waste.
Stephen - at least Dorothy had companionship!
I'm a fire hazard waiting to burn down this house Jay Markanich
Deanna - interestingly, the seller did not want to pull a permit to have the county come and look at all their "new" wiring. Gee, I can't understand why. They said they just want to have an electrician come and "fix" it. Not sure where this will go.