One homeowner who hired technicians to replace two HVAC control boxes was left wondering whether the job was professionally done.
Here's what to know
The wiring looked disorganized, and two wires were left exposed.
The homeowner posted an image of the setup to Reddit's r/hvacadvice forum. "There are two wires at the top with exposed copper ends that don't appear to be terminated or capped," they said. "Is this normal/acceptable for HVAC control wiring, or does this look poorly finished?"
Commenters wrote that the exposed ends were an issue, regardless of how tidy the rest of the setup looked.
"Hell no. Call 'em back," one said.
Others made a distinction between messy and unsafe. "Wiring in the middle is what it is," someone else wrote, noting that cutting wires back to make everything look clean can sometimes create trade-offs. But that same person still drew a line at the exposed conductors, saying, "Missing wire nuts at the top is sloppy work, though."
Another commenter who described themselves as a "wire guy," added: "That gives me PTSD just looking at it. They wouldn't have made it out of the driveway before I'd have called them back to fix it. … The only hard 'NO, you need to fix this for me' is the safety issue of bare wires. That is a 'FULL STOP & FIX THIS'...NOW."
The takeaway is to look over completed work before a crew leaves and photograph anything that seems unfinished. A homeowner does not need specialized trade knowledge to ask why bare copper was left exposed or whether wires should have been capped.
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Where can I learn more?
These articles cover questionable HVAC repairs and aggressive contractor behavior.
• A homeowner wondered about a $2,300 bill following a simple HVAC repair.
• After a $2,000 service call, a homeowner feared a fishy HVAC repair job.
• One HVAC tech slammed a homeowner for asking whether warranty coverage applied.
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