Scariest Stories from Jobsites

Oh, man, what about this one: literally, bugs in the system:

http://www.cepro.com/article/bugs_in_the_system/

At a job about 8 years ago the client called up angry and wanted to know “who the hell put electrical tape over the eyes on all the paintings”. My explained that he had no idea. We hired a trusted electrician to install a few outlets in the clients house over the weekend. The electrician sent one of his best guys. My boss had the electrician ask the guy if he did it and he said no at first then later admitted that the paintings were creeping him out and that he knew they were watching him.

My scariest installation involved ceiling speakers in a great room with a 22’ ceiling.
I had requested the painters to leave the scaffolding up until I installed the painted grilles on two ceiling speakers. When I got there, the scaffolding was gone, of course.
The tallest step ladder I could find was nominally 18’ but when set up it is less than 16’.  I am 6’ tall so standing on the top legitimate step meant I could just touch the ceiling but not with enough force install the grilles. The top step on the ladder is clearly labeled ” This is NOT a Step”, but standing on it was the only way I would be able to complete the job.
I found two pieces of cardboard corners that are used to protect the edges of sheet of sheetrock in transit and duct taped them to sides of the ladder as extensions so that I could feel when I was losing my balance.
Standing on the top platform of this jerry- rigged apparatus was my scariest installation moment and I had to do it twice!

Several years ago I was in the process of moving a CE manufacturer into a new (to us) building down in Orange County (the one in Caliphoria). As part of our renovations we were installing new carpet throughout the offices (the commercial type that glues down to a concrete slab floor). One morning the head carpet installer came into my office saying that there was something that I needed to see. He took me into what was going to be our president’s office and pointed to some wires just barely showing in the concrete slab floor and said that when he ran his wooden-handled glue trowel over them he got a huge spark! Had our electrician come check it out and we had a “live” 440V circuit right in the middle of the office - I can only imagine what might have happened if someone spilled some water there or the next time we had the carpet steam-cleaned.

It certainly wasn’t scary, but years ago I working in a house and there was a very large, very graphic, very nude oil painting of the homeowner’s wife above the fireplace. It had been painted by the homeowner himself. But needless to say, whenever his wife walked into the room for the next several days, there was immediate awkward silence among all the guys.  She loved it and didn’t seem to care.

For me, the scariest involved an underground path from the garage.
Exit the garage to the right, a path takes
you to the main house, enter a closet and a dor opens to a path that drops about 30 ’ below grade. The pathway led to an area below a pool house / Grato.
For me, the scariest involved an underground path from the garage.
Exit the garage to the right, a path takes you to the main house, on the left, a closet.
Enter the closet and a door opens to a path that drops about 30 ’ below grade. The pathway led to an area below a pool house / Grotto. In the path which was covered w/ knotty pine walls there was a specific knot that was actually a button. Press this and it opens to a stone room (stucco really) which contained shackle bolts from the ceiling and no door knob on the interior. My project manager and I would not enter the room. The previous owner was a secretive fellow who led a private life. His wife divorced him for infidelity. She never knew of the room or what was going on in there…