Light Switch Changed Polarity?

[Lomac]

So here I am, watching a movie on TV, when I noticed my porch lights go out. Thinking a breaker tripped, I went to turn the switch off on my way to the panel and suddenly the lights come on once it's in the "off" position. It's a single pole, one way switch, so it's not wired in with another unit, and this is the first time it's happened. It's a new build (<5 years) and there haven't been any electrical changes since the drywall was put up, so I know there can't be any odd half-assed fixes done in the past. That said, this entire house was built rather poorly, so I can't rule out any sort of shitty, unlicensed installations

All that said, any thoughts as to what might be causing this? I'm going to pop into town tomorrow to pick up a new switch, just in case, but I'm curious as to what other causes might have triggered this change.

[kkthind]

Originally Posted by Lomac

So here I am, watching a movie on TV, when I noticed my porch lights go out. Thinking a breaker tripped, I went to turn the switch off on my way to the panel and suddenly the lights come on once it's in the "off" position. It's a single pole, one way switch, so it's not wired in with another unit, and this is the first time it's happened. It's a new build (<5 years) and there haven't been any electrical changes since the drywall was put up, so I know there can't be any odd half-assed fixes done in the past. That said, this entire house was built rather poorly, so I can't rule out any sort of shitty, unlicensed installations

All that said, any thoughts as to what might be causing this? I'm going to pop into town tomorrow to pick up a new switch, just in case, but I'm curious as to what other causes might have triggered this change.

[BrRsn]

take off the white cover/frame
look at the box, if there is more than 2 wires coming in to your porch light switch, there is a second switch that effects your porch light

(had to fix this problem on an older house ... by fix I mean run around the house flicking switches to figure out which switch effected the first switch... thats a lot of switches)

[Soundy]

Halloween was two days ago.

[Lomac]

WTF

Well, that's a can of worms I just opened.

Just pulled the switch and it is indeed a three way, which is odd because there was only supposed to be one three way switch installed in the house and that's for something completely different on another floor.

Anyway, the issues I came across isn't electrical related (though I'm sure I'll notice some if i start pulling more outlets and switches lol), but the fact that there's absolutely no vapour barrier behind the drywall.



FML.

Seriously, in a semi-submerged basement built on the side of a hill, where the surrounding soil consists mostly of compacted clay, who finishes a basement in the following method:

Concrete walls
2 inch EPS foam board (I'm guestimating on the depth, but it's definitely the shitty EPS crap)
Dry wall
Done

Now I'm genuinely curious as to if there's any mould on the drywall in the back of the basement where it's actually built into the hill.



And this, people, is why you should observe each step of a house being built instead of assuming your GC knows WTF is going on.


edit: Okay, I know Code doesn't require a vapour barrier, but common sense should...

[BrRsn]

So ... there's probably a second switch somewhere -- maybe the the garage lights or maybe there's an external power outlet in the soffit somewhere for christmas lights, and that's tied into your porch light?

on the plus side, you have a fun activity to do when you're bored
run around the house flipping switches!

[Lomac]

That's gonna be a pain in the ass. All the switches that may have affected the lights are based upstairs and the porch lights are on the ground floor, under another deck.

Flip switch, run outside to the other side of the house, check lights, run back inside, flip another switch, repeat ad nauseum.

...yaaaaaaay...

[Soundy]

Originally Posted by Lomac

Flip switch, run outside to the other side of the house, check lights, run back inside, flip another switch, repeat ad nauseum.

Much easier if you get a second person to help. RS Switch-Flipping Crew to the rescue?

Originally Posted by Lomac

edit: Okay, I know Code doesn't require a vapour barrier, but common sense should...

[Soundy]

So, did you ever find the other switch??

[Lomac]

I did.

It was wired to a closet light switch.

[Soundy]

So, you went back into the closet, did you?