On rolls? They didn't actually rip out installed wiring, did they? Did they steal anything else (what else was there to steal)? If there were other things of value not taken, I'd be suspicious of people who knew the wire was there.

This really stinks. I constantly worried about theft when we were building, but we didn't have any issues.

Sorry...does it put you behind schedule too? We haven't had anything stolen, but I wouldn't be surprised if something is stolen! The subs (with the exception of the electrician who locks up his supplies/tools) leave everything out in the open at night. Our neighborhood is safe, but still...

We had ours stolen twice and it was on a roll. Thank goodness it was not the wires that were already installed.

Sue, I wish it was on a roll. It was already in the wall.

We started drywalling this week. Half of the house has drywall. Everything was fine last night when we were there. The drywallers came back today and after a few hours noticed the cut wires.

The thieves cut it out from the ceiling/attic, bonus room, hallways. They completely cut all of it from the fuse box in the basement. Just little stubs are sticking out. There were a few rooms that have already been completely drywalled and you can tell where they pulled the wires right through the wall.

Tomorrow they are taking down all of the drywall they did today to see if they covered up damage. Then I guess thats when they will determine if all of the drywall needs to come down.

Dixie, Yep this could put us weeks and weeks behind. Things were rolling right along. I was suppose to pick my floors this week. I feel soooo......I dunno, can't really explain my feeling. :(

On a funny note, the drywaller said that the crooks left a signature on one of the 2x4's. They told their foreman, the foreman told my builder and the builder told us that it said "compliments of big daddy". Well that really bothered us cause we felt they were taunting us. But it turned out to be where my daughter wrote "Daddy wuz here". LOL We somehow managed to chuckle at this.

Oh Charlie! That just stinks! I'm sorry! I thought we would lose some things too but thankfully came away unscathed. Hope they can catch back up.

The same thing happened to relatives of ours that were building last year. It put them weeks behind schedule as well. I'm so sorry, Charliedawg! Hopefully it will be covered by insurance (although I know the schedule delay will be costly and most likely wouldn't be covered).

So sorry charliedawg-I know that just makes you sick inside. Here's hoping nothing like this will happen again. Man-out of the wall and everything. That is so totally wrong. Glad the drywallers noticed it now before ALL of the drywall was in.

We're in a brand new subdivision-no one living there yet-and I worry about things missing but never thought someone might come in and rip out wire!

That really sucks, really sorry for you.

Hoosier, our builder has insurance and the estimated $5000.00 in damagas will be covered but I didn't even think about the additional interest payment(S) I'm going to have to pay because of this. Insert deep *sighs and groans* here.

Bebe, I think that this must be going on a lot in Louisville right now. The police officer told us that houses are being hit multiple times, from starter home neighborhoods to multi-million dollar developments, so when we re-install the wire we might get hit again. Our builder is putting in surveillance camaras.

Our idiot news casters did an expose' about this several months back. They might as well called the segment "Stealing copper for dummies" They explained step by step how it's done and where to take it to recyle. I remember telling my dh that if a crook didn't have the idea already they certainly did now. I never imagined it would really happen to us. The same news channel explained how easy it is to make meth and how easy it is for our children to download porn on their cell phone....idiots!

Charliedawg,
This is really distressing! I'm glad to hear your builder will be putting in cameras. Will they be monitored? Are they more for keeping a record in case they strike again? I'm continually shocked by the depths people will sink!

If that happened to me - a thief ripping out the wire from the house under construction - the next time, I would do everything I can that the electrical install is immediately followed by drywall. No more than 3 days in between.

In those three days, I'd team up with family members to guard the property 24/7 and if the thief comes again, I would quitely alert the police so that they get caught in the act (I would not engage them myself). Good thing is that it takes them hours to rip out wire.

Oh no, CD. How terrible. Hopefully it won't happen again.

Charliedawg, I'm so sorry to hear this. I so dislike those expose pieces. They should be titled "and in case you hadn't thought of this..." Fingers crossed that they will catch up quickly and catch the thieves.

Amy

Charlie, I'm so sorry to hear this. I've been looking forward to your updates as it seems you & I are about the same in terms of completion.

What a rotten pile of scumbags to do that! I sooooo worried it would happen to us too, but thankfully, our neighbors have been watching and nothing was stolen. We didn't start our electrical though until the windows & doors were in so the house was secure.

I never even thought of wiring, all I was thinking of was the lumber. I'm glad your contractor is putting in surveillance though, and I hope you catch the little dirtbags!

Lora

I'm so sorry to hear this distressing news. I can't even begin to imagine how shocked and upset you and your husband must feel.

Someone in my family who works for Habitat for Humanity was working on a house in the west end of Louisville, and someone came in overnight and stole all of the copper tubing that had already been installed. Ripped it right out of the walls.

Theft is terrible no matter what but to me, stealing from a home being built by a non-profit group to help the less fortunate is as bad as stealing from a church collection plate.

I'm so sorry this has happened you.

I feel so badly for you, Charlie! Right after we got our house all wired, someone drove right through our electric fence gate which was just down the drive from the house. It was on a Saturday afternoon and my husband's car was visible from the gate. We knew that if it had been a friend, they would have come up to the house and told him what had happened. He suspected someone might be checking out the copper wire, so he went back over there at midnight (we'd been out of town that evening) and it made me so nervous. Our new house is tucked back about 1/2 mile into the pasture. People are crazy these days and have no scruples. But what goes around, comes around. They'll get theirs. I pray you'll be back on track soon!
Susan

Charlie,

I really feel for you, man. That's a really awful feeling, discovering that you've been robbed.

I hope that the rest of your build goes well for you.

--Solar

Oh Charliedawg, I am so sorry to hear about your misfortune. Best of luck for the remainder of your build!

Wow, I can't imagine how you must feel right now. Hopefully everyone will pull together and get things going in the right direction.

It's terrible, but it's also becoming more common. The price of copper is very high right now. I work for an electrician, and we have people steal wire all the time - on rolls from project sites and right out of the walls - from even commercial construction sites. It's a serious problem for most of the electrical contractors in our area.

You may have already done this or it may not be an issue for you, but be sure to check on any copper piping your plumbers may have installed. Thieves will cut it out just like they do the wire.

The recyclers that are buying stolen copper are also to blame. In my town, the police department recently completed a sting operation. Several people at a local company that was knowingly buying stolen material were charged.
So sorry to hear of your misfortune!

Thanks for all of the kind words, it really does help during a time like this. :)

Poigirl, I think the camaras will hopefully serve as more of a deterrent than anything else. Our fingers are crossed on that one.

Jdrh- "Good thing it takes them hours to rip out wire". I don't think this was the case in our home. The officer said they were in our house 10 minutes tops. He said they usually work in groups. One person for each floor, they run through as quickly as possible and cut and grab wires. I really don't want my dh watching the place, he's the type to confront them and no telling how bad that could turn out.

Loralee - The house is almost secure. The only opening is the wall inbetween the garage and foyer. It had insulation but no drywall yet. I guess they are like cockroaches and can squeeze thru even the tiniest crack.

Housewitch - Guess what? You were right about the water lines. We found out this morning, during the thorough walk through that they cut out a very large water line. It just keeps getting better doesn't it? UGGGGGHHHHHH!

Just in case you are curious, here's some photos.

Here is the photo of the fuse box. All the short wires are suppose to be as long as the two on the left that they missed.

Here is how they cut the wire in the exposed walls.

Here is a wire that they yanked out of the wall and for some reason left behind.

Wow. I can't believe it. It makes me sick to think how vulnerable we (and our materials) are when building a home.

You know, in the time it took them to rip it all out, then to strip it down later - you'd think it wouldn't pay enough to waste their time! Just shows only low-lifes would do something like this - anyone else would just get a job!

I have to ask, how much money can really be made doing this? I have never heard of stealing installed wire. Installed copper piping (who still uses that?), yes.

I don't know how the damages could be only $5k. Sounds like a lot more than that once you factor in labor.

There really isn't much money in it. The electrician told us that they would get about $2.00 per lb. He estimated that they got away with about 75-100 lbs of wire and whatever the copper water pipe weighed. All this damage for a couple hundred bucks to be divided by 2-3 people.

The $5000 was what my builder estimated. It seems to me that it could easily go over that. Labor to take down drywall, the purchase of new wire, labor to take out old wire, labor to put in new wire, the purchase of new drywall and labor to put it back up. That's everything that has to be done to get us back to the same place we were 2 days ago.

I'm ready to go to the lake, sit on the dock and drink budlight until this is all over with. Anyone care to join me? LOL

Oh no, that is awful! I am so sorry that you are having to deal with this. I hope it doesn't set you back too much on time or money.

they took your copper pipes, too? that is just awful. what is WRONG with people? it's disgusting that you have to worry about this kind of thing.

I forget, are you building in a subdivision or is your lot more isolated? I hope the security cameras do the trick.

Soooo sorry! Yes, time for police to get pro-active with the buyers of "scrap". Here we've had people stealing manhole covers! It has to be addicts -- who else would be so desperate? (Now, explain to me how a scrap dealer doesn't wonder about a truckload of big old manhole covers coming into his yard!)

If this is going on in a subdivision, seems a private security service would be worth the money.

(((Charliedawg,)))

All I can offer is a big hug.....

:(

charliedawg, I second that hug. I am so sorry. I hope your security cameras work and that nothing else goes wrong for you. I wish there were some way to help.

charliedawg, I third that hug. I too am so, so sorry. :(

So sorry to hear about this.

But here, even the dead can't rest.

I'm doing an infill in an area rife with lowlifes and am amazed that nothing has gone missing yet. There's about 600 feet of tempting copper pipe. I won't install the emergency generator until the owners--and their guard dogs--move in.

"I'm ready to go to the lake, sit on the dock and drink budlight until this is all over with."

I'd be drinking something a bid harder than Bud if I were you! I'm not much for Tequila, but it seems warranted in this instance.

I am so sorry to hear this. I can't print what I'm calling those no good for nothings right now!!

So sorry to hear about this also, charliedawg. Too bad laws don't make it more difficult for these criminals to "cash in" on their stolen material.

Our neighbor building on an adjacent lot to ours had a theft incident, but they installed a temporary fence with posts cemented into the ground and they have not had anything else stolen since. We also heard that our other neighbor had the entire kitchen appliance package stolen AFTER it had already been installed! (Gulp, the thought of that one REALLY makes me sick...) Since this home is owned by a big-bucks-developer, they hired a nighttime security guard after that and no problems since.

worthy, I like the guard dogs idea! :)

Enjoy the lake and the Bud Light, charliedawg.

Charlie, please accept my heartfelt apologies for your loss. That is really a shame. I sure hope they catch the bandits in your town. I would imagine even without having the walls up, having your home vandalized would leave you angry and upset. Not to mention the obvious setback in finances and time it has caused you.

Here is my hug for you, too! (((Charliedawg,))) Also, I will drink a glass of wine (sorry, I don't like beer) in your honor from here. Here's hoping that your build goes well from now on!

Hi Charlie, so sorry!... Our electrical is just about finished up and I keep telling DH I hope it doesn't go anywhere... Our electrical pole was stolen before the house was even started.... I have just talked to the security company and will be getting it installed as soon as the electrical is finished.... Stealing copper is happening alot here where I live, the last I heard it's about $3.00 a lb.... Doesn't it make you want to just camp out there... Sorry again....Cindy

"I'm ready to go to the lake, sit on the dock and drink budlight until this is all over with. Anyone care to join me?"

Not if you are drinking Budlite LOL

Here is a link that might be useful: Rod and DJ's House Building Adventure

((((everybody))))) All this hugging going around is making me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Well it's either that or this budlight I've been drinking.....hiccup! :)

KYgirl - Yep, they got the copper pipes too. Don't ya remember...we're building "up in the hills" of KY LOL. We're not in a neighborhood. There is only one house close to us. It's across the street and he didn't hear or see anything.

You know, you would think that the people that buy the copper would wonder where Joe Blow gets a truckload of copper per week. I'll never understand the mentality of any of the people involved in this.

Kharma seems to be trying to get my attention lately. I think I'll follow BJ's advice in another post and hide out for a while.

You know, you would think that the people that buy the copper would wonder where Joe Blow gets a truckload of copper per week

You'd think they would wonder where someone gets 800 cemetery urns too! Scum is scum whether they're on the taking or the receiving end of things.

Read the link below about this thief who was stealing copper wire.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thief Gets Fried

Hi Charlie, I just saw your post and want to say how sorry I am. I can't even imagine how I'd be feeling if something like this happened to me. Hopefully your contractor can put together a plan to get your house back on track fast!

Take care, and lots of hugs,
Summer

BUMMER! Sorry for your loss. delay and, more irritating, violation of your space. It really burns to have someone come on to your property and steal doesn't it.

We are having the same problem around here. It is getting pretty common place. They finally arrested a group and I thnk it has slowed down. We had some copper flashing stolen a few weeks ago. It was custom made to go around some curved areas of roof line. About $300 of labor and 10 bucks worth of material. They went into a commercial remodel and stole $250K of copper wiring. I have even heard of them sawing off the piping stub outs out of a concrete slab.

Charlie... I'm a builder in Florida. We just had this happen on two houses we built. One house didn't have a scuttle hole to the attic so they just cut the wire at the box. The other house didn't fair so well. They cut the electrical, cable, and telephone wires. They also cut the copper going into the HVAC. The good news is it did not even set us back one day. With everything else going on, the electricians were able to re-wire the house with minimal drywall damage.

Awwww, that just stinks. How heartless...

I am so sorry.