The landlord who argued with me about a 40 year old breaker panel

Last month I was replacing outlets in a rental off Central Ave and the owner showed up to question why I wanted to swap the whole panel. He said it worked fine for decades and I was just padding the bill. I showed him where the bus bar was charred and the main lug was loose enough to wiggle with my fingers, then he went quiet. I get that people hate big costs, but that thing was a fire waiting on a bad winter morning. Has anyone else had to talk a property owner out of keeping dangerous old gear just to save a few hundred bucks?

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harper_smith11d ago

I read a report last year that said aging breaker panels are one of the top causes of house fires in rentals, so you were probably right to push back. I mean, a loose main lug is not something you can just ignore and hope for the best, especially in a place where people sleep. It's wild how some owners will risk everything over a few hundred bucks until they see the actual damage themselves.