I'm so angry right now- does someone have advice?

Ok, speaking from experience here, it is not the breaker box. It is in one of the outlets in the rooms that you do not have power to. We lived in a mobile home that had that same problem. It was very unsafe, but was a very inexpensive, easy fix once we figured out what it was. You just need to take the outlet covers off and look for the one that has the wires crossed, frayed, or burned up. That is where your problem is. Just replace a few wires and it will be fixed. At least, that is what worked for us anyway. I wish you all the best. I think it is time to sit down and have a serious talk with your husband about the fact that he is married to you and should be standing behind you and your children, not cowering to his father. If you don't talk to him, there is no chance at all that it will get better.

You could always call a city inspector in and let them look at the situation. Then your FIL would have to fix the problem. This route could cause you more problems though. It would probably severely strain family relations!

Where I live current usually goes every time it rains heavily. Trinidad is famous for electrical outages and all you can do when that happens is sit and wait for the lights to come back. It brings on the most helpless feelings in me.

Do you actually pay rent? If so, the law allows you to have repairs like this done and deducted from your rent payment - in most places, anyway. What you've described is not safe, and if you had a regular landlord, you could report it to the health department.

Does your husband not have a friend with a meter that could check it out? It sounds like your breaker for that circuit has opened up. If that is the problem it would be as simple as replacing the breaker. Don't let anyone into it tho unless you are sure they know what they are doing.

I'm sorry your life is so frustrating because of your problem with your FIL... well the sad thing is that people just think about themselves these days.. which is true, and I really wouldn't depend too much on FIL to deal with your electricity, because he's simply not going to care about your problems with the electricity (sadly) and he just wants your money (even more sad..) and he really doesn't deserve your monthly payment either, simply because he is refusing to help you deal with the problem you have in your house.. (which it sounds like to me) well I hope your problem can be solved later.. happy mylotting :)

I can totally understand your anger. I don't know how you can get him to realize how unsafe that is. Maybe if a third party mentioned it. You know, we don't always listen to those who are closest to us. My neighbor's house caught on fire in July. It turns out that he put an addition on the back of his house and ran electricity out to a shed years ago. Well, he did the work himself and guess what - he didn't do it correctly. So, back in July the circut box exploded. His family and him were asleep and he was lucky that he fell asleep on the sofa. Another neighbor helped get him and his family out. Since he did the work and was not a licensed electrian, the homeowners insurance company only paid a portion of what the house was worth since it was his own fault. He can't even afford to rebuild. Maybe you know someone that might know an electrician that can come over and take a look and give you an estimate for free. Good luck. And if you really want to scream, a pillow works well.

because you pay rent, you have the same rights as any other tenant - i would get with the local codes inspector, and also find out what the landlord is REQUIRED to provide to you... i know it would cause sticky situations in the family - but you need to have a feeling of safety and security in your own home... if it is not the breaker, then you may have damage caused to the wiring by water, breakage, rodents - then your FIL is looking at possible fire hazards - does he really want to go THERE???

Kats, the electric cords can be dangerous, especially as you say, in the bathrooms. But what would concern me is the fact it might be a broken wire some place in the walls and this could cause a fire. There has to be a problem since you have it in the rest of your house. My husband told me two more things that it could be. He said sometimes a circuit breaker will look like it isn't tripped, but if you have a tester to test it, you will find it is bad. We've had to replace one like that before. Also, he said that there are some outlets in homes now where there is a little trip switch. Our daughter had a problem in her kitchen awhile back. He told her to look on the outlet there (switch on the wall) and there should be a little button or something that had to be pushed sideways to cut the power back on to that switch. She didn't know that, so she looked, and sure enough that was her problem. She pushed it and her lights in the kitchen came on. Hope yours is something easily fixed.

There is nothing more upsetting than to feel like your invisible. For that matter don't be angry, just do what you have to do, call for an electrician yourself or if you have any friends who may know someone who can help, waiting for your FIL could take an eternity. If your in a dangerous situation you may consider what the city may can help with are there any programs like the red cross? A service call would still maybe be cheaper than having to worry with a total move out. with deposit and first months rent that a good 1000.00 right there, so maybe see about an electrician or a friend. You should not have to live like that and have the bill sent to your FIL Anyway. good luck, your friend maggie

be careful a fire dont start. would really get someone to at least do an estimate to see what it is. i mean if there is children involved and unsafe wiring that could be some dangerous reaction. be safe. and good luck with it.

dont worry....everything is going to be fyn..... first of all to control ur anger .......count the numbers from 1 to 10.....that way u can control ur anger...... if u control ur anger....then u can calmly think on what is happneing in the house...and what should we do..... thinks are not going to get solved if u are angry....so please calm down....it will be helpful to u and ur kids....... make sure that u have an eye on ur kids.......then make ur own arangements to cover the electric wires or what ever may be that is causing u trouble...... wait for the time to come......or borrow some money from others and make a repair for those wires.... thanq.... cheers.....

Hello Katsmeow, SINCE I AM A CATLOVER, lol I decided to answer this one. I had a similar issue in my basement, the entire string of wall outlets and the lights did not work. It turned out that the problem was caused by an OUSIDE OUTLET that one of the many CARELESS teens here left open and... of course, THEN it rained, got the thing wet and it shorted out a LOT of things. SO, I did what your FIL ought to do, and called and electrician. It was pretty cheap, under $50.00 and he fixed it in no time. Another time when I lost a bunch of power, I actually had to get work done on the circuit breaker box, that was a little costlier. I really would, just to make sure, go to the breaker box flip EVERYTHING off and then flip it on. WHY? Because even when they APPEAR to be ON, sometimes they are just a smidgeon off... so take a sec and check that too. All the Best, Cashmama