Q's about rewiring 1920's house w/ plaster walls (floor, painting, sinks)
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Our outlets keep dying one by one and in our house inspection when we moved in about 5 years ago the house inspector said that eventually we'd have to rewire the house. Someone told us that because we have plaster walls this is a big deal. We were under the impression that the electrician could just thread the new wiring through the wall but our friend told us they have to tear down the plaster walls. Does anyone have any experience with this? Are we really looking at having to go through putting up new walls in addition to new wiring?!
Thanks
1. Why are your outlets "dying"? That sounds more like a breaker or receptacle problem than a wiring problem.
2. If you do need rewiring most interior wood frame walls are hollow and wire can be fished through, though it may be necessary to make small openings here and there to fish from floor to floor or around duct work, plumbing, or other obstructions. If your electrician says otherwise, visit with a different craftsman. As an experienced DIYer I've fished miles of lines inside walls in homes a lot older, and a lot newer, than yours.
But back to #1. Get a licensed electrician to figure out what's going on...ASAP!
Lots of old homes with lath and plaster walls have very high base boards... at least the one's I've owned.
I had plenty of room to pull wire pulling off the base board in places I couldn't access from the attic or crawl space...
There are special drill bits in any length needed... I have 36", 60" and 72" bits and assorted "Fish" tape.
There are also junciton boxes that make adding one a snap for old work... not every discount hardware store will have them... but there is an old family owned store I patronize that keeps a good stock on hand because of all the older homes in the area.
If you've made up your mind to rewire, make sure you plan your outlets and circuits accordingly so as to not run into problems with the electrical inspector.
Most of my homes from the 1920's with the original knob and tube never experience any problems except, perhaps, not enough outlets
Most electicians are like plumbers... they will do what they need to complete their specific trade to get it finaled... most will not repair plaster, paint of install any kind of trim...
I saw an expensive job a neighbor paid to have done... the electician wired it like a new home... plenty of circuits and outlets with 220v and code required circuits with a 200 amp service for a small home without A/C... the neighbor spent a couple of thousand with a painting/drywall firm to repair all the areas the electrician accessed.
Last edited by Ultrarunner; 02-23-2010 at 09:29 PM..
Reason: typo
Kind of funny to read, because we are doing this right now ourselves. As in right now. I'm taking a break and having a glass of wine and surfing the web.
There was another poster who said, with regards to renovating and remodeling, "keep the wine glasses and the corkscrew handy---you'll need them". I have to agree with that advice. ~sigh~
Do you have a basement? Because that is making our job much much easier. I will have to become super-handy with plaster repair when all is said and done, but it will be mainly small patch jobs. No reason to tear out the entire wall.
Also, if you have not already done so, bookmark oldhouseweb.com
I've rewired hundreds of old houses and buildings over the last 28 years. Only in rare cases do you need to remove a section of wall to change something. That said, you DO have to put small access holes here and there on most jobs, but large holes are very uncommon. If your Electrician says they have to remove large sections, GET A SECOND (or even third) OPINION! Most access holes that need to be cut can be covered when you reinstall the baseboards or corner molding (yes that is usually part of my job as well, as well as patching any hole I make.) What I don't do is try to match paint and final sanding of the patch. That isn't my trade and frankly I can patch the hole, but not make it so you can't see it in the future, I don't do enough of it to be good at it. Most Electricians I know are the same way, we can and a lot of us do a rough patch job and call in (or recommend) a finish guy to make it all pretty again.
A basement and attic makes the job infinitely easier. With access to both a basement and an attic you can do a two story house without too much damage to the inside walls. One of the top questions to perspective Electricians should be "How many old places like this do you do a year?" Don't accept "Lots of them." as an answer, get a solid number and ask to see some of their past work. 1 or 2 a year doesn't keep you sharp on finding routes to run lines in old places, 5 or 6 is getting better, 15+ will keep them tip-top in looking for places to run feeds without doing damage. This is one type of job that lot's of experience is better. Expect to pay for that knowledge as well, I hate to add. In the long run it is generally cheaper to pay a slightly higher bill to the Electrician who doesn't cut and hack; than if you have to call in somebody else to do a lot of patching and painting afterward.
Most electicians are like plumbers... they will do what they need to complete there specific job to get it finaled... most will not repair plaster, paint of install any kind of trim...
that's because we're electricians, not painters/plaster repairmen.
i'll offer to bring my own repairman or the customer can provide their own.
we don't charge by the hour, but the number we use is over $100/hr. who wants to pay that kind of money to have an electrician paint?
that's because we're electricians, not painters/plaster repairmen.
i'll offer to bring my own repairman or the customer can provide their own.
we don't charge by the hour, but the number we use is over $100/hr. who wants to pay that kind of money to have an electrician paint?
Just a cautionary note... I've seen jobs where the owner thought the price was for the total job and not one phase... most home owners are not accustomed to wearing the General Contractor Hat.
The home I saw was an 1890 Bay Area Victorian that still had lead bends under the sinks and gas lighting fixtures in the each room... the Loma Prieta earthquake did a number on it...
The Home Owners had it all repaired and decorated nicely... then he sold it too my friend who always wanted to live in one... she did not understand the cost to paint, paper and repair after the electrician was done
Then again, why should she... she writes romance Novels for a living
Simply providing a total cost would have been all the education needed to understand the scope of work.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by round tuit
A.T. sounds like your house inspector didn't do his job. Wiring problems should have been addressed before you moved in 5 years ago.
Not necessarily. Unless you have a distressed seller with a lot of cash over a barrell, I would say that you're pretty unlikely to get knob and tube wiring updated as a condition of the sale.
***EDIT*** I'll be pretty impressed to meet a distressed seller with a lot of cash.
Last edited by jimboburnsy; 02-22-2010 at 12:32 PM..
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