Old Wiring Risks...
Hi, We have some old canvas wring in our 1930’s brick home. At inspection the we were told we should remove any of this wiring that is exposed and any old pull chain light switches, etc. But should we be replacing the wiring behind the walls? This sounds like a major job and I’m wondering…
Hi,
We have some old canvas wring in our 1930’s brick home.
At inspection the we were told we should remove any of this wiring that is exposed and any old pull chain light switches, etc.
But should we be replacing the wiring behind the walls?
This sounds like a major job and I’m wondering if it is absolutely essential.
There was no mention of that big a job at the time of inspection.
Would appreciate your thoughts.
Thanks.
funny you mentioned pull chains. I replaced my breakes with ARC-FAULT ones and they keep tripping when somebody used pull chain switch. So replacing pull chain switch with the new one solved the problem. at about $3.
If you are having an inspection from DoB you must remove the pull chains. My understanding is that they are not acceptable under the current code.
Steve is talking about heat shrink, a great product and you can use a standard heat gun. Great suggestion. I find the biggest issue with that wiring is when you disturb it. Much like asbestos it will be fine if you do nothing but as soon as a DIYer swaps out a fixture or receptacle you run into arcing.
I suspect that most of the wiring is ok if left alone in the wall. As someone said above, it is the exposed stuff that dries and cracks.
There is another fix: in the electrical supply area at home depot, they have plastic sleeves which are about 5″ long and in differing diameters; they fit over bare wire or wire with cracked insulation. Once slipped on, they are heated with the pass of a special torch, shrinking them to fit. So far as I know this is as good as wire insulation and it was an electrician (a real electrician, not a handyman) who’d told me about this stuff. I’ve used them in my own house.
Steve
You can find new iterations of the old push-button wall switches too.
I like pull chains.
What I would be more concerned with is do you have the old Federal Pacific circut breakers that were so common in these old houses. Years back they lost their Underwriters Laboratories certification because they were made using aluminum and copper for contacts and when they get hot , instead of tripping they weld and cause a fire. I learned this first hand when my neighbors house burned to the ground and I had $140,000 worth of damages. The older wire like said above should be ok as long as the ends are ok and yes it is far preferable to have a regular light switch as opposed to a pull chain. If you would like a recommendation for a licensed electritian I would suggest that you call Mike Adadanuncio . He has done countles jobs for me and I would recommend him every time 718-851-6222
Thanks, this is very helpful.
we have old knob and tube wiring in our place. it’s slowly being replaced as we renovate, but our electrician said that the existing wiring looks to be in good condition and doesnt need to be replaced soon. If your wiring looks brittle, you might want to replace it, but if it looks like it is in good condition, it should be ok. Of course it’s hard to see what the wiring looks like behind the walls, but we have some wiring that can be seen in our attic, and it’s a good indicator of what the rest of the wiring probably looks like.
The major issue with alot of the old wiring is that you can’t insulate around it. The knob and tube needs air to dissipate heat since it’s not really insulated like modern romex so you can’s put in insulation.