Rewiring of Existing Homes, Knob & Tube Removal & BX Removal

When might you need to have your home rewired? Let’s take a look at some of the most common reasons for rewiring:

• Your home is 40+ years old. Older homes have their charm, but they weren’t originally wired with today’s modern electricity needs in mind. Rewiring an older home can make it safer and more convenient, by ensuring that there are plenty of circuits and outlets, and that there’s plenty of power for your needs. If you’re tired of inadequate lighting (because you don’t have enough lighting wired or outlets in each room), blown fuses, and other inconveniences related to your old wiring, we can help.
• 2-prong outlets abound in your home. Those 2-prong outlets aren’t just inconvenient and bad at holding your Macbook charger — they’re also unsafe because they are not grounded. This is a problem for many modern electronics and appliances, which require the circuit and the receptacle to be grounded. These outdated outlets may also get hot or even cause sparking or scorch marks.
• The outer jacket of your wiring is outdated (made of cloth or BX wiring). Cloth insulated wiring is commonly found in older homes and is made up of rubber insulated conductors on the inside that can dry rot over time. These individual conductors are wrapped in a cloth outer insulation. Often times, these wires will have a reduced ground wire that may not be big enough to bring the full fault load to ground. Many homes built during the 40s, 50s, and 60s have BX wiring, which also uses rubber insulation. Obviously, this is not safe or ideal and should be replaced with safer, more modern options.
• You have aluminum wiring. Aluminum wiring became popular during a copper shortage, but it can be dangerous. Concerns include heat and fire hazard, as well as breakage and corrosion.
• You have young children. Kids never stop pushing boundaries and trying new things. Sometimes that’s dangerous, especially if you have an older home that isn’t equipped with safer, grounded wiring and childproof outlets. When you have your home rewired, you’re creating a safer place for those inquisitive kids.
• You have knob and tube wiring. You can identify K&T by the 2 individual conductors, the hot and neutral wire, run at least 3” apart from each other and are supported on porcelain knobs. When the conductors pass through wood joists they are protected with a porcelain tube they run through as to avoid direct contact with the wood. Also, when splices were made the wires were wrapped around each other and then soldered. The biggest problem we come across with K&T is when alterations are made. Tapping off existing K&T is not a good idea and is what causes a lot of problems we come across with K&T. It is also important to know with K&T there is no ground conductor. K&T is an ungrounded electrical system and does not work with todays current wiring methods and standards.