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Well, I’ve had two electricians in so far. Both are bidding for a 100 amp panel replacement (combining two fuse boxes to panel) dedicated appliance lines in kitchen, gfci’s in kitchen and upstairs bathroom, and an outside receptacle in the back. Today’s estimate was for 3,200 dollars. Does this sound about right price wise? The first guy will get me an estimate next week. I’ve got another company coming out monday. When all is said and done, the only thing running off knob and tube will be lights and general outlets. Any more advice/input greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Gary
Also tore all the carpet out of the house this week, floors have been refinished, and new water tank put in yesterday….I’m tired.
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I really can't comment on the estimates because there are to many factors that I can't see. Things like whether or not there is an accessable attic and/or crawl space. If there is insulation in these locations. The configuration of the framing in the walls. Some older houses have full width diagonal bracing that can make large areas difficult to get to. There are many little things that can easily double the cost of a rewire job.
That said there are two issues that come to mind.
1) Unless this is a very small house and perhaps there absolutely no chance you will ever want electric heat, range, etc. I would install a 200 Amp panel. The extra cost for the larger panel and larger feed is very small considering the cost of the overall job. this way if at some later date you need more capacity you will not need to redo this job. As a matter of course I install 200 Amp panels even when it is not near to being required.
2) On rewire jobs such as this it is often wise and sometimes required to do the whole thing. Mixing modern wiring and knob and tube wiring requires a special transition fitting to meet the code and is generally frowned upon by inspectors.
If you do keep knob and tube wiring in an attic do not put insulation of any type on top of it. Insulation contractors in this area wont install on top of K&T for fear of fires and law suits. Any covering would make the wires difficult to avoid both to prevent damage to the wiring and to avoid shocks. Dragging dead workmen out of the attic wouldn't be my idea of fun.
Be safe. Take care and have a little fun.
*4Lorn"Mixing modern wiring and knob and tube wiring requires a special transition fitting to meet the code "Would that be the infamous Edison splice? If so, isn't that (1) stip 6"(?) insulation from run of wire being spliced to, (2) wrap "splicing" around strippped area, (3) solder, and (4) wrap with elec tape?Or am I all wet here?
*Bob- If you're all wet a GFCI is required. :o) -Ken
*I'm not an electrician, but from having similar work done in California, it sounds like it's in the right ballpark. My quotes for upgrading from a 60 amp panel to a 150 amp panel ranged from about $1000 to $2000 - with no additional work (new circuits, etc). Having done retrofit circuit work, I would not be suprised if it would cost that much. It's hard.I would have liked to have gone to a 200 amp service, as 4Lorn recommended above, but that would have meant resizing the supply conduit, which would have cost a fortune. So - there may be good reasons to sit on a 100 amp supply.
*In my county they will not write a permit for under 150 amps. If you want a 60 amp upgrade or subpanel, etc. The house must first be upgraded to 150. The county is hard to pleases.
*Actually Mr. Walker your not all wet. The edison splice is a part of my prefered solution.Actually there are two commonly accepted ways of transitioning between romex and K&T. Neither IMHO are as good as I would like and neither handle grounding those outlet downstream from the transition.1) The commonly recommended method is to mount a box at the end of the K&T pair and insert one lead from the K&T into each KO in the box. Properly done and with a little luck there may be no problems. Most manualls I have seen neglect adding loom to both leads and extending it into the box. I have recently seen K&T where the wires still had the insulation intact and flexable. In most cases the natural rubber that insulated the conductors in those days has lost all life and frequently fallen off. Routing two potentially live and largely uninsulated wires to within 2" of each other and then inserting them into a metal box just doesn't sit well. The loom is the only saving grace in this system. Reinsulating the wires, preferably all the way from the last knob to well inside the box, is called for. 3 layers of tape or heat shrink tubing, no need to shrink it, has been used in some of the better jobs but loom, acting as a wear jacket is still IMHO needed.2)Placing a transition fitting at the end of the romex run , it is purpose built for this job, and then taking the unjacketed THHN to the last knob on theK&T run where it is spliced onto the K&T. The splice method is in question around here. A prpperly wrapped and soldered eddison splice is the traditional, and my prefered, method. I use a propane torch and tape the joint for extra security. Recently an inspector told me that he would accept the job but would prefer to see a wirenut that is then taped. When asked about having boxes for the connection he said that because K&T is not dependant on its wire insulation for safety, because of the space between conductor or porcelain insulators, they would not substantially inprove the job. He claimed that testing has shown that a high quality wirenut properly applied and taped was supperior to a soldered edison splice taped. Maybe. This fitting I spoke of has a clamp type romex connector at one end and a 3 hole bakalite bushing at the other. it is designed to keep the individual wires seperated and protected from abrasion where they exit the fitting. This (is/was?) an approved fitting. It is seen on houses built between the time before romex was available and when it when it was cheap enough to wire the whole house with it. Major horizontal runs were in K&T and the drops to individual outlets was done in the expensive romex. This saved having to mess with loom.My favorite solution, unfortunatly it is the hardest and often the most expensive, is to completly rewire and avoid playing with the K&T at all. I usually salvage a few knobs and tubes to show the younger electricians who have never seen such a beast. The tubes also make, especially the rarer 9" ones, dandy sharpeners for knives. You use them like a chefs steel. The fine abrasive qualities on the ceramic do a nice job if the blade isn't too dull. Be safe. Take care and have a little fun.