Rewire home or get dropped from insurance!

So, our insurance co. sent out a inspector today, much of our home is wired with old “tube and knob” wiring, not good, have it rewired “IN 30 DAYS” or get dropped from insurance. So we don’t have any choice in the matter, have to have it done. What are the chances I’ll get a liscensed electrician in here within 30 days seing how they’re all swamped trying to get finished up before the freeze and it’s the holiday season?? Doesn’t seem very reasonable given the time of year and potential cost!

I have a few questions some of you may be able to answer?? I’ve been thinking of the best way to tackle the job. Can I pull wire and have a liscensed electrician come in and hook up and sign off? This would really help keep the cost down.

Our home is a 2 story with unfinished basement and attic. Would the best way to rewire be…run the main floor wiring through the basement, drill up through the plate below the outlet, pull wire to outlet, back down, on to the next outlet/switch and so on? This route rather than tearing apart walls to run the wires?

As for the second floor… go into the attic, drill down above each outlet/switch, pull the wires, over to the next outlet and so on? I could then run either conduit(exterior) or down through a wall to the panel in the basement??

I’ll go through a bit/alot more wire going the basement/attic route but seems better than tearing apart every wall?

This is a bit stressfull! 30 days, electricians are swamped, it’s the holiday season and if it’s not done in that time…we’re dropped! Happy holidays!

Any electricians out there that need work?

How would you guys go about/handle this?

BIRDDOG

Move the valuables, put a cast iron frypan on the stove with a pound of bacon, turn it on and go to the mall.

Ok, seriously, I am not sure if you can do your own electrical in MN or not. You can in WI. Call a few Elect. contractors and ask them about pulling the wire yourself. If they say you can, then I think the extra money spent on wire to come up from Basement and down from attic may be worth it to prevent the walls getting torn apart, new drywall, paint, etc. Good luck, and by the way…. Make sure to tell your Ins agent MERRY CHRISTMASS!

As the homeowner you can do your own electrical wiring. Your also going about it the right way by drilling up from basement and so on. I’ve seen a lot of older homes have the cast iron vent pipe running from basement up into attic. That would be a good spot to pull your wiring up for the upper level. Take some kite string with a good size nut or washer and tie to it, then lower it down along side the pipe.Good Luck.

In Minnesota, you are able to wire your own house with out being a licensed electrician, as long as you are the home owner. I wired mine this summer. Pulled dang near 5000ft of the stuff. Wired every box, pulled the main and connected it to the panel.
Another way to do it would be to cut about an 8″ section out of the wall, perpendicular with the floor, then string the new wire through there to the boxes. Do you need to replace them? This way will create a little mess but might be quicker. For the upstairs ceiling find a closet closest to the panel and cut a path out for that. do you need to update the panel?

Good Luck.
Another option….
Try another insurance company.

However you do it, it’s going to be a very large task…as you know. Get a hold of Stickboy for some added help.
Over the last 10 years I’ve added over 3000 feet of wire to my home replacing most adding more. It’s not a job for one person that’s for sure.

About your insurance company. Talk to your agent. He should be able to help you get a “reasonable” time frame set up.

PS You’re going to need a permit and an electrical inspector to check it before the insurance company will recognize that there’s new wire installed.

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How would you guys go about/handle this?

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I’d get another insurnace company.

About 10 years ago, in our previous house we got a similar notice. In our case they flat out dropped our coverage due to old plumbing. (House built in 1909) Turned out we found similar coverage for less premium.

Not to say you won’t re-wire your house at some point in the future. Just at a time more beneficial to you.

Good luck,

-J.

I would be looking for a new insurance company. You know how many older houses there are in Minnesota that have that type of wiring? And are insured. I can give you a name of a great guy that will take care of you.

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It’s not a job for one person that’s for sure.

PS You’re going to need a permit and an electrical inspector to check it before the insurance company will recognize that there’s new wire installed.

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I have to side with BrianK on this one (Dang that hurt ). Pulling wire in existing spaces is dang near impossible with one person. You need a guy on the top and bottom workign together in a lot of instances to get it to work. It will take at least 3 times as long as you think it should, and there are some places where you can’t get wire because of sill plates, other pipes, etc. It is a tough job.

The one reason I would say hire an electrician would be for wire sizes, amount of home runs, amp draws of equipment, etc. These are all governed by codes, and the “average Joe” does not know those regulations. If you have a friend who is an electrician to help you pull wire, and can help with those issues, I think you will be better off.

Good luck, It is a big job, but a good one to have done.

I would agree with trying to talk to your agent for some help with this. I dont know where some of these claims adjusters come from. We had one out from state farm to look at our roof for hail damage. It was about this time of year and we got a notice back from her that we had 30 days to get the house painted or we would be dropped. We all ready had it set up for getting new siding in the spring but that wasnt good anough. Our agent did step in and got this straightened out. The claims adjuster claimed there was grafiti on the back of the house. Guess our son had foud a pen and was doing some doodling back there.

The days of getting by with old wiring are over. We write for 12 companies and we just got notice the from the last two, that everything HAS to be on 100 AMP circuit breakers. I get calls every day from people looking for insurance for “fuses”. The markets have changed. Insuring a wood stove is now much easier than insuring old wiring.

Shoot me a PM.

If you don’t have all knob and tube wiring, you could replace those runs with romex. Yo didn’t say what amp service you have. If you only have a 60 amp service, if you have an electrician pull a permit to replace the wiring, you will have to replace the panel to a minimum of 100 amp, but you should go with at least 150 amps. The cost is not that much more. I’m a home inspector in Wisconsin, and my thoughts to doing it yourself are if you don’t have the experience or the help of an electrician, the dangers aren’t worth the money saved. I’ve seen do-it-yourself wiring that would curl your hair(literally). I always think towards resale, and if you have a home inspector come in and find bad wiring, it can easily hold up or cost you a sale of the property. My personal opinion is to have it done professionally and sleep well at night. I know there are some insurance companies that will cover knob and tube. Check around, it may buy you some time before the inevitable.

WOW…I feel for you birddog…good luck

My parents went through this with their roof and painting, Getting a contractor with-in 30 days is almost impossible. The insurer just wanted a time line. The roof did not leak but looked bad. Your agant should be able to help you with the 30-day time line. If not, get a different insurance company. Good luck.

Bird.

Give me a ring if you need another set of hands. It would be in the evenings but I am more than happy to help.

You know where to find me.

PS It’s gonna cast ya!

I am not an electritian.

Just thought I’d clarify.

I would say that the panel/sevice would be the biggest issue. If you are on a 60 amp service you need to upgrade to at least 100amp or larger. If the knob and tube is in good shape it should last for quite sometime with no problems.
Like a lot of people mentioned it is not going to be a one person job. Any knob and tube you can see from the basement get rid of asap. I have yet to see an insurance company crawl into attics or bust holes in walls to check wiring.
Start calling around for another insurance company in the mean time.
All the codes are availble on line and in most counties the inspectors are good to work with. Call them with any questions. http://www.electricity.state.mn.us/
Good luck!!

I wholeheartedly agree with Jon on this one.I had a similar situation a couple of years ago. I cancelled not only my home owners but all my other coverage with that company.Don,t let the jerks push you around.

Thanks to everyone who’s replied or PM’d so far…keep em coming! Here’s a little more insight into the situation.

Our kitchen, 2 bathrooms, foyer(all additions) and most of the basement is wired up to date. The dinning room(2 outlets,1 switch), living room(4 outlets) and 3 bed rooms up stairs(5 switches, 6 oulets) are what’s wired in knob and tube, so it’s not a lot of switches and outlets that have to be replaced. I’m not sure if I can just rewire what’s there or I have to add additional outlets to be up to code? I will add, in the 4 years we’ve been in this home we’ve had ZERO electrical problems.

I’ve been trying to get a hold of a electrician since 9am, I’ve talked to (2) secretaries in all the calls I’ve made and from the sound of those 2 calls, they’re super busy. One told me, “we’ll try to get someone out by Christmas for a estimate”. every other call was a answering machine. 29 days and counting…

Bird dog answered just as I deleted this post. I found a reference out side IDA. Never seen that before.

Thanks of the info.

WarrenMN

http://www.knobandtubewiring.com/

You can tell if it’s knob and tube by the outlet also, if the outlet has 2 prongs and no ground it’s likely knob and tube.

BIRDDOG