old electrical work?

Question

I have an old house. It is so old, that the electricial work to the outlets is on the outside of the walls, not on the inside. There is a box around the perimiter of the rooms of my house that have all the wiring in it... now, I want to redrywall, and get new baseboards.. etc.. Can a mediocre do it yourselfer get the electrical work inside the walls and make it the way it belongs ( to current standards) or should that be left to the hands of a licensed electritian?

Answer 1

You should call a qualified electrician.
It's best that way anyway. The electrician will have access to the latest code and likely will have better prices on materials (most of us get discounts).
Go Union, BTW. That way you're guaranteed high quality workmanship and professional on the job.
It's worth the extra buck or so.

Answer 2

Electrical wiring is not hard. however to run the wire through the walls you would need to drill holes through each stud. since the house is old you would have problems with brittle boards. The problem with the old brittle wiring would not really be that much of a problem since you would be shutting off the power first. You really should have a licensed electrician come in to do it, but if you really want to you could do it yourself. Check the building codes too. many times they will require that you have a licensed electrician do the work.
Most building codes are pretty picky about how the wiring is done. for example: with romex wiring they require at least a quarter of an inch of outer insulation in the box at installation. Also most require a wire staple every 4 ft when going down a stud...
Either way, good luck. and if you do it yourself, be sure to shut off the power first. Most times 110 volts won`t kill you, but it still doesn`t feel good.

Answer 3

Electrical work is really not that complicated...even for a novice, but there is a lot of information that you would have to know. The best thing to do is to pick up a basic electrical wiring book somewhere (I picked on up at Lowes for about $12). I am totally rewiring my house...totally by myself. You will have to check with your local building department, though. That kind of work will require a permit at the very least. Also, find out the code requirements for your area if you are doing it yourself. Some departments go above and beyond the NEC codes. Depending on where you live, some departments require that a lic. electrician actually do the work. An inspector will check things out at various stages. The hardest part of electrical work really is the "clean-up" (repairing walls where you have installed outlets, fixtures, etc.) Once you know the basics, it really is quite simple.

Answer 4

The problems you might run into is building code, more often than not, to get a permit for the remodling, describing the scope of work, moving the electrical work is put in the applications which requires inspections by the building inspector, so you have to wait on him to complete your work. Know your local building codes, figure amps and breakers, you might be better off letting a pro do it.

Answer 5

Contract with an electrician to rewire the entire structure. The money spent is nothing compared to the peace of mind you'll have with safer wiring.

Answer 6

If you know what you are doing go for it if not hire an electrician. Locally we would need a county permit to do a major renovation and the county inspectors would have to approve of the installation.

Answer 7

Let an electrician do it. Old wiring can be brittle and break. This could cause a fire.

Answer 8

Get an Electrician one mistake and the house could burn down or you could Kill someone

Answer 9

to rewire u need permit & code conformance.homeowner can do such here in maine . once rewired & approved your house is worht more & your taxes go up. 4 possible resale=rewire. to live there=if it works dont fix it.