Should we have house re-wired?

Question

Our home was built in 1957. The circuit breaker board was replaced 10 years ago, but none of the wiring in the house was. A lot of the outlets are the old 2 prong style ones. There are a few newer 3 prong outlets scattered throughout the home. The two main reason we were thinking about rewiring was the fact that our master bedroom has no 3 prong outlets, so we cannot put an air conditioner in the bedroom, and the ceiling fan in the master is controlled by a light switch outside in the hallway, abotu 10 feet away from the bedroom (kind of strange!) Would it be worth looking into having the home rewired? I am uncomfortable even plugging an AC into one of the newer 3 prong outlets because I don't know if its up to code, I don't want it to overheat or something. Thanks!

Answer 1

in a house built in 1957 the wiring is most probably Armoured Cable. that is 2 wires encased in a spirally steel tubing. If that is the situation, then installing grounded outlets is very simple, since the steel tubing acts as a ground wire.

You said the circuit board was replaced 10 years ago--but you did not mention exactly What was installed.

As far a rewiring the house is concerned,,you are talking about removing plaster walls etc,,which entails extensive costly work---into the multi thousands. And it may not be necessary.

If we had more information we could give you a better answer.

Answer 2

The wiring is not old enough to be concerned, unless it is the old aluminum, not copper wire.  Just run a new line to the bedroom to handle the AC.

Answer 3

I would have a few electricians come and give you their opinion. Some will say yes just to get the job...hopefully you'll get an honest one or two. If you're not comfortable with the current electric, I would look to upgrade it.

Answer 4

You likely don't have a proper Earth system so rewiring would be a very, very good idea. Get a proper electrician to do this for insurance reasons.

Answer 5

Chances are that the 3 prong outlets you have are not grounded properly... just replacements that have no ground wire, since the house was built without a grounding system.

Having the house re-wired, while definately a good idea, is a major undertaking and will not be cheap.

A simpler, cheaper option would be the have a qualified electrician update the wiring for appliances, such as the AC, then from a safety stand point replace the remaining receptacles with GFCI outlets, which is allowed by the National Electrical Code to update houses built without grounds. Have the electrician check for aluminium wiring but chances are it's ok. Aluminium was not used extensively until the mid 60's.

Also recommend getting a price from at least 3 contractors.

Good luck