What you should know about rewiring your home

When we moved into our house, we did the normal glance into the fuze box, glanced at each other, and shrugged. There were wires in there that all appeared to be attached to something, and it looked fine to us.

We had no idea anything was amiss until the basement fridge suddenly stopped working. It was still making noise, and the fan appeared to be working, but for some reason it wasn’t properly cooling the food. The food in the freezer wasn’t staying frozen, and the food in the fridge felt lukewarm. Sure that it had to be the fridge, we booked an appointment through our home warranty provider, American Home Shield.

When the rep began examining the fridge, he was immediately skeptical. The fridge appeared to be functioning, it just wasn’t getting sufficient power to function properly. He cleaned out the electrical parts of the fridge and gave us his opinion: something was wrong that he wasn’t authorized to fix. To prove to us that it wasn’t the fridge, our fridge mechanic plugged the fridge into a different outlet, immediately frying the wiring on that side of the basement. We scratched our heads and said, hey, we had no idea that the wiring was that bad down here. Of course, with a house from the 50s, we knew it wasn’t brand new, but this was our first real indication that we might have a real problem on our hands.

Because of the asbestos, our electricians (who, by the way, were the ones who discovered the asbestos in the first place) had to visibly run external conduits to get the basement rewired. They did about 100 feet of wiring, and between that and all the diagnostic work as well as setting up a dedicated circuit for the fridge (this is now code, but it wasn’t back when the original wiring was installed) it ran us about $1,000. Now, $1,000 is much less than it would have cost to rebuild had our house burnt down due to an electrical fire, but it was one of those very inconvenient unforeseen expenses that nobody had prepared us for.

The dangers of old or faulty wiring

The average home needs to be rewired about every 25 years, but some experts argue that rewiring only needs to be done about every 50-70 years (depending on the sheathing). Seeing as our house was built in ‘55, it was somewhat of a miracle that the wiring had not been replaced yet. As time goes on, the insulation on wires can wear down, creating a risk for malfunction and even fire.

Wiring types and insulation

If your home was built before the 1960s, it may have rubber insulation. Rubber breaks down, which can result in exposed wires (a fire and malfunction risk). How do you know if your wire sheathing or insulation is breaking down?

Look for the following warning signs:

Flickering lights
Burning smell when light switches or appliances are on
Fuses getting blown easily
Old two-pronged outlets
Sparks when plugging into outlets

If your home was built between 1965 and 1973, you likely have aluminum wiring. Because it can interact with materials used for other purposes in your home, aluminum wiring can oxidize, deteriorate, overheat, and catch fire. It is also resistant to electrical current, which can cause it to be less efficient at transmitting electricity throughout your home.
If your home was built between 1880 and 1950, it might have knob-and-tube wiring. Not only is knob-and-tube (K&T) wiring dangerous, but it can be hard to get insurance for a home with knob-and-tube wiring due to potential fire hazards. Although not all K&T wiring is a fire hazard, it is potentially dangerous because:

It doesn’t have a grounding system
It is exposed to dissipate heat, so if it sags and touches home insulation, it is a fire hazard

Who will pay for the rewiring?

Although rewiring a house only takes about 3-15 days, it can be costly.This is where you really need to dig into your insurance policy and understand exactly what is covered and what isn’t. For example, my policy with Travelers has a Typically Covered section that lists:

Weather
Fire
Theft or Vandalism

However, under Not Typically Covered, it lists:

Floods
Earthquake
Home Maintenance

Does the fact that it lists Home Maintenance mean that if my electrical wiring is old and I haven’t replaced it, I won’t be covered in the event of a fire caused by old wiring? Although I’ve researched this question heavily, I still don’t know.

How much will it cost to rewire?

Estimates vary, but for most houses, rewiring will cost around $1.56 – $3.75 per square foot. Keep in mind that this is just for the rewiring, not for any demolition that may be required or any work that may be required to get the home looking great again.

What has your experience been with the wiring in your home? What advice do you have for a new homeowner?