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volts500

wrote:

The OP reported the following which NOW must be told to any and all
perspective buyers as part of every states disclosure law. failure to
disclose this leavesthe seller at lawsuit risk and it will be hard to
find any buyer to purchase a home requiring complete rewire, ulnless
the new buyer happens to say be a electrician

No disrespect, but IMHO, that statement holds about as much water as a
paper bag. K&T wiring is grandfathered in by the NEC. If a real
electrical inspector, as the AHJ (Authority Having Juresdiction), made
the determination that the wiring was faulty, then it would be a fault
that would require disclosure.

Not trying to date myself, but maybe some history from an electrician
who has been through 10 NEC cycles (30 years) will help.

The only real problem with K&T is that much of it has been abused and
misused over the years. If the wiring is brittle, usually from
overheating from air conditioners and such, or kitchen circuits, or
light fixtures, yes, it's time for it to go. OTOH, some K&T, usually
in well maintained historic sections have been well taken care of and
is still good. I've seen more bad K&T than good, though. That's
probably one reason many insurance companies won't touch it with a 10
foot pole.

OTOH, some insurance companies and financial institutions usually only
require that the service be upgraded and some kitchen circuits be
added. In a 900 Sq. Ft. house with gas appliances, that's about all
that would be needed. In some areas that's all that would be required.
In my area, not so, not only do we have to re-wire everything, but
must also tear out all of the K&T.

I remember in the late '80's when the NEC rule that allowed 3 prong
receptacles to be installed on 2-wire circuits (including K&T) as long
as they were GFCI protected came about, that the COMPETITIVE bid for a
re-wire for the area that I was working in at the time dropped from
$3500 (US) to about $2200 simply because as long as the K&T was in
reasonably good shape, and to this day, all one has to do to meet NEC
is replace the first outlet in a circuit with a GFCI, slam in some
regular 3 prong receptacles in the rest of the circuit outlets and call
it a done deal.

Even the 60 amp panel would probably calculate out OK, however, NEC and
many financial institutions now require 100 amp minimum, regardless of
the service calc. However, an existing 60 amp service is grandfathered
by NEC.

Even grounding in old houses is grandfathered. As you probably know,
until the late 1980's it was not uncommon to use the interior water
pipe to ground a service, or ground a receptacle, as long as the water
meter and water heater were jumpered. In fact, there is no doubt that
many of these installations still exist and are grandfathered and safe
as long as no one comes along and installs plastic without jumping it.

If not for plastic, we would probably still be using the old rules.
I'll take an underground water pipe (at least 20 feet) any day as a
good ground. In fact, NEC still requires it if available. IMO, ground
rods should be outlawed as the only grounding means, in favor of an
easily installed (during new construction) Ufer ground.

As an electrician, I try to convince people to get rid of K&T,
regardless of the condition, however, the intent of the NEC is not to
cause undo hardship on folks.