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I finally stopped arguing with my electrician about knob and tube | Edmonton Contractors - Hub Chatter

I finally stopped arguing with my electrician about knob and tube

Had a long chat with Mike from All Phase Electric last week. He told me my 1940s knob and tube wiring wasn't just outdated but actually a fire risk with modern insulation. I've been telling people for years that old wiring is fine if it's undisturbed. He showed me three photos from his last rewire job in a house near Whyte Avenue where the insulation had basically melted around the old cloth wire. That visual hit different. He quoted me $3,200 to replace the main circuits in my basement. Has anyone else had an electrician convince them to upgrade something they thought was fine?

2 comments

2 Comments

sarahhart1mo ago

Did your friend Carol say if the electrician took photos for her too? I swear seeing is believing with this stuff, Mike from All Phase actually let me keep a copy of his photos on my phone. Now my wife jokes I show them to people at parties like they're baby pictures. Speaking of parties, my buddy Derek was telling me last weekend how his cousin in Fort McMurray found black powder in his attic from old knob and tube arcing. The electrician there said the dust was basically pulverized copper that had been sparking for years without anyone noticing. Makes you wonder how many houses are quietly smoldering right now and nobody even knows.

nina_hall1mo ago

That bit about the insulation melting around the cloth wire sounds terrible. My friend Carol had a similar thing happen with her place in Sherwood Park. She always swore her old wiring was fine because she never had any trouble, but her electrician convinced her to let him open up a wall. He found a spot where the knob and tube was actually touching some modern fiberglass insulation, and the heat had charred the wood framing around it. She ended up paying about $2,800 to get it all pulled out and replaced, and she sleeps a lot better now.