I have an old home. I was wondering if there is a way to rewire without gutting it?
Our Answer
It's smart to update your wiring. In older houses it is often unsafe or undersized for modern needs.
That said, when repairing old house wiring, it's smartest to disconnect the old wiring but leave it in place, then feed the new wiring through walls, floors, ceilings. Feeding wires through these cavities is a skill electricians possess. Now, some inconvenience and damage will be caused, but a pro will take every step possible to minimize it by using tools such as wire snakes – which are used to fish wire through cavities from point A to point B, avoiding tear-out of walls in the process.
So while gutting your house isn't necessary, rewiring is a job that causes major disruption. Make sure you and your electrician agree on a timeline, so you can work around the mess and the lack of power. The job needs to be done in warmer months to avoid freeze damage to plumbing when power goes out. If whole-house power loss is a major concern, it may be possible for your electrician to replace wiring one or two circuits at time, so that at no time is the entire home is without power.
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