[Neolith80]

My old house has extensive K&T that I'm slowly replacing. I'm familiar with new codes, practices, methods etc., But have no experience with k&t. Most of the rooms' light switches have simply two individual black wires coming in. One goes to the top of the switch, one to the bottom. That is all that's in the box. Does this mean the light fixture is getting power first?

Thanks in advance.

 

[bfrabel]

My old house has extensive K&T that I'm slowly replacing. I'm familiar with new codes, practices, methods etc., But have no experience with k&t. Most of the rooms' light switches have simply two individual black wires coming in. One goes to the top of the switch, one to the bottom. That is all that's in the box. Does this mean the light fixture is getting power first?

Thanks in advance.

No. The way your switches work are the same way any switch works. The light fixture will have a hot and a neutral going to it, with a switch installed somewhere in that hot wire.

 

[Oldmaster]

Most of the time with k&t they feed the neutrals to the lights. Usually they only break the line conductors at the switch.

 

[Neolith80]

Thanks guys. That all makes sense.

 

[ServiceCall]

They have been known to break the neutral at the switch also.

 

[rjniles]

Best not to assume anything about K&T. Safest way to find out what you have is to run an extension cord from a know properly wired receptacle and test with a multimeter.