Up to code Electric..

1150 Views 8 Replies 6 Participants Last post by bobelectric, Nov 27, 2012

tabbywolf

Discussion Starter · Nov 27, 2012

My husband and I are looking into buying a house in rural Iowa. It's not very far from us and meets our needs better than our current home. There's just a couple of problems. If we were to buy the house, we would have to gut the entire house so an electrician could re-wire the electricity to bring it up to code. My question is how much could this run for us? The house is 2,033 sq. I'm not sure if anyone on here is from the Ottumwa, Iowa area but that is the town we are nearest to. So if anyone could give me an idea of what we are looking at, i'd appreciate it! Thanks!

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hammerlane

· #2 · Nov 27, 2012

Way too many variables to even guess. Why not call in a local sparky and get an estimate???

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tabbywolf

Discussion Starter · #3 · Nov 27, 2012

How were you able to come up with that number so quickly? Lol.
Also, how long will it take to do this project?

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tabbywolf

Discussion Starter · #4 · Nov 27, 2012

I'm sorry, I think I may of been looking at something else. I'm new to this, lol. I've been thinking about it but i'd rather my Husband do it. I'm impatient so that's why I thought I would ask. I'm not familiar with these types of things. Lol.

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jbfan

· #5 · Nov 27, 2012

How old is the house?

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gregzoll

· #6 · Nov 27, 2012

What makes you think that you have to gut the house to bring it up to the latest code? Sounds like someone has been watching too much Holmes on Homes & Holmes Inspections, or speaking to a idiot Home Inspector who is feeding them this line of bull.

Unless the plumbing was beyond repair, done by a hack, same for the electrical, and mechanical's, the only code thing I can think of off hand, would be hand railings for stairways, lights for the stairs, entrance doors, gfci in basement, crawl space, outside, garage, attic, bath, Kitchen. Also properly draining and working sump pumps/french drains, septic fields. CO detectors in basement & main living area, smoke detectors in living & bedroom areas.

AFCI's only if changing electrical lines, not panel, since that would be grandfathered, but nice to have them if the panel that is currently installed can handle them, so that you comply with bedroom protection.

If every house out there had to be brought to current codes in an area, every time they exchanged hands, costs would be so high, you would end up with a brand new house, and never able to afford it.

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gregzoll

· #7 · Nov 27, 2012

tabbywolf said:
How were you able to come up with that number so quickly? Lol.
Also, how long will it take to do this project?

What number are you talking about" How long can it take you ask. It has taken me over nine years so far to rewire my place, with it still in progress. A good crew can rewire a place within a week, or three days if they have enough people.

Costs involve permits, insurance for the crew, inspections, materials, labor. You may find that you are getting in over your head if you think that you have to rewire the whole place, without knowing exactly what is wrong with it first hand. And never trust what the idiot Home Inspector states, get an opinion of a licensed bonded/insured electrician to check over the system.

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tylernt

· #8 · Nov 27, 2012

tabbywolf said:
If we were to buy the house, we would have to gut the entire house so an electrician could re-wire the electricity to bring it up to code.

Unless you've got a fuse box, or you want to get rid of knob & tube, or all of the outlets are ungrounded, there's no need to completely overhaul the electric, old wiring is grandfathered in. Just fix the individual problems where they occur.

Overhaul or no, there's still no need to gut -- just cut small access holes where necessary and hire someone to patch and texture the drywall or plaster when done. If you have an accessible attic and/or a crawlspace/basement to run new wires, wall damage will be minimal.

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bobelectric

· #9 · Nov 27, 2012

I would focus on the high usage areas first. Service entrance, laundry area, kitchen, bath area. Seperate circuit for heat.

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