DIY & Home Improvement

Brigid

(17,621 posts) Mon Apr 1, 2013, 11:16 PM Apr 2013

Any electricians around here?

I'm watching "Love It Or List It." While knocking down a wall, the renovation crew discovered that the wiring in the house was the old knob-and-tube type instead of the newer type. Apparently someone had at some point installed a fake circuit breaker panel to throw off home inspectors. They said this happens on occasion with older homes. It cost $5,000 to bring the wiring up to code. I guess an inspector can't check for this without tearing into a wall. Has anybody else heard of this?

5 replies

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Any electricians around here? (Original Post) Brigid Apr 2013 OP

nonsense JayhawkSD Apr 2013 #1

Ripped out or at least a whole bunch of holes.. X_Digger Apr 2013 #5

Any inspector should have at least tested for a functional panel in an area with older homes ProgressiveProfessor Apr 2013 #2

It would have to be a pretty lazy inspector Warpy Apr 2013 #3

A fake breaker panel wouldn't pass the little tester home inspectors use.. no beep/light. X_Digger Apr 2013 #4

JayhawkSD

(3,163 posts)

1. nonsense

Reply to Brigid (Original post)

Mon Apr 1, 2013, 11:41 PM

Apr 2013

I am a former US Navy submarine electrician, and licensed in two states as a professional electrician.

The knob and tube wiring would be visible in the attic and basement, or equivalent crawl spaces, and readily visible to a casual inspection by anyone with basic electrical knowledge. Any electrician or inspector that did not recognize a "fake breaker panel" as a fake should be burned at the stake.

Converting knob and tube to code wiring would cost one whole hell of a lot more than $5000. Every wall in the house would have to be ripped out.

I have watched this show a few times. It is utterly bogus.

X_Digger

(18,585 posts)

5. Ripped out or at least a whole bunch of holes..

Reply to JayhawkSD (Reply #1)

Tue Apr 2, 2013, 12:10 AM

Apr 2013

We re-wired my grandmother's 1910-ish bungalow back in the 80's (it was cloth covered.. aluminum, I seem to recall). Luckily it was all one story, with a roomy crawlspace, so it was a lot of holes in the lower foot of wall to get a drill down into the bottom plate.

I can only shudder to imagine the mess that a multi-story knob and tube replacement would make of walls and ceilings.

ProgressiveProfessor

(22,144 posts)

2. Any inspector should have at least tested for a functional panel in an area with older homes

Reply to Brigid (Original post)

Mon Apr 1, 2013, 11:44 PM

Apr 2013

Be it the one from the city or one the prospective buyers hired.

Knob and tube is quite obvious, so that should have been a clue as well.

Warpy

(113,130 posts)

3. It would have to be a pretty lazy inspector

Reply to Brigid (Original post)

Mon Apr 1, 2013, 11:48 PM

Apr 2013

since you can see at any outlet whether or not they've upgraded to Romex.

My house was owned by a series of enthusiastic but incompetent handymen. Some of the wiring was backwards, but it was all Romex, thank goodness.

X_Digger

(18,585 posts)

4. A fake breaker panel wouldn't pass the little tester home inspectors use.. no beep/light.

Reply to Brigid (Original post)

Tue Apr 2, 2013, 12:06 AM

Apr 2013

If an inspector saw non-grounded outlets (two prong), he'd likely pull the cover and see old wiring.

A buddy of mine runs a home inspection business; two tools he carries for the electrical inspection part are a little dongle that when plugged in tells you if it's wired correctly (including ground and polarity) and the beep/light thing. He inspected the house we moved into last summer; he checked every outlet and switch, and he even took the cover off the panel to check how loaded the box was, and to make sure no breakers were running two circuits (that apparently *is* one trick some idiots do).

Yeah, I'm smelling 'reality TV' drama.

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