From the old board, Knob and Tube Wiring

who will?

posted March 14, 2007 06:04 AM
Had an "electricion" just call me in reguards my report. He was upset that I stated in my report presence of live know and tube wiring, and I stated this as a hazzard and saftey concern. He kept telling me that there was no code that states that this is a hazzard and he stated that according to engineers the knob and tube is the safest and best system out there if installed properly. My statement to him was that I did fine live K&T wiring and noted it in my report and that I also stated the safety hazzard and it should be replaced by a qualified electrician. He said that I was scareing the customer and I shouild not mention this much less bring it to the customers attention.
What I am asking for is 2 fold.
1 Am I not right in stating this in my report as I said?
2 Where is there info that I can givve to my customer to better explain the hazzards of K&T from another source other than my and or the "electrician's" word.
Any thing would help.
Also Is there a web site that I can acess on the electric codes? Thanks ------------------
Brian Kelly
Kelly Home Inspections

[william siegel]

Tim,

Citizens (and I am sure others) will not accept knob and tube wiring. They want it replaced.

[Kevin Luce]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim Moreira

My statement to him was that I did fine live K&T wiring and noted it in my report and that I also stated the safety hazzard and it should be replaced by a qualified electrician.

Do you noticed something specifically wrong with the K&T?

In this area, most insurance companies wants the K&T wiring approved by a licensed electrician. And guess what, most if not all electrician will not put in writing that the wiring is fine and the K&T gets changed.

You many want to do what I did and call around to the different insurance companies and ask what happens if a house has K&T wiring.

[James Allen]

In our part of the country Tim, there is a lot of Knob and Tube wiring. As with all old stuff, the question is.....Is it still working as intended? If the system has been modified improperly, it gets called out. If is is covered with insulation in the attic....it gets called out. If it is frayed and coming apart...guess what? It gets called out. It is not that it is a bad system. It is just freaken old.

When I note it in my report, I note that this is an old system (not a bad system) and may have age and modification defects that are beyond the scope of this inspection to investigate. I recommend that the system be reviewed by an electrician.

Note: Not my thread, copied from the old board.

K&T needs to be replaced in my opinion.