Just finished a whole house rewire in a 1912 craftsman in Portland. The knob and tube was a nightmare but the owner found original blueprints in the attic.

3 comments

3 Comments

Wow, finding those blueprints must have been a lifesaver! I did a rewire on a 1920s place last year and the old wiring was a real puzzle. Having the original plans would have saved me so much time.

emmafisher3mo ago

Honestly @the_piper, calling it a puzzle is so true. I had the same mess in my own old house. What finally worked for me was just taking a ton of pictures of everything before I touched it. Like, close ups of every junction and where each wire ran. Tbh it was boring but then I could zoom in and figure out the weird old paths when I got stuck. Still took forever but at least I had my own reference.

brookepark1mo ago

Ugh, that is EXACTLY what I ended up doing too. Taking those close up shots is such a pain but honestly it saved me from making a million mistakes. I remember staring at a junction box full of wires that looked like someone just threw spaghetti in there, and the photo was the only thing that made sense of it all. It's so frustrating when you think you've got it figured out and then you realize one wire goes to some random outlet you forgot about. Solid advice though, for real. The boring stuff like that is what stops you from having to call an electrician at 10pm on a Saturday.