Yes, I want to do this myself. No I am not a licensed electrician.
But, I was just reading in one of the other posts about someone doing this, and a thought came to mind...
My house is about 70 years old, with that old wire with the braided cloth/tar coating (neat stuff, makes nice 'cracking' sounds when you handle it). The main panel is back out on the back wall of the house (outside) with the meter right to it. The contents inside the panel is truly frightening. I believe I spotted a "date" code on it from 1939. Any antique collectors out there?
Anyway, I read where someone suggested installing a new drop, with a new load center, and then just "tieing" in all the house wiring, from the old panel (remove the breakers and whatnot) and just tie off the wires there and conduit them back over to the new load center. That would allow me the time to get new service and new load center up and going (with backup generator connections) and then I could leisurely work on rewiring the rest of the house, a room at a time.
Is it likely possible to get an electrician to handle the new load center, and meter move, without requiring that all the wiring inside the house be brought up to code as well? Or is there just no-way of getting a new meter and load center without having to do everything on the whole structure...
My big worry right now is my main load center out back by the meter. The house is doing fine, we are not over stressing any of the existing wiring, and anywhere I needed it I pulled a new wire just to insure I wasn't running anything on that old cracky wire. But that panel has just got to go! That, and I want a generator hookup as well.
As for me, I have; rewired what I needed to to keep the house safe without doing ALL of it, installed my on-demand water heater, plumbing and all, installed my own mini-split AC units (hired a service guy to turn them on), removed a load-bearing wall and replaced it with a lovely glulam beam for a wholly open living space. So, I can handle most anything. I'm just not "licensed" as it were. But I'm certainly willing to tackle this.
Can someone suggest what would be the best path to getting a properly installed service/load center without rewiring the entire house along with it?
But, I was just reading in one of the other posts about someone doing this, and a thought came to mind...
My house is about 70 years old, with that old wire with the braided cloth/tar coating (neat stuff, makes nice 'cracking' sounds when you handle it). The main panel is back out on the back wall of the house (outside) with the meter right to it. The contents inside the panel is truly frightening. I believe I spotted a "date" code on it from 1939. Any antique collectors out there?
Anyway, I read where someone suggested installing a new drop, with a new load center, and then just "tieing" in all the house wiring, from the old panel (remove the breakers and whatnot) and just tie off the wires there and conduit them back over to the new load center. That would allow me the time to get new service and new load center up and going (with backup generator connections) and then I could leisurely work on rewiring the rest of the house, a room at a time.
Is it likely possible to get an electrician to handle the new load center, and meter move, without requiring that all the wiring inside the house be brought up to code as well? Or is there just no-way of getting a new meter and load center without having to do everything on the whole structure...
My big worry right now is my main load center out back by the meter. The house is doing fine, we are not over stressing any of the existing wiring, and anywhere I needed it I pulled a new wire just to insure I wasn't running anything on that old cracky wire. But that panel has just got to go! That, and I want a generator hookup as well.
As for me, I have; rewired what I needed to to keep the house safe without doing ALL of it, installed my on-demand water heater, plumbing and all, installed my own mini-split AC units (hired a service guy to turn them on), removed a load-bearing wall and replaced it with a lovely glulam beam for a wholly open living space. So, I can handle most anything. I'm just not "licensed" as it were. But I'm certainly willing to tackle this.
Can someone suggest what would be the best path to getting a properly installed service/load center without rewiring the entire house along with it?
