help with old wiring

Is there a way to check old wiring[knob& tube] running inside plaster walls in a two floors house?

Also if rewiring what is the best way to to fish from the second floor considering that the service panel is in the basement.Walls and ceilings are plaster and they just been painted.

Is running EMT on the surface or raceway worth considering?

Im a senior with a limited budget but wiyh proper guidance i can do most of the work.Appreciate any help

papi

 

2nd floor recpts and lights can all be fed from the attic. 1st floor recpts can be fed from the basement. Just find the wall that you are looking for and drill up under or above the recpt. Lights on the first floor are tricky. Find out the direction of the celing joist and follow it to an inside wall. You will then have to notch a bit of drywall out of the wall and ceiling to drill through the top plate. If you have an inside upstairs wall that lines up directly on top of a downstairs wall, you can use this to get your circuits upstairs to the attic. You may have to remove some drywall here too. If this is the case, install a conduit in the wall for future circuits that would need to go into the attic. Hope this helps!

 

I have a similar house. Built circa 1875. Knob & tube ckts have nearly been erraticated but still have some difficult access to replace 1 ckt. I used the chase in my stairway wall to get new power up to 2nd floor. Cut 16 x 16 hole in stairway wall between 1st & 2nd floor, then one in basement stairs, dropped a fishing sinker down and pulled romex from basement to attic. Worked out nicely. From attic dropped down to rooms below (2nd floor). If you want an omelette you gotta break a few eggs. Holes in wall were patched and elecrical supply now better than ever upstairs. Hope that helps.

Juice

 

Thank you all for info and help,guess one problem is lack of access to attic for it is only a crowl space 20 inches high
i dont know how dificult will be to run wires in that small space that is why i was thinking about running some wires inside conduit on some of the walls surfaces,dont know if this is a good idea.
I really appreciated the answers and input Thanks a lot/////

papi