I'm remodeling a 1954 house that has a 100 amp main. It's a mess, but it can be fixed. Basically, the main is located on an exterior wall with a 100 amp disconnect and there are code compliant circuits for a bedroom/bath addition that was done about 8 years ago - included a 50 amp spa circuit, a 30 amp WH circuit and 2-20 amp circuits (1 for bath and 1 for bedroom). All of the circuits for the addition were wired with correct size NM cable. Bdrm is not AFCI protected, but it's not being touched. The problems occur in the older portions of the house which includes a Kitchen, Living/Dining Rm, Bedroom & Bath. First, all of this is wired with older #14 NM w/o ground, and the kitchen needs additional circuits. The breakers are all 20 amp, so even those circuits that only need to be 15 amp need to have the breakers changed. Some of the conduit into the house is metal and some is plastic. These conduits run along the outside wall and enter the house a several different locations - very unsightly - but all on one wall. There is adequate attic space with easy access to the area directly above the main service. I will be totally remodeling the old bath and Kitchen plus I'll add a Utility Room for the Stacked Washer/Dryer that was in the old Kitchen. The Living/Dining Room and the Bedroom are not going to be changed except that I'll add GFCI protection and replace the wall fixtures with 15 amp 3-prong outlets with the "no equipment ground" note. My plan is to provide a new sub-panel in the dining room with circuits to serve the kitchen, a bath and the laundry. This is a central location which would minimize the amount of #12 and #14 NM that I would need to run for the new 15 and 20 amp circuits for these areas. I will need the normal kitchen circuits (gas range) and the laundry has a gas dryer. Bath.......... 20 amp circuit Kitchen...... 2 20 amp small appliance circuits ................ 20 amp circuit for microwave/hood ................ 15 amp circuit for DW & Disposal Laundry..... 20 amp circuit for Washer/Dryer (gas dryer) Lighting..... 15 amp circuit So, I'm planning on a 40 amp sup-panel with main disconnect using 8-3 w ground from the main panel. I would abandon and remove the old circuits that served these things previously and install a new conduit from the main panel up to the attic to run the cable for the new sub-panel, and then remove extra breakers, etc. Naturally, I will use GFCI as required by code, etc. If I use this sub-panel approach, what do I need to do about the open spaces left by the breakers that have been removed from the main panel? Obviously, some of those will be filled by the double 40 amp for the sub and I can replace some thin line breakers with full width, but there will still be some openings. If I use this approach, there will still be several exterior conduits, but I expect to eliminate at least 4 of them. I will also need to cap the open holes left by the remove conduits (both at the panel and where they enter the house). Any other comments would be welcome. Thanks, Joe

Hi. I was hoping someone could offer me a little advice. I have a house built in 1940 and has old 2 wire BX (I think it's BX). I am trying to hook up a fixture in the kitchen and am having some issues. The wiring coming in is new wiring that is obviously not original. When I use one of the bulb testers to check hot to neutral I get a faint light. When I check hot to ground I get a stronger light. I don't get anything with neutral to ground. Can you help?? Thanks, Brad