rewiring a house


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Old 12-22-13, 12:56 PM
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rewiring a house

My house is over a hundred years old which means the wiring is all mixed up. Since I have access to the attic, I was considering running four separate electrical lines from the panel, up along side the chimney into the attic, and one to each room. I figure the hardest part will be snaking the lines down the walls to the outlets. Does this sound feasible?
 
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Old 12-22-13, 01:10 PM
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Yes, but not easy. I have done many times and it typical takes two of us several 8 hr days to do it.
Easiest way to fish the walls is to drill a 7/8" hole in the top plate and drop some #12 Jack chain down. Then the other guy cuts a hole for the device box, grabs the chain and ties the cable to the chain and the top guy pulls it up.

When you say chimney I hope you do not mean heat. NM cable and heat do not make nice. I suggest dropping the same jack chain down along side the main plumbing stack. A lot of times you can go from attic to basement with out too much trouble.
 
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Old 12-22-13, 01:43 PM
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Thank you! The chimney is just the vent for the furnace. I will go alongside the main plumbing stack.
 
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Old 12-22-13, 04:51 PM
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After you fish the cable you can stuff fiberglass insulation in the hole to prevent the chimney effect should a fire start.
 
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Old 12-22-13, 06:57 PM
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I was considering running four separate electrical lines from the panel, up along side the chimney into the attic, and one to each room.
Plan carefully before you start. Assuming you have bedrooms and a bathroom up there, I'd use one 20 amp circuit for the bathroom GFCI receptacle, one 15 amp circuit for all the lights and one or two 20 amp circuits for all other receptacles.
 
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Old 12-22-13, 07:09 PM
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Easiest way to fish the walls is to drill a 7/8" hole in the top plate and drop some #12 Jack chain down. Then the other guy cuts a hole for the device box, grabs the chain and ties the cable to the chain and the top guy pulls it up.
I tie a couple of 1/2" nuts onto the end of the chain to keep it straight during the drop. I also keep the cable in the attic and send it down from there.

The trick part, and this may be what Tolyn is referring to, is to get the next run up the wall to go to the next box. I've found two solutions for this. One is to send a pull string down with the first cable. The other is to mount a 1900 box in the attic near the drop hole and use that to make a 3-way splice, so that only one cable has to go down. I prefer the first solution because it keeps all of the splices accessible from the living space.

After you fish the cable you can stuff fiberglass insulation in the hole to prevent the chimney effect should a fire start.
I seal the holes with fire caulk.
 
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Old 12-22-13, 07:16 PM
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Given the size of the holes around the plumbing stack in old homes the OP might go broke buying fire caulk or foam.
 
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Old 12-22-13, 08:34 PM
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Given the size of the holes around the plumbing stack in old homes the OP might go broke buying fire caulk or foam.
True. I was talking about the holes bored for cable drops.

I've never even considered fire-stopping a plumbing chase with a spray-can product.
 
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Old 12-23-13, 03:17 PM
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I like the chain method myself but I use crimp on lead fishing weights to weigh down the end.
 
 

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