Upgrading knob & tube.

Starting with dining room, living room and part of one bedroom which are currently on one 15A circuit.

I want to run a new 15A circuit for the living room and dining room only. Ultimately, this bedroom will be on a circuit with the other 2 bedrooms (three bedroom home). I want to use the existing boxes or enlarge them.

What happens to the wiring that would still be live on the old circuit until I get to the point of running the next new circuit to the bedrooms?

I was thinking I cut the wire in the attic for these outlets and cap them off until I get to the next phase.

 

Disconnect them from the junction box that feeds them.

 

It's old knob & tube wiring. There are probably no junction boxes at all.

You'll probably have to do something like that temporarily. It's hard to say exactly what you need to do without seeing it.

 

There are no junction boxes. Just wild & crazy knob & tube everywhere.

I think I am going to do what has been suggested here and other sites and keep the circuit layout as is. This will allow me to know for certain that everything that was original has been completely replaced and I don't have to worry that I left a live connection behind.

 

Disconnecting part of the circuit may leave unintended areas without power due to the way the circuit is run.

Dining receptacles need to be a 20 amp circuit with no lighting loads.

 

As long as a wire is still energized, the unhooked end has to be in an outlet box or a junction box. This will limit what new cables you can bring into that box, or may force you to install a new, larger, box or add an extension ring that protrudes into the room.

After you know you have unhooked all ends (might be three if that section of knob and tube wiring was a tee) then you may snip off the ends flush with where they enter the box, and forget about them.