Knob & tube remediation: inspector wants a walk thru

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jjhoward

jjhoward

Senior Member
Location
Northern NJ
Occupation
Owner TJ Electric
We just completed a k&t remediation project on an older 3 story home. It involved all rooms but the 3 bathrooms, the kitchen & the living room. These room had been updated. We rewired outlets, switches, sconces and ceiling fixtures in the basement, foyer, dining room, 4 rooms on the 2nd floor, 2 rooms on the 3rd floor. An inspection was scheduled by the homeowner, the inspector showed up and told the HO that the EC must meet him at the house to tell him what was done. I have never had an inspector request to meet at a job site. Has anyone done a walk thru with an inspector on a residential re-work kind of project? I have left a vmail for the inspector, I expect to hear from him tomorrow.
Thank you.
 
jjhoward said:
Has anyone done a walk thru with an inspector on a residential re-work kind of project?
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It's very common to meet with the inspector on this type of project here.

He/she will probably ask a few questions and you will explain what you have done.

I wouldn't worry about it.
 
growler said:
I wouldn't worry about it.
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I will let you know. Not sure what he wants to know, if the receptacles are all grounded, he knows we had to get new conductors to those devices. If I were to provide a thorough run down of all we did, it could take a while. I would rather not be burning cycles doing a review with the inspector. I am thinking of asking him if he would accept a written summary. I think that would take less time (if I can get a summary and that be the end of it).
 
It could be of concern with grounding the old metal boxes, if that is what you did. Some don't have a provision for a green pigtail. Those old pancake ceiling boxes are something too. Did you change them? Must have been a big job.:)
 
I used to meet with the State inspector at each visit but have gotten away from it the last few years. Scheduling got to be difficult and it could be a month or more to a final. We let them know when we are ready and they call if there are questions or want us there. i prefer the one on one walk thrus.
 
ptonsparky said:
I used to meet with the State inspector at each visit but have gotten away from it the last few years. Scheduling got to be difficult and it could be a month or more to a final. We let them know when we are ready and they call if there are questions or want us there. i prefer the one on one walk thrus.
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A month??!! In NJ you call and they have 3 days to show up. Unless you're talking about project duration.
 
ptonsparky said:
One of our State inspectors in the Western part of State can travel 1/2 day for his first inspection. RoughIns and temporary services are given preferences and short turn around times.
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When you live in a state more densely populated than India, you don't appreciate how empty a lot of this country is once you get outside city limits.
 
GerryB said:
It could be of concern with grounding the old metal boxes, if that is what you did. Some don't have a provision for a green pigtail. Those old pancake ceiling boxes are something too. Did you change them? Must have been a big job.:)
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Hi Gerry;
There weren't ANY boxes behind the sonces or under ceiling fixtures. There was usually an abandoned gas line fitting with a small cast thing that accomodated k&t wires. Yes, this was a big job. A crew of 3 (some days 4) for a week. We have done 6 jobs like these in the past couple of months. Apparently, insurance companies are saying NO Mortgage insurance if there is ANY k&t in the house. These are not crappy houses, these are large homes in established neigborhoods. These houses are in the $1M price range.
 
It's nice to have the contractor there, in case any boxes need to be opened or fixtures taken down so that grounding and UL labels can be looked at. I'm pretty sure that if he removed a plate or a fixture and then damaged it putting it back, you would hold him responsible. Some jurisdictions won't allow their inspectors to remove panel covers, so if they can't do it, who will?

We're a small city, we do next day inspections with a two hour window.
 
FYI, I did speak with the inspector today. He wanted to know HOW I got rid of the k&t. He specifically asked how i did the 2nd floor. I will be meeting with him Fri AM for a walkthru. We had about half of the k&t circuits terminated in accessable jboxes in basement with usable BX continuing through the house. Some portions of the house was ROMEX being feed with k&t. And then there were sections of the house that needed new wiring. This house was 3 stories, none of the walls lined up from floor to floor. For the 2nd floor repairs, we extended good branch circuits on the 3rd story down through the 3rd story walls into the ceiling of the 2nd floor. Then notch, drill, etc to get to the walls on the 2nd floor. Much time was spent simply THINKING before we started cutting & drilling.
 
jjhoward said:
Hi Gerry;
There weren't ANY boxes behind the sonces or under ceiling fixtures. There was usually an abandoned gas line fitting with a small cast thing that accomodated k&t wires. Yes, this was a big job. A crew of 3 (some days 4) for a week. We have done 6 jobs like these in the past couple of months. Apparently, insurance companies are saying NO Mortgage insurance if there is ANY k&t in the house. These are not crappy houses, these are large homes in established neigborhoods. These houses are in the $1M price range.
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:lol:That's a riot. I forgot about the no box at all scenario and the gas pipes. Plenty of those here in CT also, like you said beautiful homes. Plaster and lathe ceilings and walls usually too. Very nasty. I have had insurance jobs to remove K&T in exposed areas but not the whole house. They also don't like fuses very much. Those jobs will keep you busy though, so that's good. You should do fine on the inspection. He probably wants to learn something himself:)
 
Sounds like the inspector is familiar with the problems of those houses and may have had contractors take "shortcuts" before when they could not figure out how to do it right. :)
 
gadfly56 said:
When you live in a state more densely populated than India, you don't appreciate how empty a lot of this country is once you get outside city limits.
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Most of us living in the empty lot appreciate what is there. Some don't realize what all is there if it isn't man made.

cowboyjwc said:
It's nice to have the contractor there, in case any boxes need to be opened or fixtures taken down so that grounding and UL labels can be looked at. I'm pretty sure that if he removed a plate or a fixture and then damaged it putting it back, you would hold him responsible. Some jurisdictions won't allow their inspectors to remove panel covers, so if they can't do it, who will?

We're a small city, we do next day inspections with a two hour window.
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Your small city has more population then the hundreds of square miles in many of Nebraska's state EI districts. I can get approval to go ahead and cover because the guy won't be there before his alloted time on rough in inspections. He still may come and look at it ASAP but can't bust my chops if he couldn't make it on time. They will do this for contractors they have little issues with, but will do what they can to meet someone they are not familiar with or have had trouble with in the past on time.
 
Remember inspectors are not mind readers & can only approved work done ( with exceptions of course) -- you have commented on the extensive work done & special circumstances that required real thought -- Seems like a meeting on site would be appropriate -- appreciate the inspector has an interest in performing his job properly. Why would the HO call in your inspection? Is it not your permit?- usually I call the contractor when that happens to make sure they are ready & not waste both of our time
 
jjhoward said:
An inspection was scheduled by the homeowner, the inspector showed up and told the HO that the EC must meet him at the house to tell him what was done.
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mwm1752 said:
Why would the HO call in your inspection? Is it not your permit?-
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I missed the part about the HO scheduling the inspection. Here they don't allow the HO to permit and not do the work even if it's farmed out to a licensed EC.

I was caught trying to do a rough-in for a friend. The inspector told him he knew he didn't do the work because it was too neat. I didn't think of that. Homeowner work is almost never "neat".
 
growler said:
I missed the part about the HO scheduling the inspection. Here they don't allow the HO to permit and not do the work even if it's farmed out to a licensed EC.

I was caught trying to do a rough-in for a friend. The inspector told him he knew he didn't do the work because it was too neat. I didn't think of that. Homeowner work is almost never "neat".
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We have the same rule here. Technically if a HO pulls a permit he is supposed to do the work. I guess the idea is to prevent an E2 with no insurance to be doing all kinds of jobs.
 
GerryB said:
:lol:That's a riot. I forgot about the no box at all scenario and the gas pipes. Plenty of those here in CT also, like you said beautiful homes. Plaster and lathe ceilings and walls usually too. Very nasty. I have had insurance jobs to remove K&T in exposed areas but not the whole house. They also don't like fuses very much.
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'
Yeah, the no box thing isn't entirely unusual- an ancient t/p rec or light fixture will often be tucked in just a hole in the wall/ ceiling and mounted to the lath/ t&g sheathing whatever with wood screws, and it was often done that way originally.:)
 
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