Rewiring a 1930s House comments

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tom baker

tom baker

First Chief Moderator & NEC Expert
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Location
Bremerton, Washington
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Master Electrician
I have been an electrician for 49 years and started as a resi electrician, now I do mostly instrumentation and control.
I have a 1930s house and have been rewiring it, its lath and plaster, I am bringing it up to 2017 NEC.
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Lath and plaster is hard to cut for old work boxes, I use a multi-tool
I bought a Gardner Bender Staple Boss for run romex in the crawl, shoot the insulated staple, and then a tap with the hammer.
I run all the receptacle ckts in 12 and lighting is all separate, 14 there
Some of the circuits run by previous owners were OK, some were pretty hacked.
As common for older homes, a 200 amp panel was installed on the outside, then a 2" LB under with romex running to the crawl space, no clamps on romex going into LB. I installed a 4x4x18 wireway on the inside back to back with the panel, and then run down into crawl space.

Question- the walls are drafty, I can install switch and outlet plate gaskets, do any locations require those?
 
Depending on the box type you use, could you get things ready and fill the hole with foam and set the box into it, so that no gaskets are necessary under the plate? Sounds messy, but some disposable gloves should help there.

MTW
 
Masonry boxes are less drafty, and plaster & lathe can be cut tightly against the outside lip of those boxes.
 
I think gasketed boxes are required to comply with Canada's residential energy code. I haven't heard about them being required in the States.

Better yet, skip the gaskets and insulate the house when the wiring's complete.

For old work, I can't recommend smartboxes enough. They mount securely on the studs & joists, not on the lath & plaster.
http://meproducts.net/smart
 
Many plast/lath homes were framed w/ 2x4's on edge, so we use a lot of>>

B117RSW-TAB-0-1-LargeImage.jpg


Carlon B117RSW


~RJ~
 
Ive been using smart boxes screwed to the stud whenever possible for lath and plaster. IMO its a much stronger and higher quality install. It does take a little more time as you have to located the stud, and can be tricky if you dont have a good wall scanner that will go through the plaster and lath.
 
If you do not yet own one of these, get a similar one, you will be able to seal most every little space in your re-hab.

Be aware, there is a learning curve on how much foam expands! And there are different expansion types for that gun.

The gun is sssooooo much easier than the cans with straws.:thumbsup:

What? You guys don't take the time to cut out the plaster and wood lath to screw the GEM box to the wood lath like the old guys did it? Ha!:D
 
I too had an older home that needed rew
iring, plumbing, insulation, etc.

I gutted, to bare studs, one room at a time, made all the necessary repairs, insulated, etc

Less traumatizing to the household, and the work was done correctly. But drilling through those old studs is a bear. Kept my bit sharpening guy busy :D
 
Frank DuVal said:
If you do not yet own one of these, get a similar one, you will be able to seal most every little space in your re-hab.

Be aware, there is a learning curve on how much foam expands! And there are different expansion types for that gun.

The gun is sssooooo much easier than the cans with straws.:thumbsup:

What? You guys don't take the time to cut out the plaster and wood lath to screw the GEM box to the wood lath like the old guys did it? Ha!:D
Click to expand...

No link, no pic.
 
electricguy61 said:
I too had an older home that needed rew
iring, plumbing, insulation, etc.

I gutted, to bare studs, one room at a time, made all the necessary repairs, insulated, etc.
Click to expand...


And think of all that lead paint you got rid of and probably no one even noticed. From now on you are safe no matter how strict the law gets.

And it's one of the most energy efficient things you can do. To heck with tankless water heaters, it's heating and cooling that cost the real money.
 
growler said:
And it's one of the most energy efficient things you can do.
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zbang said:
Depends on whether you replace the walls with plaster or drywall. Plaster is a far better insulator and obviously much more robust.
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Plaster may be a better insulator than drywall but there is no insulation in the walls of these old homes. With 3 1/2 - 4 inches of spray foam insalation in the outside wall and then drywall it will be much better insulated. It will even dampen the noise from outside.
 
Tom, I do not know of any places that require those gaskets, however I see that some Led trim can light replacements come with a gasket, so I imagine they are required in some places.


romex jockey said:
Many plast/lath homes were framed w/ 2x4's on edge, so we use a lot of>>

B117RSW-TAB-0-1-LargeImage.jpg


Carlon B117RSW


~RJ~
Click to expand...

I remember when I first inquired about that type of box and trying to describe it. Best I could come up with was "pregnant box".
 
growler said:
Plaster may be a better insulator than drywall ... It will even dampen [sic] the noise from outside.
Click to expand...
Perhaps, but the difference is irrelevant. Neither plaster nor drywall is an effective thermal insulator.

"dampen" (verb): add a small amount of water to
"damp" (verb, present tense): attenuate, diminish
"damped" (verb, past tense): attenuated, diminished
This is a very common error. So common, in fact, that it appears in some dictionaries.
 
Frank DuVal said:
If you do not yet own one of these, get a similar one, you will be able to seal most every little space in your re-hab.

Be aware, there is a learning curve on how much foam expands! And there are different expansion types for that gun.

The gun is sssooooo much easier than the cans with straws.:thumbsup:

What? You guys don't take the time to cut out the plaster and wood lath to screw the GEM box to the wood lath like the old guys did it? Ha!:D
Click to expand...

I have a Hilit foam gun at work its great, the nozzle does not plug up
 
electrofelon said:
Ive been using smart boxes screwed to the stud whenever possible for lath and plaster. IMO its a much stronger and higher quality install. It does take a little more time as you have to located the stud, and can be tricky if you dont have a good wall scanner that will go through the plaster and lath.
Click to expand...

What is a smart box?
So fastening to the stud is a great idea, and it would be stronger.
 
drcampbell said:
Smart boxes: http://meproducts.net/smart

View attachment 19891
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Yep. I actually like the arlington ones a little better (I call all boxes with the side screws "smart boxes" regardless of brand). I hate the big bosses in the smart box brand ones and they dont have many cubic inches.

The last rewire I did, I used the arlington ones pretty much everywhere. Most of the walls were being skim coated so i was free to drill into the wall with a 1/16 bit to find the studs. Once I found one on a wall, the others were easy as the framing was 16" OC
 
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