Let’s talk about knob and tube.
…and how we got hazed into homeownership.
What is knob and tube?
Knob and tube (or “K&T”) is basically just an early form of electrical wiring that has been obsolete since about the 1930s. Porcelain knobs are attached to the joists and studs, and cloth wiring runs to where it’s needed, covered by porcelain tubes in places where it passes through joists or studs.
Is it problematic?
Knob and tube isn’t inherently dangerous. And oftentimes, there’s really no need to replace it. But it can be an issue if it’s brittle, if it’s been improperly spliced into more modern Romex wiring, or if it’s surrounded by insulation. It also has no ground wire.
Different jurisdictions and homeowner’s insurance companies have different rules around knob and tube. Luckily, we’re in Massachusetts where old houses (and therefore knob and tube) are common.
What was our verdict on our knob and tube?
Our initial home inspection raised some questions about the presence of knob and tube, so we got a separate electrical inspection one before closing. Based on both of those inspections, the general consensus was that we may have a little knob and tube, but it was likely just in isolated areas, such as the attic — so we weren’t too concerned.
Flash forward a few weeks: After closing on The Crombie House, our first big project was upgrading our electrical service from 100 amps to 200 amps (which cost $4,200 — for anyone curious). As our electrician was finishing up that work, he said he just pulled one or two breakers that had knob and tube.
We sat around the house while the work was done over the course of two weeks. It was cold. We had minimal furniture and no working electricity. The work was messy — there were holes and plaster dust everywhere. We were miserable.
Sometimes, we passive-aggressively sat on the porch. Other times, we went on passive aggressive walks around our new neighborhood.
It remains a mystery who took whose spot first.
#MOOD.
When they were done, we walked around and surveyed the damage. I walked around the house crying. I cried on the phone with my parents. I cried in the Wegmans parking lot. I cried back at our apartment.
There were 184 holes.
(Yes, I counted.)
We felt like we just got hazed into homeownership.
Every room in the house was like this.
This initial electrical project led to a domino effect of projects that have taken up a good portion of our first year:
- Plaster Repair. We felt too overwhelmed to take this on as a DIY. We hired a great contractor with a highly inappropriate sense of humor to help. I can’t remember the exact cost of this work, but I think it was between $2,000 - $3,000.
- Ceilings. The drilling from the electrical work wasn’t easy on our ceilings, which were already a bit delicate due to natural settling over time. Between all of the holes, the plaster disconnecting from the lath in many spots, and someone in the past using latex paint over oil paint, we opted to hang new ceilings. It took one team of guys a couple of days to hang up the new ceilings, and another team a few days to skim coat everything. I think it ended up costing somewhere around $5,500.
- Crown Moulding. The new ceilings meant taking down all of the existing crown moulding. (Luckily, most of it was not original to the house and wasn’t all that attractive looking anyway.) So this has also meant hanging up new crown moulding- throughout the house. This is ongoing work that we plan to tackle through a mix of DIY and a professional carpenter. On average, I’d estimate the cost per room as $300 for materials and about $700 for labor.
Although this project basically just sucked, there are some positives:
- Peace of Mind. We felt too overwhelmed to take this on as a DIY. We hired a great contractor with a highly inappropriate sense of humor to help. I can’t remember the exact cost of this work, but I think it was between $2,000 - $3,000.
- Up to Code. The drilling from the electrical work wasn’t easy on our ceilings, which were already a bit delicate due to natural settling over time. Between all of the holes, the plaster disconnecting from the lath in many spots, and someone in the past using latex paint over oil paint, we opted to hang new ceilings. It took one team of guys a couple of days to hang up the new ceilings, and another team a few days to skim coat everything. I think it ended up costing somewhere around $5,500.
- Relative Cost. The new ceilings meant taking down all of the existing crown moulding. (Luckily, most of it was not original to the house and wasn’t all that attractive looking anyway.) So this has also meant hanging up new crown moulding- throughout the house. This is ongoing work that we plan to tackle through a mix of DIY and a professional carpenter. On average, I’d estimate the cost per room as $300 for materials and about $700 for labor.
Some parts of this project were neat. For example, we got to check out all of the gas lines inside the walls from when the house originally had gas lighting.
In hindsight, we’re really glad we did this when we did. As we tackle The Crombie House room-by-room, it is a huge relief to not be stuck dealing with electrical issues and fighting with our ceilings. (Although it’s worth noting that we still have one outlet on our upstairs landing that is still nonfunctional and needs to be rewired, as well as the entirety of our attic. In the meantime, motion activated, battery-operated lights have been working just fine.)
Lesson quickly learned:
Owning a Victorian house isn’t always fun and sexy.
It can be messy, expensive, and somewhat traumatic. Your house can (and probably will) make you cry.
…Ignore some of the questionable wallpaper and paint colors in these photos. These will be topics for a later time :)