Pending house Electrical issues

[Gabriel Benavidez]

Im currently under contract for a my second rental property i had the inspection done Saturday and my inspector found aluminum and copper wiring and he said the house would need to be rewired. Should i let that be the reason why not to buy the house or is the wiring not a big deal and will be an easy fix?

[Pat L.]

I would plan on replacing the Al wiring & have always done so in any of the properties we hold. Unfortunately, electrical failures & the resulting fires involving 60-70's Al wiring are VERY well documented. 

Admittedly, a continuous run of aluminum wire does not present a problem but when the Al wire is subsequently connected to outlets, light switches & especially spliced to other branched circuits (buried within junction boxes), these connections can & will by the metallurgical nature of Al oxidize. Once these 'sites' have deteriorated they have the potential to overheat & become a fire hazard. What's sobering is the fact that the average home may have 100-150 of these junction box splices/connections imbedded in the walls & ceilings. Furthermore, when these 'connections' do overheat they will not trip a circuit breaker per se (typically activated by excess current), but instead could become 'hot' enough to ignite the surroundings.

Assuming it hasn't been a problem for 30-40 years is also a misconception, because the longer these splices/connections etc are allowed to deteriorate the greater the potential for a fire hazard.

Good luck !!!