Old house upgrades do's and dont's

[Ryan Keenan]

Hello bp,

Have a question about older homes. I just recently purchased a two family home built around the 1900's. My concern is the plumbing and electrical. The plumbing has old copper lines with some old shut off valves in which there are no apparent leaks.  The electrical looks like it aswell needs upgrading.

Do I save myself the hassle and upgrade the plumbing and electrical now? And is the only way to do an upgrade is  by ripping out all the old plumbing and electrical and starting over with new material?

Thanks!