To Rewire, or not to Rewire

[David Marks]

Hi All,

I am in the process of purchasing a home in East Boston for a BRRRR. In our due diligence phase, our electrician found romex wiring leaving the circuit breaker, that quickly goes to junction boxes, which switches to old BX wiring leading to the walls. He recommended a full rewire, even though homes all over the area have similar configurations.

The alternative would be to install GFIs in all the bedrooms so that we can use devices with a grounded plug. All in all hes quoting 26K for a full rewire, which would otherwise go a long way in remodeling our kitchen.

Does anyone currently have BX wiring in their house? What kind of problems have come up from the old wiring/ would you recommend upgrading? Also is it likely that we see a higher appraised value if we rewire, or would that be more of a sunk cost? If we were to rewire completely, we would opt to add in recessed lighting everywhere as well. 

Thank you!

Dave

[Pat L.]

We have seen some arching & scorched junction boxes & disabled grounding at the outlets, so we rewire. Plus our local Bldg Inspector does not allow BX, so rewiring is required to pass inspection/code compliance. During a recent complete rehab I rewired an entire 2 story, upgraded to a 200amp service, plus a new panel & sub panel in the garage, for $1800 in materials. So I would definitely seek other quotes.