Hello

Introduce yourself here, tell us about your house and interests. Share some pictures.
phil
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Re: Hello

Post by phil »

welcome to the forum Dixie Girl. congratulations on delving in on your new project. We have a great group here and we all have an interest in old houses. Many of us have found that while we want to improve and restore our old houses we also get a great deal of personal satisfaction in the process. Often it means we are down in some basement scraping paint or trying to glue the broken bits of something no one in their right mind could find time to care about back together. I know I often just need others to look at what I'm doing not just because I'm stuck but also just the feeling that others are interested in the project and you can show them as you go. That's rewarding!

A lot of this is a real labor of love and if you look back at the hours spent you'll realize that it also gives you time to not think about what worries you but also just about all the millions of little steps you take. In this time you are thinking about other stuff in your life and working things out subconsciously but sometimes it's also just a great distraction which allows you to decompress. It's a healthy distraction.

If you tear into everything at once you can be overwhelmed but that house stood for many years and as you work at it you'll see it slowly transform into something better. It's a long process but if you focus on one project the others just follow and you'll step back and say to yourself that looks better and you'll realize that it wasn't just about the project, it was the time spent.

I was once working in a little printing shop and looked up and someone had stuck a little sign that read " the time you enjoy wasting isn't wasted time" - Bertrand Russel.
At first I thought it was quite funny because it was put up in the workplace, But I often think of that quote. Maybe it helps me have an excuse for wasting time ;-) or maybe it just helps me realize that I'm doing this stuff for personal satisfaction and not just monetary gain.

Phil

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Mick_VT
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Re: Hello

Post by Mick_VT »

I got my concrete hearth to break up with a sledge, but I was swinging it from overhead. Very hard work, and the rebar was a pain
Mick...

dixie girl
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Re: Hello

Post by dixie girl »

Thanks for all the support and great ideas. I can't hardly lift a sledge over my head so a jack hammer is going to be my new dance partner.

Texas_Ranger
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Re: Hello

Post by Texas_Ranger »

My real question is does anyone just get by with knob and tube wiring and if I decide to rewire is there a way to still use the push button light switches or are those reproductions I have seen.


As has been said before, everything depends on the condition of the wiring. K&T wire was/is covered with rubber and an outside sheath of fabric because rubber isn't that sturdy. If the rubber gets brittle either because it got too hot or simply because it's too old the wiring becomes dangerous. Luckily the worst damage usually occurs where the wire is exposed inside switch boxes and behind light fixtures rather than hidden in walls. If the K&T is still in good shape you might be able to keep it for lights and add new outlet circuits. Two caveats though: many states require arc-fault breakers for bedrooms these days and you might not be able to use them on K&T wiring (K&T sometimes didn't really separate circuits but mixed neutral wires and AFCIs don't like that) and your insurance company might not like the K&T.

If you do a full rewire you can technically keep the old switches but some electricians refuse to because they don't have modern listing stamps. Not sure how the actual legal background is, probably also depends on local regulations and even your inspector's preferences.

About the floor... that sounds like the wall is actually still straight (otherwise the upstairs floor would sag too I guess) and only the floor itself is sagging. I guess opening the wall is your only chance to figure out what's going on.

dixie girl
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Re: Hello

Post by dixie girl »

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dixie girl
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Re: Hello

Post by dixie girl »

Look what I found today an old mirror perfect for my bathroom it is about 3ft x 18 inches or so and is very heavy I was surprised when I tried to lift it. And a beautiful light that needs repair the wiring was that old black cracked stuff and was getting all over so I ripped it out the light has very thin lead lines I don't know how old they are but I love them

dixie girl
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Re: Hello

Post by dixie girl »

Forgot to mention the light is very large almost 2 feet across

phil
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Re: Hello

Post by phil »

nice lamp.
are there screws to terminate the wires in the socket ? if so replace with new wire. if you want cloth covered old looking wire , its available. if you must join the wires you can cut them to 2 inches , strip the rotten rubber, slip on 1 1/2" of heat shrink instead. then shrink it . it comes in 3 foot lengths and in various sizes and colors. some of it has sticky stuff. Use a bic lighter to shrink them down.

slip heat shrink over the long wires , then solder them , then pull the heat shrink over the connection and the heat shrink that you used to insulate the 2 inch wires previously.

do a western union splice like this
http://www.thumpertalk.com/uploads/mont ... 658639.gif

if that link is bad just search for "western union splice"

this way you'll have a good safe connection and new wire. the connection won't make a lump in the wire and it won't ever fail.

when you connect the plug, make sure to use the kind with one spade bigger ( a polarized plug) the small prong should connect to the small bump on the light bulb (not the socket threads) if you don't use a polarized plug and re-use an old one if anyone touches the threaded part of the socket they can get a shock so don't do it that way although yes it'll still light the bulb.

if you have a switch on the lamp , always switch the hot wire. it's the one to the smaller prong on the socket and if wires are colored normally it's the black wire but there are often exceptions in color.

in normal wiring the black is hot, but normally the electrician will run wires to the lamp pot in the ceiling and then there will be wires to the switch. of course both wires are needed , the black and the white are both hot in this instance and a good electrician will wrap colored tape on these wires to signify they are both hot wires. If that doesn't make sense then just be aware when working on lighting that it's not uncommon to find white wires that are hot and not neutral so be wary of that, but it's more to do with house wiring than lamp wiring.

lamp cord that isn't color coded always has a bump on one wire to differentiate the two.

if you need to tie a knot to restrain the wire as it passes through a hole in the lamp then use a UL knot or (underwriters knot ) like this:
http://image.slidesharecdn.com/kto12ele ... 1377136178

don't use wire crimps, although they can be ok if done right , so often they aren't and you don't need them, a proper soldered joint is much safer and less bulky.

inside the electrical box if the lamp is permanently connected ( hard wired not plugged in) then there I would use electrical "wire nuts" or "Marettes" wrap them with tape to keep them from being able to accidentally pull off the wire. making soldered joints in the box might not break code but if you want to change the lamp you won't need to deal with soldering wires. so use the wire nuts there but use the appropriate size for the wire, usually the orange ones.

dixie girl
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Re: Hello

Post by dixie girl »

Thank you so much for this information. I can't leave my dad alone long so I didn't have much time to examine it. Someone had screwed the bulb in very tight and I was afraid of cracking the porcelain socket or breaking the old bulb in it. Instead of leaving it at the house I should have brought it with me. You have saved me a ton of work looking up how to do this. I have some lighting wire that they sent with a fixture that you could use several different ways years ago so now I will finally use it. I sure wish I could live in the house while I do things but someday............

dixie girl
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Re: Hello

Post by dixie girl »

If you look in the picture I have the wire and chain I want to use next to it. I was going to try to work on it but couldn't get the bulb out. I have to work on everything out in the yard because I have no power at the house and you can't see much inside. That cord and chain were left over from 1972 swag light kit when I bought my first house. I only want to use a section to make it a ceiling fixture. Will wire that age be good enough for now or should I buy new?

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