Old house has some knob and tube in the basement. You can see the entire k&t wiring system, from the box to everything it powers. Easy remove?

Question

I am not an electrician at all so I ask from a position of extreme ignorance.

But, in my basement, there is some knob and tube wiring which serves the sole purpose of powering some lights in the basement. You can see the entire k&t wiring system--it goes from the box to the lights, and nowhere else.

I would love to think that getting rid of this wiring is as simple as shutting off the electricity, disconnecting that k&t wire from the box, and basically that would be it. Ready to just pull the wiring down and trash it.

But I bet you're going to tell me there's a bunch more to it than that and I had better do the responsible thiing and pay the nice electrician his $2000.

Your thoughts?

Answer 1

Basically to remove a circuit you have it right disconnect the power and remove the wires, the slightly more complicated side is installing modern wiring.

With removal I suggest first mapping the wiring as things may tap off the basement and feed receptacles and lighting in rooms on the main floor. I have seen homes with 1 lighting circuit for the entire home on many homes from Victorian to built in the 40’s a single lighting circuits and even a few receptacles.

If the K&T only services the basement yes it is that easy to remove. I have seen a couple of homes that were built close to the end of K&T that had lighting circuits for each floor, but these usually have had receptacles also. Just know what you are decommissioning.