Copper, Aluminum and K&T

[Mike Howard]

Just inspected a house yesterday with branch wiring consisting of copper, aluminum and Knob & Tube.....all working. Anybody else ever run into this?

[Mark Nahrgang]

Sure... I had one the other day (sans aluminum) with an "abandoned" K&T wire in the attic that was "live". Older homes often have "upgrades" through the years, and if those corresponded to the early 70's there is no reason to believe that they wouldn't have used aluminum. It would have been better if they would have removed the K&T as well as the aluminum, but often that is cost prohibitive. It's easier to just add new.

[Mike Howard]

Just a thought but don't the mortgage lenders get a little nervous when they find out there's abandonded K&T? I would think the banks would require an upgrade?

[Mark Nahrgang]

Don't know about the lenders, but some insurance co's do.