Heard a journeyman talking about old cloth wiring in a 1920s house

I was grabbing coffee before a job and overheard two guys talking about a full rewire they just finished. One guy said the old cloth insulation crumbled like dry leaves when they touched it. It made me think about how much the materials have changed, and how careful you have to be with that old stuff. Anyone else run into cloth wiring that just fell apart on them?

3 comments

3 Comments

shane2441mo ago

Ever test it with a voltage pen first?

adams.harper1mo ago

Wear a mask, that dust is nasty.

burns.richard1mo ago

Is it really that big of a deal though? I've run into plenty of old cloth wiring that was still solid. Crumbles like dry leaves sounds like a dramatic story someone tells to sound like a pro. Most of those old houses just have cloth covering that's dirty and stiff, not actively falling apart the second you look at it. A voltage pen test is fine but you can usually tell just by how the wire bends. And the dust? It's just old fabric dust, not asbestos. People love to make this stuff sound way more dangerous than it really is.