Shoutout to the old timer who showed me the right way to pull wire in a 1920s house

Honestly, I was fighting this old knob and tube replacement in a Portland bungalow for two days, getting maybe 15 feet an hour. He came by, watched me for five minutes, and just said 'kid, you're fighting the house, not working with it'. He showed me how to use the existing plaster lathe gaps and I finished the whole second floor run in three hours. How do you guys handle those old plaster walls without tearing everything up?

4 comments

4 Comments

max2232mo ago

Fighting the house, not working with it" is such a good way to put it. What was the biggest trick he showed you for using those lathe gaps?

viola_lopez302mo ago

Oh man, the best trick was super simple. He taught me to use a feeler gauge to set the gap, not just guess. Makes the cut so much cleaner every single time.

lily572mo ago

Yeah, it's crazy how many people skip the simple stuff that actually works. A feeler gauge seems obvious once you use it, but you have to be shown. That one tip saves so much time and material.

ivanbell2mo ago

Right, because who needs clean cuts when you can just fight the house like max223 said? A feeler gauge sounds way too smart for some of the hacks I've seen. They'd rather just smash it until it sort of fits.