The week we had to rewire a 1920s theater in Tacoma with no prints

4 comments

4 Comments

Man that sounds like a nightmare. We had to do something similar in an old hotel once. Honestly the only thing that saved us was just mapping every single run ourselves with colored tape before we touched anything. I mean you have to assume every junction box is a surprise waiting to happen. Took forever but it beat the alternative of frying some antique wiring we couldn't see.

harper9143mo ago

Yeah I used to think that kind of prep was overkill, just slowing the job down. But after finding a live knob and tube splice hidden behind some plaster, I'm a full convert. The tape method is the only way to keep your sanity.

robert65929d ago

What's the weirdest thing you've found during a rewire? Had a buddy who pulled off a switch plate and found a key taped to the back with a note that just said "for the basement door that doesn't exist." He traced it and sure enough there was a sealed up coal chute behind a false wall.

cameronp473mo ago

Remember how you mapped each run with tape. Did you guys end up finding any junctions that were just completely wrong, like wires going to a different floor than they should?