Sorry to barge in ... but a light went off in my head (new wiring) in that maybe you could help answer a question for me .... I have a home that was suposedly built 1965. The wiring is atrocious - in that the way it's routed. Anyway, most of my receptacles outlets only support two prong plugs. Some outlets have been replace by prev owner for three, but there is no updated wires - so the job was just to *accommodate* 3 pronged plugs. When I replaced several lighting fixtures, I found that there wiring is coated with black cloth-like insulation - which is in okay condition - not new, not falling apart. I've been told that this type of wiring is not typical for a 1960's house and that the house is probably much older. (This was also mentioned because of some characteristics in the construction.) Would you agree that the wiring would have been used in much earlier home-building? I am slowly updating most of the wiring - espcially for kitchen appliances! TIA for any help.

You aren't going to like my suggestion, but here it is: Install the outlets in the walls. It's just not that hard. I've done it a million times in plaster and lath walls. The easiest way is using metal boxes with expanding "ears" on the sides that grip the existing wall. To cut the hole for the outlet, you drill starter holes in all four corners then use a fine tooth hacksaw blade so you don't break out the plaster. You have full access from the basement - so you won't have to channel any walls. The end result will look right, it won't look like it was added on after the fact. Show us a photo of your baseboard / wall.

Hi everyone, Thanks for the feedback. I realize what a polarizing topic asbestos can be - whether the effects of it are overblown, whether the heath risks are as dire as they say... I did plenty of research after my own exposure to the stuff following the contractor's egregious blunder. Considering he dumped half a wall's worth of vermiculite into my kitchen, and I wiped it up with a wet cloth and no face mask... I am obviously not super concerned. However, I don't want to expose myself any further if I can help it, and removing it myself is, in my mind, not an option. I am not a smoker, btw... which, from my research, has shown to be one of the biggest contributing factors in getting lung disease, when exposure to asbestos was also present. In speaking with an asbestos abatement company in the area, he said that for the period my house was built in there was a high prevalence of Zonolite use, and given his experience with the area, there's about a 75%-80% chance that my vermiculite will test positive for asbestos. He also said that testing is not all it's cracked up to be, because different areas within the same house can have different levels of asbestos contamination. One area could test low or none, while another part could be much higher. Given all of that information, I am going to assume that somewhere in this house, my vermiculite contains asbestos, and treat it as such. While I agree that to some extent, this whole asbestos thing has been blown out of proportion, I also know that many educated contractors in this area will outright refuse to work on houses that contain vermiculite insulation. I wanted to get my home weatherized and I had two different companies tell me they won't do anything with my attic since it has vermiculite. However, weatherization might lead to a much larger exposure than electrical wiring, assuming that it could be done without having to open up the walls - which is why I am wondering if it is possible to replace the wiring, without having to make any holes. This isn't just for the sake of risking asbestos exposure either. This house has all original plaster, (other than the upstairs bath and the sunroom), and I am hesitant to open up the walls for risk of having to replace it. I adore my plaster walls (they are one of my favorite features of this house). Also, I did some research, and given what I have seen by opening up various outlets in the house, we appear to have aluminum wiring... which is definitely cause for concern, as it appears to be a pretty widely-recognized fire hazard. Not sure what's more dangerous... asbestos or aluminum wiring.

Put the 4 wire receptacle back in just like it was and take the 3 wire receptacle back. Purchase a 4 wire cord for the dryer. The middle terminal on the dryer should have some kind of jumper, either a bare metal strip or a green wire, that gets removed. There should be a place marked where the green wire in the cable goes on the dryer. The black, white and red wires in the cable go to the terminal block. There should be a diagram for all this on the dryer. The standard for dryer wiring is to use 4 wires instead of 3 and it is not code compliant to change back to 3 wire.