Well, it isnt a 'should' its a 'need' so you are up to code. Any time you renovate you need to bring that area up to code before you drywall. BTW GFCI breakers are costly, outlets are the better choice in my opinion. I bought a 20A GFCI breaker for my dishwasher line, it was $50! *_* I'm used to them being like $8.

Adding/replacing GFI, lights and outlets don't require replacing every thing. I suggest you decide what changes you want then have the electrician evaluate overall system while giving proposal for changes you want. You are wise in addressing this while demo has it exposed.

x2 what kelm1 said.
do it now if wiring is knob & tube,
or damaged in any way.
I recently had to change wiring in a kitchen
where rats had eaten away the insulation on
the wires.

scary stuff when you saw what was going on.

good for you asking all these questions!!

best of luck.

You don't have to replace if if you don't disturb it, but move or add one box or switch and you have to bring it all up to code. My advice would be to bring it up to code.

At 60 years, no telling what you have in your walls. Outside wall insulation will almost certainly be deficient. Wiring might be. As a general rule, if you are down to the studs, fix everything. It will never be as cheap as at that time.

While you are at it, seal every top and bottom plate and double stud with a bead of caulk on your outside walls. Will only cost you $5-10 per room and prevent a lot of air infiltration.

Your electrician is in the best position to advise you about what should vs. could be done now that the drywall is removed.

Unless your house is wired with armoured cable, you probably don't have a ground wire. You probably have a cloth covered cable. Thermoplastic PVC coatings weren't around until the 60's. At that time houses were not insulated very well. When you insulate to today's standards around older wiring, the insulation starts to degrade rapidly. Then things begin to arc and start fires. NM-B wasn't developed until 1984. NM-B is the only nonmetallic sheathed cable rated to be buried in insulation. Any time you add insulation over the top of old wiring, you should check to make sure it is NM-B. Otherwise, it is technically a code violation that is way too often overlooked and unrecognized. Also, most light fixture are listed and labeled to be hooked up to wires with a higher temperature rating than that of old wiring, creating another code violation that gets overlooked constantly.

Bottom line.....replace all the wiring you can that isn't nm-b.

Charles Ross Homes said,

Your electrician is in the best position to advise you about what should vs. could be done now that the drywall is removed.

That is good advice when you are paying for it. On the other hand it's easy to tell someone else to spend big or go home. Possabilities such as the 60 year old home very well might have a 100% 20 year old electric upgrade are not considered when spending other's money.

Do as Chas Ross suggests,let the elctrician make the call. To the greatest degree you will have to anyhow because he will not do it wrong,regardless what you were told on the net.

Thank you all for the great responses. I’ve very little understanding of all things electrical, so this helps to at least gain a little electrical ‘vocabulary’.

Compiling all your comments….

Have our electrician evaluate overall system

Look for ‘knob & tube’ or damaged and replace

Tamper resistant outlets
GRCI & GFCI breakers / GFCI outlets are less expensive

Replace unprotected light receptacles above sinks

Change old circuits, switches, & receptacles

Fix it while down to the studs, it will never be cheaper

Seal every top and bottom plate and double stud with a bead of caulk on the outside walls.

Do I have armored cable or cloth covered cable?

Adding new insulation over old wiring could be dangerous / NM--B safe for contact with insulation

My lack of basic electrical knowledge, should reassure anyone entertaining the idea that I might be planning to do my own electrical work based on internet suggestions and without a permit or inspection. lol

The point of my thread was to get a clearer understanding of what our options are and to be able to discuss our remodel with an electrican and contractor with some degree of understanding and ability to participate in decision making.

I very much appreciate all the help, thank you!

bead of caulk to seal sole plate (bottom plate)
of wall to floor.

do these walls share attic space?

best of luck

Just one wall in the MB and the hall way share a wall with the attic space.

If the wiring is 60+ years old, it will not have a ground wire and will not meet the current electrical code so it must be replaced where exposed. It may also be BX metal sheathed cable which is notorious for causing fires in the outlet boxes where the exposed wire insulation has failed.

You are apparently inexperienced with electrical wiring and building codes so don't try to do this yourself; get an electrician involved.

Don't have a thought in my head for doing any electrical work myself. In my state you have to hire professional electricians to get a permit and be inspected. Just getting an idea of where I'm at before discussing with contractors and electricians.

Not only do you have to replace all exposed wiring IF you are extending the wiring in any way, but you also must replace the wiring to those circuits all the way back to the properly grounded load center / breaker panel. There are plenty of electricians that are more worried about what is the fast money, or how to be the lowest bid. [HERE[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/kitchen-massachusetts-electrical-code-question-dsvw-vd~868717) are some details on the MA codes and how some electricians try to get around them.

The insulation on 60 year old wires is probably brittle. I would replace as much a possible.

Fred - I’d like to understand what you are telling me. If we replace wiring in the upstairs walls, they are going to have to replace them all the way back to the breakers. How could we do that and leave the walls on the first floor intact?

Thanks very much for the link to the Massachusetts electrical codes and how people get around them.

Geoffrey - Thanks, we are going to get a good look at them once the walls are down and get an estimate for the work.

Another question about replacing the wiring. If I wanted to replace the wiring with metal sheathed wiring, as in commercial builds, rather than pvc coated, does anyone have any thoughts about that?

It adds a lot of cost for materials and labour with little to no benefit in residential situations.

Prairemoon, it is usually not as hard as it sounds to do it correctly. All that is usually required is a little preplanning and some effort. Metal clad cable isn't necessary.

prairie moon-
Why would you want your wiring in conduit? In addition to the extra expense, I see little benefit in a residential situation, and it could be a pain to try to add, say, an additional outlet in the future if you had to deal with conduit hidden in the walls.

I to would like to know how or why you went from "GREEN BUILDING" to conduit.

There are some advantages to conduit, but nothing worth the expense. Some places like Chicago use it in residential all the time.

But we were referring to metal clad/sheathed cable (BX), which is not the same thing as conduit.

BX is also known as Armor Clad, or Flexible Metal Conduit cable.

It resists puncture by nails and screws, and is more resistant to being chewed through by rodents and other pests t

The main drawback is that BX is more expensive. It is about 35-40% more for the cable than BX. It is also slightly more difficult to install, as cutting the metal sheathing takes slightly more time, than cutting Romex.

Actually, BX (armored cable) is a cable which has wires already in it, and flexible metal conduit is a raceway without wires in it when you install it. They have two different applications and method of installation.

Armored cable Article 320

Definition

Armored Cable, Type AC. A fabricated assembly of insulated conductors in a flexible metallic enclosure.

flexible metal conduit Article 348

Definition

Flexible Metal Conduit (FMC). A raceway of circular cross section made of helically wound, formed, interlocked metal strip.

The reason the metal clad cable entered the conversation, was I discussed using ‘non toxic’ materials with the contractor, he pointed out that commonly used wiring is coated with pvc that out gasses. To avoid that, metal clad is an option, although he pointed out that it is normally used in commercial building and would be more expensive.