Updating plumbing old house

Creating a “balanced” system will make life easier as your load expands and you put new wiring to use.10.Integrate switches and plates into the historic look and feel of the house.

(Photos: Tony Seideman/Peter Means) First and foremost, it’s critical to understand that you’re dealing with an older building—and if keeping the structure of that building relatively intact is your top priority, you need to say so up front.

And our electrical work to date has left uneven holes punched in our walls and ceilings, which have proved difficult to repair.

Creating a clean cut via a hole saw or careful work (bottom) will make it easier to make walls or ceilings whole again.

Do an "electrical inventory," creating a list of all the devices you’ll be using in the house, and where.

Your electrical system needs to match your needs; figuring out where and how you’ll be using power makes it easier to frame the parameters of the job.2. Codes set standards for everything from how many outlets you’ll put in each room to what kind of wire you’ll be using.