Condemned house wiring

Section62

martindow said:

Even 60 years old, as long as it is plastic rather than rubber insulation, it could still be safe. 

1960's or thereabouts, so cable greening could be an issue.

I'm not saying it is that, but is an example of where an installation can look superficially Ok and not really ancient, but is sufficiently unsafe to make a total rewire a near inevitability.

FreeBear

Section62 said:

martindow said:

Even 60 years old, as long as it is plastic rather than rubber insulation, it could still be safe. 

1960's or thereabouts, so cable greening could be an issue.

I'm not saying it is that, but is an example of where an installation can look superficially Ok and not really ancient, but is sufficiently unsafe to make a total rewire a near inevitability.

A lot of people will tell you that PVC coated wiring is safe regardless of how old it is, but... PVC insulation contains a plastiser which can leach out over time. This is exacerbated by certain chemicals and a real problem if the wiring is in contact with polystyrene. Once the plastiser starts to leach out, the insulation can become brittle - Superficially, it can look OK, but any slight movement, and the insulation starts to disintegrate.