Old house

[PlnsMstkn4Jacob]

I'm moving into an older house, I'm guessing it was built in the 40's or 50's. I plan on setting up a studio in part of the house but I have a small worry that because it's such an old house, the wiring might be old and dirty causing some undesired noise and buzzing through amps and recording equipment. Is this something I should even be concerned about? If I do find that this is a problem, I'm aware that there are some devices that clean up and filter out noise. I have a power conditioner, but other then that, what else is there?

[emergencyexit]

Replacing all the old wiring in the studio area... Best option from where I see it, if you wanna do it right.

Ben

[Rod Gervais]

Originally Posted by PlnsMstkn4Jacob

I'm moving into an older house, I'm guessing it was built in the 40's or 50's. I plan on setting up a studio in part of the house but I have a small worry that because it's such an old house, the wiring might be old and dirty causing some undesired noise and buzzing through amps and recording equipment. Is this something I should even be concerned about? If I do find that this is a problem, I'm aware that there are some devices that clean up and filter out noise. I have a power conditioner, but other then that, what else is there?

Check the wiring........ a lot of the wiring done in the 40's and 50's only included line voltage and a neutral - no ground - and that is probably your biggest potential problem.

Otherwise - as long as the wiring was copper - you probably are as safe as you would be if the house was new (which means you take your chances - could be clean - could have ground loop problems, etc.).

I would suggest that you just check it out first and then come back and let us know what you find.

Sincerely,

Rod

[Dani Pace]

Three years ago we moved, the place we bought has an older house on the property which I promptly claimed as my "music house." Like you I was concerned about the wireing. We rewired two rooms, the ones I use for practice/recording, I don't remember exactly how much it cost but rewireing a room or two isn't too expensive. It not only gave me the peace of mind from knowing I wasnt going to catch the house on fire, it also allowed me to be sure I had plenty of propperly grounded outlets and to put them in the likely places to best suit my needs. In my opinion, it's a few hundred bucks well spent.

[Reggie]

I am in the process of buying a house too (est. 1927 ), and I know for a fact that it has a lot of outlets with open grounds. I don't know much about home wiring, but does anyone have any clue how much it might cost to fix this? I don't know if there needs to be a copper rod shoved deep into the ground or something like that; the house may have never been properly grounded. But the wiring seems to have been replaced at some point, so I don't think it will need a complete electrical overhaul. The house isn't huge, like 1100 sq ft I think. Am I look at $1000+?

[chris-from-ky]

My advice to you guys is to call AT LEAST three electricians who advertise FREE ESTIMATES and get them to diagnose any problems and give you a WRITTEN estimate. Also ask for CUSTOMER REFERENCES so you can check and see if they've done good work in the past for a decent price. Then do your homework. Call up those references and ask questions. Compare quotes and diagnosis to see if they are all of the same frame of mind and price point. Finally, pick the electrician who is the best, most reputable of the three then approach him with the lowest estimate and see if he'll renegotiate his quote. Then if he does, great. If he doesn't ask him to explain why IN DETAIL. If he won't budge, then consider if his price quote is reasonable based on his explaination and decide to hire him or move on the the second best and most reputable of the three.

This is really the only way to conduct business regarding something you may know little or nothing about.

[Reggie]

Thanks for the advice.

-R

[Dani Pace]

I agree, if you aren't familliar with electrical codes and house wireing, call an electrician. Most remodeling/repair/updating requires that whatever is done has to be "brought up to code" and if it is extensive will most likely also require an inspection. It's a hassle but it is better to have it done right than to risk problems later on.
Grounding is normally done by driving a long metal (copper) rod into the ground (6 feet deep) then connecting a wire from the rod to the ground terminal on your breaker (fuse) box. The ground wire from your outlet(s) is then connected to the ground terminal strip in the breaker box. In a lot of older houses the ground wire was attached to a water pipe comming in from the outside.
You might save some money by offering to do some of the labor (pulling wire, setting boxes,etc..) for the electrician you hire. Another thing, insist on copper wire, it costs more than aluminum but is well worth it and a lot safer too.