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Considering buying or renovating a residence? According to licensed electrician and master tradesman Carl Murawski, knowing your way around the electrical plans for a house can help you spot a building that’s set up for success and a stinker that would require expensive remedial work. Acquiring this know-how is also essential to ensure that any renovations you do will establish the most advantageous electrical layout for the future.
Here are Murawski’s top tips for electrical systems.
Why electrical plans for a house matter
According to Murawski, understanding your house’s electrical plan matters because knowing your way around the types of electrical fixtures and wiring diagrams can save you money.
“A plan lets you assess the potential for future upgrades or additions, as well as expose any limitations that may need to be fixed,” he says. “It allows contractors to assess the power that’s available, the upgrades needed, and cable routing for possible floor or wall penetrations.”
Similarly, understanding what you are looking at when reviewing the electrical devices themselves enables you to spot fire hazards. “Wiring has changed drastically over the past 100 years,” Murawski recently told Realtor.com. “Old knob-and-tube style cabling can pose a risk of fire. Bedrooms used to only have a lamp, Bedrooms used to only have a lamp, but now people plug in heated blankets, device chargers, and smart beds. This can overload a circuit that was meant for a much lighter electrical load.”
As Murawski explains, outdated house wiring not only poses threats to safety but also limits functionality. Overloading those old circuits could lead to significant damage and repairs, or even a total loss.
Given this state of affairs, here’s what you should do during a home or building inspection.
Concentrate on electrical wiring and switches during inspections
Today’s households draw lots of power, so the first thing Murawski recommends prospective buyers ask is what the building’s service amperage is.
“In particular, be wary of homes on the older side, since they could only have 60 to 100 amps for a two-bedroom house,” Murawski says. “That might have been fine 10 years ago, but today’s families would likely run into problems. Most newer homes offer around 150 to 200 amps, which might be adequate if they use gas for heating, hot water, and the stove. A good number to aim for is 200 amps, which would cover most of today’s needs and even help with tomorrow’s. For instance, it would enable you to put in a charger for an electric vehicle. Keep in mind that service upgrades can cost thousands of dollars.”
For this reason, it’s also advisable to understand your electrical needs, calculate your expected electrical load, and compare it to what the residence offers.
Similarly, be aware that older houses’ electrical installations can limit where appliances can be located. “Often, older houses shared only a few circuits throughout the entire house,” Murawski explains. “They didn’t expect all the things we need to plug in today. If you’d like to have a clothes dryer on the second floor, you may be faced with insufficient conductor size.”
Indeed, this can also translate into a need for expensive renovations. As Murawski told Realtor.com, “Some modern devices can be very finicky with their power needs, and additional branches on a circuit could potentially cause harmonic disturbances. Knowing where a circuit begins and ends is an important first step.”
Secondly, Murawski advises to be wary of properties that don’t have modern overload protectors. “They could have fuses instead,” he says. “Unlike circuit breakers, which switch off automatically if there’s a problem and can simply be switched back on, when a fuse blows, replace the part. The part has to be correct, too, or else it creates a fire hazard. A rotten breaker box would also require immediate replacement.”
Other residential electrical issues
Next, Murawski recommends asking what kind of wiring the house has. “Knob-and-tube systems are a big red flag and need to be replaced,” he says. “BX, a cable that’s sheathed in metal, can also be problematic if there are signs of deterioration or the system hasn’t been grounded properly. The standard wires used today are Romex, which are sheathed in plastic. You want Romex whenever possible.”
Speaking of grounding, older buildings sometimes still have ungrounded outlets, which have a higher risk of electrical shock. For that reason, Murawski says it’s also important to ask whether these receptacles are grounded.
“Small items like adding ground rails could be hundreds of dollars, while service upgrades can reach into the thousands,” Murawski told Realtor.com. “It depends on the extent and complexity of the repairs or upgrades.”
Additionally, the process by which electricity enters the building should be a consideration. “Underground systems are more protected,” Murawski says. “Aesthetically speaking, they’re nice because you don’t see a lot of wires, but they can also be more difficult to repair. Overhead lines are easier to repair, but now you have to worry about damage from storms and heavy weather.”
Understanding electrical systems for new construction
If you are building new construction, then Murawski recommends going on a walk-through with your electrician before closing the walls.
“Once those walls are closed, shoddy work is hidden and becomes invisible,” he explains. “You will want to scrutinize the work for anything that doesn’t meet professional standards, since it could cause problems down the road. For instance, someone could have added a staple too hard, undermining the wire’s insulation. Or they could have used the wrong kind of staple. Another example would be if someone adds the wrong type of fire caulk or applies it to the wrong places.”
Murawski also recommends fully documenting the work before closing the walls. “Photos or videos at this time are pure gold,” Murawski said in Realtor.com. “You may never have a chance to see behind that wall again, so I’ve made it a habit to store photo or video of my installations for future use. That way, you no longer have to guess if a wire is right behind where you want to mount a TV.”
How electrical plan drawings of the electrical layout affect resale value
According to Murawski, providing a prospective buyer with an electrical layout drawing can help sell your home. That way, should they want to modify or add anything in the home, it can save days’ worth of investigation into the home’s electrical plan. “Those hours add up quickly, and a licensed electrician isn’t cheap,” he told Realtor.com.
In Murawski’s experience, larger buildings will often come with two sets of plans: an original blueprint of the wiring plan as initially conceived, as well as a detailed electrical plan showing the actual path of the wiring as it was actually built.
“Residential installations are rarely as sophisticated, but even a field sketch can be very useful,” Murawski says. “While a detailed map of circuit routing often isn’t necessary, knowing where a circuit starts and ends is a great start.”
Let safety measures guide your floor plan
Regardless of whether you plan to buy, sell, or do some home improvement, keep Murawski’s advice in mind.
“A good electrical install is almost invisible: It always works and never draws attention to itself,” Murawski said to Realtor.com. “A thoughtful installation also leaves room for future expansion, whether that’s a new air conditioning unit, a hot tub, or an entirely new section of your home.”
Also read: What UK Businesses Should Know About EICR Inspections & Certification
Photo by Jimmy Nilsson Masth on Unsplash
