I reshingled for ~$20k, called insurance as they said that would help my rate, was on the phone for close to an hour and yearly decrease was <$50. Probably.worth the phone call but definitely not worth doing the job earlier than required.
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Enough of COVID...what are you doing to the house?
- Thread starter mimico_polak
- Start date
Like many things , at some point they may insist you do it or they may not insure you . Like buying a home with urea insulation or KiTec plumbing , and knob and tube wire . Even homes with aluminum wire are having insurance questions . They don’t like the risk ( on anything)
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I don't think it would be a huge issue. I'll ask a RE agent that only does condos.
If it becomes an issue at that time, do it.
Putting in a 1000 bucks for no reason is tough to swallow, but it's nothing when you are talking about cashing out a property.
It's a 2-3 hour job if you don't need hydro to come by. Just need the inspector lined up to get the timing right so you are not paying the electrician to sit around.
The one big catch is most (all?) condos will require this work to be done by a licensed trade so you WILL be paying for labour. If it was a private residence you can legally do it yourself with an ESA notification (aka permit).
For a new panel, if the stars align (length and location of the feed works in a new panel, conduit locations, etc.) and they (insurance) is good with a 60A panel (no service upgrade just a switch to a modern breaker panel) you can (still) pick up a 60 amp main panel for ~$140+. Since you are replacing the panel ESA may likely require CAFI (AFCI) breakers for most 120v circuits at $90 to $120 each (newer code and these drive up the costs a lot), count the number of 120V fuses and multiply... Add the split duplex GFCI breakers for kitchen... Materials, lets call it $1500+ if fancy breakers are required. Then add labour which will be the killer IMO. Fix drywall, and done.
They make CAFI outlets (much cheaper) and if they can find the first one on each circuit they can protect downstream from there but that can be tricky in an existing condo as they tended to wire ceiling lights first. No split-duplex GFCI outlets AFAIK, so breaker here. Maybe ESA says modern breakers are not required for this type of retrofit, one has to double check????
Upgrading to 100A inside a condo may be a cost nightmare...
As for the dangers of the existing fuse panel. IME corrosion will be a risk. The fuse holders corrode over the decades and create a high resistance points in the panel. This is typically the biggest concern with the stove in your case (high current). The panel can catch on fire (I have seen this multiple times). If you are lucky the high heat causes the fuse to keep tripping first (they work on heat) but this is not always the case. Now multiply this by hacks like pennies to fix this issue. Mitigating your risk, shut down the power, pull the fuses, inspect and carefully clean the fuse holders IF required. Insurance won't care you did this but if it saves a future fire claim you still win...
BTW this IS a typical OLD house (or in this case condo) problem...
As it's not his primary residence, it is before tax money too. Not a huge difference but does reduce the effective cost somewhat.
If it impacts the buyers ability to get insurance it can be a problem, as they cannot close financing without insurance (smart buyer or agent will know, dummies may fail to close if it is an issue). Today aluminum and K&T are examples where many insurance companies (some still do for both BTW) won't touch them and buyers may be faced with remediating the issue within 30 days of closing. That turns off most buyers. BTW, I have not heard much noise about refusal for fuse panels in this context but as noted in my long winded post they can be a risk so it may get tighter in the future?? or even now? These days insurance is uber vigilant on mitigating risk...
When we bought 16 years ago we made the offer conditional on insurance (K&T), we failed to get it on our own, the listing agent got us hooked up. Our insurance company gives zero ****s about the wiring (all redone now, they still don't care), but they ain't cheap.
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This is very dependent on insurance in my experience.
Our current insurer didn't care that the aluminum wiring was prevalent in our townhouse, because 'the structure is insured by the condo, but if you were buying a free standing home...30% bump in premiums until an electrician confirms aluminum has been replaced'.
Friends of ours bought a semi-detached with all aluminum wiring. Their insurer didn't even ask about it. So friends didn't bring it up because 'why open a can of worms'.
Lots of factors.
I agree 100%. But this is the type of friend that doesn’t worry about the future as it always somehow works itself out.
always broke …lets buy a new car.
Always broke … I deserve that 10k vacation
Always broke … I need XYZ because I want it
1M in debt. Multiple investment properties in both Canada and Europe.
Life just works out for them.
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