Knob and Tube

This stuff is really interesting. Now that the plaster is gone from the basement ceiling we can really see what's going on. The old knob and tube wiring is quite a trip. Whoever put in the electical originally did a good clean install. Most of the outlet circuits on the first floor run through conduit in the basement and then go up through the joists only when the need to. They also don't branch off often within the walls. That's going to make it much easier to bring them up to code later.

Though here's one example of where someone later loomed in another fixture. Note the large chunk of missing insulation, the new branch wire wrapped around, and soldered to, the main wire. I'm glad this was replaced!