The warning light at my mom's house that finally got me to learn electrical stuff

My mom lives in one of those old houses in Cleveland built in the 1950s, and last month her kitchen light started flickering real bad. I opened up the switch plate and found cloth wiring that was crumbling apart just from me touching it. Called an electrician who said the whole house needed rewiring and quoted me $4,800. That's when I decided to buy a voltage tester and watch some YouTube videos on basic electrical work. It took me three weekends but I replaced all the old outlets and switches myself, and now the lights don't flicker at all. Has anyone else run into that old cloth wiring from the 50s in their place, or am I the only one dealing with a house built like a time capsule?

3 comments

3 Comments

angela_harris6d ago

Has anyone else noticed how older homes seem to have this way of forcing you to learn something you never thought you'd pick up, like suddenly becoming an electrician or a plumber? It's like all those little warning signs just pile up until you have no choice but to figure it out yourself.

emmaclark6d ago

For real, I learned to fix a leaking toilet at 2am with YouTube and a screwdriver because no plumber was gonna come out for that. Worst part is now I know way too much about old copper pipes.

violaramirez6d ago

Wait, you fixed a toilet at 2am?