Updated over 5 years ago on . Most recent reply
Electrical Updating of 1950 Building
Hello,
We have a 10 unit property in the Los Angeles area and are wondering if now is the right time to get a loan to update the electric. All apartments are one bedrooms or studios and are on two 15 amp fuses each. There are also newer circuit breakers in each apartment and three-prong and gfci outlets have been installed where required. All wires run through flexible metal conduits (BX? Greenfield? I'm not sure) and when a new outlet is installed and tested, the tester says that it's grounded.
The last electrician who came to give an estimate regarding electrical upgrading for installing washers and dryers (another post) said that it was urgent that we replace the fuses and main breaker which, he said, had evidence of "chuckling" or something like that...meaning some green colored corrosion. He also said some wires were aluminum and the fuses installed were higher than circuit could handle. He said the upgrade would cost around $30-35,000. This is quite a lot but we have about $26,000 in reserve. To date, no tenants have declared a financial hardship and everyone has paid the rent. Nevertheless, we think it might be a good time to get a low interest loan (U.S. Bank has some appealing products) and eventually pay it off when the pandemic passes.
We expect to keep this property indefinitely and we have never had an electrical fire to my knowledge over the decades that we've had it. The city might force us to move all of the electrical panels from the basement to the back wall for easier access. How urgent is this issue and what would you do? Thanks for your input!