All Forum Posts by: Jordan Lagrassa

I have replumbed almost every house I've worked on. Have rewired or done extensive electrical work on almost all rehabs as well. If you pull permits the inspectors are going to want to see it up to code. Some things they'll let pass since it's "grandfathered." Electrical wise our city has been big on getting all smokes hard wired in, gfci's, etc. If you're working on a house built in 1980-now its generally not a big deal and easy to deal with though as these are prettt modern. Anything older you should you look into thoroughly. 

Your father-in-law may be right, depending on your local building codes. If certain remodeling is done or certain components of a system are replaced, it can trigger an inspection and/or a requirement to bring the entire house up to code.

When purchasing a property that is new to you, be sure to do a comprehensive inspection. Then address safety issues and poor workmanship from the past. You have an opportunity to do your due diligence and improve a property. That is a good thing. Some things may be grandfathered in, even if not up to current new building code.

A friend of mine had a rental house and the tenant messed with both the electrical and the plumbing when trying to hook up his large RV to the house utilities. Unfortunately, because he compromised the electrical by spicing newer wire into the old aluminum wiring and messing with the electrical panel, the entire house had to be rewired and brought up to code. Also, a good portion of the plumbing had to be redone too. If the house wiring had been left intact, even though it was aluminum wiring, the city would not have required the rewiring of the house.

If a property is disconnected from power for a period of time and the utility company notices something unsafe when attempting to reconnect power, that could trigger an inspection or repair order too.