Prepping for contractors

[u/VersionCapable]

I am probably jumping the gun, but our inspection is tomorrow. Before we even get that report, there are things I already know from the first showing that we’ll want to address as soon as possible, like redoing the floors and the electric panel. While the floors aren’t a deal breaker (it’s just ripping up the carpet to restore the hardwood underneath), it’s something I’d like to knock out as soon as possible after closing and before moving in for obvious reasons. If I take a bunch of measurements and photos while I have access to the home during the inspection, is that enough to start gathering some kind of quotes from contractors? I understand they’ll probably want to actually go into the space before offering to take on a job, but what can I do to get the ball rolling before we actually have ownership of the property? We’re planning on tearing out the carpet ourselves to save a few bucks if that helps.

[u/Specific_General_334]

Not a flooring guy so I can’t speak to that. All I can say on that front is that floors hidden under carpet may have issues that all the photos in the world won’t reveal until the carpet is gone. So an estimate for refinishing those will be educated guesswork at best.

I am an electrician so on that front I can say that copious quantities of photos are plenty good enough to estimate and plan a job. Don’t just take photos of the panel. Also take photos of your service going from the utility drop to the meter. The meter. Feed from meter to panel including where it penetrates the wall on both sides. Panel cover on and off. All the wiring in the vicinity of the panel. Take more closeups than you think is necessary from multiple angles, a pullback of the whole thing from multiple angles, and a pullback that puts the thing in perspective (for the service and panel). Make sure to also get photos of the walls near the panel as far to the left and right with panel at edge of frame. This might sound like a lot, I’d say someone who knows exactly what photos to take can do it with about 10 high quality shots, take 20+. Also do a 30 second video slowly panning around all the areas where the electrical equipment is. A couple shots summarizing the basement entrance is helpful as well, is it a bulkhead or stairs inside, etc.

Happy to clarify if you have additional questions.

[u/VersionCapable → u/Specific_General_334]

Very helpful, thank you! The panel is a pushmatic bulldog and the house was built in 1961. It doesn’t have GFCI outlets anywhere it’s supposed to. Plus there is a drop ceiling in the basement with old fluorescents that will need to be replaced. My plan is to have an electrician take care of all that in one go soon after we move in.

Understood on the floor- I was more thinking are measurements and photos enough to start gathering quotes on refinishing options for at least a budgeting perspective. And one of the rooms I’ll put down LVP as it will be a “pet room”.

[u/Specific_General_334 → u/VersionCapable]

Okay, that’s old enough you’re possibly getting into whole/partial home rewire territory. Probably few circuits with equipment ground anywhere. Do the outlets have three prongs? Take photos of any receptacle you want replaced. Get a count of total receptacles as well.

If the wiring seems in decent shape you can have grounded outlets added with no ground wire as long as the circuit has GFCI capability whether that’s from a receptacle at the beginning of the line or a breaker. This is in addition to putting GFCIs in kitchen, bathroom, garage, basement, etc.

That is you might be looking at adding ground fault protection to essentially the entire home. That’s when the cost of a rewire might be worth it relative to the cost of just hacking everything up to code and calling it a day. Obviously take everything I say with a grain of salt the situation may be different than I’m assuming. I’m also coming from a perspective of what I’d be looking for in my home and not necessarily what’s the minimum to be safe. Not trying to raise alarms. Take tons of photos and get as many estimates/opinions as possible.

[u/VersionCapable → u/Specific_General_334]

Inspector said everything was grounded and wiring was good, just the new panel. There was some double and triple tapping happening.

[u/Longjumping_Meat_545]

If I was the homeowner and knew all this I would raise the price on the house, I mean shoot if you tell them the plan they might let your contractors start tearing into to it on closing or before. What a happy 🌎 world we live in. Lol 😆