How to safely remove old house wiring during a renovation
Removing old house wiring yourself requires shutting off the main power supply and methodically tracing circuits back to the panel before pulling cables or hardware out of framing. Attempting to rip out knob-and-tube or legacy wiring without proper isolation risks hidden live connections, structural damage, and severe electrical hazards.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Hiring a professional electrician for the task
- 2Using a voltage tester to verify power is off before touching wires
- 3Hitting them with a hammer
- 4Using a pry-bar
- 5Knocking tubes out with a rubber hammer
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I’m in a major home renovation project which includes full re-wiring. I’m hoping to remove all the old wiring myself, how does one go about that safe/correctly.”source ↗
“I have some old knobs secured to joists that I'd like to remove, but there doesn't seem to be an obvious way other then hitting them with a hammer.”source ↗
Where this came up
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