Rewiring a home, upgrading a panel, and others

Rewiring a home, upgrading a panel, and others - Quotes - Brainstorming Ideas

Hey All. Buying a home that has 2 wire.

Key details:

  • 1951 home
  • 670 Sqft.
  • Single Level on Slab foundation.
  • 100 Amp outside panel
  • In Washington State, I can pull a permit myself to do the work.
  • I've gotten quotes for just the rewire, $15k - $50K

Looking to:

  • Rewire home so its properly grounded and up to 2023 NEC code.
  • Upgrade to 200 or 400 amp service for garage + ADU's
  • Update Panel
  • Add 100 amp sub-panel to garage.

Key understanding of current code:

  • 12/2 Romex for Bed, Bath, Kitchen, Living Room, Laundry with 20 Amp breakers
  • 2 20amp circuits in Kitchen
  • Dryer gets 10/3, 30 amp
  • Range either 6/3 or 8/3
  • Dedicated circuit for:
    • Microwave
    • Dishwasher
    • Garbage disposal
    • Fridge
    • Bathroom
    • Laundry
  • Every 12ft on wall gets an outlet
  • Wall larger than 2ft gets an outlet
  • Every 4 feet on counters in kitchen
  • AFCI and GFCI Protection, especially GFCI within 3 feet of water source and outside
  • Properly bonding to panel
  • 2.25 cu in for #12 wire for box fill requirements
  • Staples within 8" of plastic, 12 if metal, then every 4.5 ft.
  • 1.25" from stud edge
  • 12/3 Romex for switches
  • Fire foam for top plates
  • Boxes mounted flush with drywall
  • THHN/THWN-2 #3 copper or #1 aluminum for 100A subpanel

Questions:

  1. As I will be pulling a permit and getting it properly inspected, would the liability be on me or the inspector?
  2. If I were to fish the wire through the walls so they are at the outlet/fan/light/panel, would an electrician wire each end so its done correctly?
  3. Does the Inspector need to see the full wire or just where its stapled and at each end? do I need to cut the drywall for the whole run?
  4. Any tips that you might have?

Obviously wish I could have went to school to learn Electricity or have the $ to pay an electrician to do the whole job, unfortunately that isn't the case so will be looking to get this done myself.

Posted May 1, 2026, 3:41 AM UTC

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