Im waiting to go into my living room and I have a mix of plaster and drywall and will open the walls and insulate but it's partly because I am on a very busy street and want sound insulation so I can hear the TV
if you replace it you might be best to use 5/8ths. If you ever want to divide into say a basement suite be aware that the code might require 5/8ths between suites and it's often more the same thickness as the plaster. where you'll see it is in the fit between the casings and the wall in relation to the window frames. You can compensate with shims and use 1/2 if you wish.
also you can send samples for asbestos testing. Im not sure how it is there but here the dumps will refuse old plaster and old drywall without a date stamp before a certain point , about the 1980's or so . your mileage may vary.
a lot of the asbestos is foiund not in the drywall but in the filler they used back when. You may also find asbestos in those 1 foot square ceiling tiles and any of the lyno tile flooring, you know the squares about 10 inches or a foot square , it's really common. a lot of times they used asbestos in the adhesive compounds.
issues are mostly about breathing dust, so if you are not doing any testing and take the "fearless approach" and decide to go tearing into walls at least try not to get the dust in your lungs. I'd wear a respirator mask not just a dust mask until it's cleaned up. Those more cautious send it for testoing and if it's positive they hire the guys in the white suits to do it in a safe manor. Im not really one to judge.
in order to dump my drywall I have to get it tested. I think I can still take it to the dump if it's positive, it's just a bit more expensive and they truck the stuff that's suspicious to alberta so they charge more.
it's not really dangerous to touch asbestos and you can wet it down to try to not stir it up. old houses have "special flavors of dust" so it's worth protecting yourself. Hundred year old spider and mouse poo might not be good for you either. Congratulations on the purchase. It looks like you are having fun and not afraid to get your hands dirty
you probably can't rewire the house on your own. Here I was able to do it under a homeowners permit. many electricians might not like it if you have pulled all the wire in yourself but I think I'd still be tempted to pull it in and make sure it's new wire that can reach to wherever you put the new panel. it's worth checking local codes. You need things like enough plugs per foot of counter space in the kitchen and a separate breaker for each outlet not each box. in bedrooms you may want to put all the bedroom plugs on one or two circuits because here anyway all bedroom plugs require spark fault breakers. outdoor plugs under 10 ' from the ground and bathrooms require ground fault breakers. thinking it through can save having to buy a lot of expensive breakers and it's good to not put the plugs in a room on the same circuit as the lights so that if you blow a breaker you aren't left in the dark.
You can daisy chain some of the other plugs. leave a foot of extra wire at each box. You might be able to find an electrician that would turn a blind eye to you pulling wire if you do it neatly and are careful not to damage the insulation. it should run through the center of each stud away from any drywall screws. Id definitely consult with an electrician and try to figure out a plan to run the wires up to the attic etc as it's a pain in the butt if you have walls open now and have to fish the wires in later. you can use a long bendable drill to drill up through the sill plates and through studs in the walls if you don't' want to open too many cans of worms all at once but make sure you don't hit any existing and especially any hot existing knob and tube. - or you may wish to just have an electrician do all the wiring and you could still have him in when you open a wall to pull the wire in and leave it unconnected until you have enough done to run them all to a new panel. you'll have to find ways to plan these things to prevent re-doing work or saying gee I wish I did that while the wall is open and now I need to open it again or spend lots of time fishing wires in.
Its way easier to install boxes with the walls open but you can put them in without damaging plaster if you use the right kind of boxes. getting the hieght correct can be a challenge , they should come out flush with the drywall and all the same hieght so you could plan how far all your plugs will be from the floor and how far all the switches will be from the floor and make it consistent and it'll just look more professional
there are quite a few boxes to choose from and some are designed to be nailed in while others you can put screws in through the insides of the box to attach to studs without breaking the wall open too much. there are codes which govern the number of wires and wire nuts in a certain size box so you can get caught up if you install a bunch of little boxes and then realize you can't daisy chain through them due to the number of wires rules. if you plan to connect any new wiring I'd at minimum get an electrician to show you how to do at least basic wiring the right way as there are techniques for how you lay the wires and fold them to do it safely and neatly and within acceptable standards. Never walk on any wire that you plan to install. any little cuts are reason to have to pull in a whole new wire right to the panel. Many electricians will inform you that you aren't authorized to do wiring and it's best to take their advice but I can see in certain situations where you can do some of the work safely while consulting with someone who can oversee your work. If so you can do it carefully and properly and maybe save some of the cost and still have a professional and safe job.
If you are insulating , then educate yourself on the types of insulation. at first I thought the old pink fiberglass was just "normal" but I soon found it really isn't good sound insulation and also there are many types such as open or closed cell foam and the stuff I'm using more these days is the cyanoacrylic type, it's much like the same product you get in the spray foam cans but it comes in sheet form and you can install it and seal against each stud with the spray foam. I like roxul too, its easy and cheap and it insulates better for sound.
you can also hire guys to spray foam into all the stud cavities if you decide to take on a lot but it's probably not the cheapest.
using plastic and boots over your outlets in old houses is hit and miss and you'll find varied opinions. Open too much and you could have an inspector telling you you can't do this and you can't do that but also the inspectors can work with you and sometimes they aren't as difficult as you'd think. having proper inspections on record is a good thing when it comes to resale value but I think the most important is that what you do , do it right then you have no regrets.
Phil
