My husband and I are rewiring our 1942 home, just the wiring. We have an electrician putting new circuits in. Everything was going really well until we started to pull wiring in the bathroom. It wouldnt budge. My husband realized it was in bx cable. How can we get this wire out? Is it possible to somehow pull it through or do we have to tear walls down!! I hope we havent bit off more than we can chew. I hope someone has some knowledge of this problem. Thank you.
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- removing 1942 house wire in bx cable
If the BX runs horizontally, I don't think you will ever be able to pull it out unless you remove the wall finish.. If it runs vertically to the attic or basement (crawlspace), you might be able to remove it.
If it was properly installed in new construction, it has been stapled in place with fairly large staples. They are usually near the box. You will have to Sawzall the box out of the wall carefully & look into the cavity to see if the staples are close enough to pry out. I used to use a cheap $2 weed puller to pry out staples. If that won't work, you'll need to make a custom tool or just cut the wire off flush & push it back into the wall & pull in new cable.
If it was properly installed in new construction, it has been stapled in place with fairly large staples. They are usually near the box. You will have to Sawzall the box out of the wall carefully & look into the cavity to see if the staples are close enough to pry out. I used to use a cheap $2 weed puller to pry out staples. If that won't work, you'll need to make a custom tool or just cut the wire off flush & push it back into the wall & pull in new cable.
