Small panel in 1950's house

[jacek222]

Background: I'm in escrow for a 1952 house currently. The current owners had a new 40A subpanel put in directly on top of the original one. There are three breakers unused, and half the house has ungrounded wiring.

Questions: Isn't 40A too little? Isn't 100A the minimum nowadays?

If we are planning on additions way down the road, shouldn't we get a 12-breaker panel?

Doesn anyone have experience in negotiating electricval upgrades with sellers?

Thanks in advance...


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[Troy]

It is not uncommon to find houses built in the 50's with ungrounded wiring. Mine is that way. 40A for your entire house? Not enough. I would definitely upgrade. I would get at least a 12-breaker, it doesn't hurt anything if they sit there unused.

As far as negotiations, I would get an estimate, and then ask them to either fix it, or take the price off the house. Another idea would be to try to get your inspector to deem it insufficient, and then you would have a little more leverage.

Does that help?