Thought I'd mention that the 'Simplified' book I have for BC includes an entire section on rewiring an existing house.
http://www.psknight.com/book1.html
Here are a couple of pics of what I found in my place...
Old Pushmatic load panel. Only had 12 circuits available and they were all used... and then some. The capped wires at the bottom are either the dryer or air conditioning cables which needed to be hooked up, depending on which appliance you wished to use... they go to the double breaker (2nd from bottom) to give you the 220volts required for large appliances.. I actually got a few bucks for that old panel at a local electrical contractor. It seems that the 'pushmatic' circuit breakers are in demand. They certainly no longer make them..
Some scary old wiring I found in a switch box in the basement hallway. The insulation literally fell off some of the wires as I pulled the switches out. By rights, my house should have burned down years ago. Ironically, I understand it was built by a one time Vernon Fire Chief. But I think some of the subsequent owners did most of the 'unauthorized' wiring like the dryer/air con fiasco.
