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Serving all of Brevard, Volusia, and Orange counties.  

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This picture shows "KNAUF-TIAN" printed on the back of some drywall in an attic I was in.  This is one of the destructive products called "Chinese Drywall"

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Here you'll see aluminum wire branch circuits in the right side of a FPE Stab-Loc panel.  You can see the four aluminum circuits between several copper circuits.

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Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Quick Note
I have confirmed with Citizens Insurance this morning that Citizens is now writing policies on houses with aluminum with a few provisions.  They are only accepting houses that have been "pig-tailed" with Alumiconn or Copalum connectors.  They also have to have a state certified, licensed electrician sign off on the house that the approved connectors were used and the aluminum wiring in the breaker panel is corrosion free, tight, and properly connected.  They have finally made the distinction between the 240 V multi-strand circuits and the 110 single strand branch circuits.  All outlets, switches and fixtures will need to be made up with either of these two connectors.  These are NOT wire nuts, rather they are a proprietary system tested by UL and NEC approved.  Most "pig-tail" jobs that I've seen will not be accepted under the latest requirements.  The good news is that there is an alternative to the prospect of totally rewiring a house with copper.  These requirements can be met at about 1/10 of the cost of a total rewire. You can search for ALUMICONN or COPALUM and get all the info that you need.  if you are dealing with an aluminum wire house, buying or selling, this will need to be dealt with if the house is going to be insurable.  As it stands right now (as I've been told) Citizens is the only insurer of houses with aluminum wiring and they are only insuring with these requirements met.  I'm also told by Citizens that they are looking at other ways of making the connections but for now these two are the only approved ones.  However due to the ever-changing nature of the insurance industry in Florida please understand that I can only relate what I've been told.  I've heard there is an insurance company that will take aluminum wiring on occasion but I can't confirm that nor which company it was.
9:51 am edt          Comments


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Florida Home Inspectors Inc. is located in Brevard county and is a full service inspection company.  Nick McClellan is the owner/operator and performs all the inspections.  Services include: Building Contractor (state certified commercial/residential), wind mitigation inspection,  inspections for buyers looking at a home (real estate inspection/home inspection), inspections for sellers trying to make their home more marketable (pre-sale inspection), and 4 point and wind mitigation inspections for insurance purposes for those who already own their home but the insurance company needs a 4pt. and/or wind mitigation to bind a new policy or to update an older one.

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