Replacing Cloth-Covered Wiring in Fort Myers Homes | CoHarbor Electric

Replacing Cloth-Covered Wiring in Fort Myers Homes

We’ve opened up walls in a lot of older Fort Myers homes — homes with real character, thick plaster, and sometimes… wiring that looks like it belongs in a museum. You know the kind: faded fabric insulation, brittle texture, maybe a little fray at the ends. That’s cloth-covered wiring, and if your house was built before the mid-1960s, there’s a good chance you’ve still got some hiding behind your walls.

Don’t panic — it doesn’t mean your house is unsafe right now. But it does mean it’s time to take a good, hard look at what’s powering your home. We’ve replaced miles of that old wiring across Lee County, and we can tell you exactly what’s going on, what your options are, and why fixing it makes a real difference in both safety and reliability.

What Is Cloth-Covered Wiring, Anyway?

Back before PVC insulation became the norm, electricians used cloth or rubber to insulate wires. The most common types we find around Fort Myers are cloth over rubber and sometimes early cloth-only insulation on copper conductors.

When it was new, it worked fine. But decades of Florida humidity, attic heat, and salt air don’t play nice with cloth or rubber. Over time, it dries out, cracks, and turns brittle. Sometimes you touch it and it just flakes away like old rope.

That’s when you’ve got a problem — because bare wires and exposed conductors can arc or short out, especially if they’re hidden behind wood framing or insulation.

We see this all the time in mid-century homes near McGregor, downtown Fort Myers, and parts of Iona. Great homes, great bones — just old wiring that’s past its prime.

The Real Dangers of Old Cloth Wiring

We’re not in the business of scaring people, but we also don’t sugarcoat it. Old wiring fails silently. It’s not like a light bulb that just burns out — it slowly deteriorates until one day, a wire touches something it shouldn’t.

Here’s what makes cloth wiring risky:

• Heat and humidity: Florida attics can hit 130°F easy. That’s brutal on cloth insulation.

• Rodents: We’ve seen squirrels and rats chew right through cloth wiring because it’s soft.

• No grounding: Most of these old systems are two-wire setups. No ground means no protection for appliances or electronics.

• Insulation breakdown: Once the fabric dries and cracks, the copper inside can short against itself or other wires.

• Fire risk: A short or arc hidden behind drywall can ignite insulation or wood framing.

We’ve been in houses where everything looked fine until we opened a junction box and found blackened cloth wire ends barely hanging on.

Signs You Might Have Cloth Wiring

You don’t need to rip open walls to find clues. Here’s what you can look for:

• Two-prong outlets (no grounding).

• A faint burning smell when lights or appliances are on.

• Flickering lights or outlets that “buzz.”

• Crumbly or fabric-like insulation on visible wires (check attics or basements).

• A mix of old and new outlets — a sign someone may have “patched” the system instead of replacing it.

If you’re not sure, we can check it for you. One quick look in your attic or at your panel, and we can usually tell what you’re working with.

Replacing Cloth Wiring: What’s Involved

This isn’t a job for a quick patch or a YouTube video. Cloth wiring replacement takes some planning, patience, and experience — especially in older Fort Myers homes where the walls are plaster or concrete block.

Here’s how we tackle it at Coharbor Electric:

1. Full Inspection: We start by mapping every circuit — where the wires go, what they power, and how accessible they are.

2. Prioritize Safety Zones: Kitchens, bathrooms, and bedrooms get top priority since they see the most load and risk.

3. Replace in Sections: We pull new copper wiring through existing conduit paths whenever possible. That keeps drywall damage to a minimum.

4. Upgrade Outlets and Switches: Every outlet becomes grounded. Every switch gets new, code-compliant wiring.

5. Test and Label: Once we’re done, we test every circuit for continuity and grounding, then label your new panel clearly.

Most homes can be rewired in stages. You don’t have to do the whole house at once. We’ve helped plenty of families replace the most critical circuits first, then come back later to finish the rest.

What to Expect During the Job

We know the idea of rewiring sounds messy. It doesn’t have to be.

We use flexible fish tape and fiberglass rods to snake new wires through the same paths as the old ones. That means very little drywall cutting — mostly just access holes at outlets, switches, and junction points. We patch everything neatly when we’re done.

And we keep your power running as much as possible while we work. You might lose power in one section for a few hours while we rewire, but you’ll still have lights and AC in the rest of the house.

For most mid-size homes around Fort Myers, a full cloth-wiring replacement takes 3–5 days.

What It Costs

Every home’s different, but most cloth wiring replacement projects run between $8,000 and $15,000, depending on square footage and accessibility.

It’s not pocket change, but consider what you’re getting: a home that’s safer, insurable, and ready for modern living. And you only do it once.

We’ve had clients who couldn’t even get homeowner’s insurance until they replaced their old wiring — that alone can make the project pay for itself.

A Real Job Story

We did a full rewire on a 1959 home near Tanglewood not long ago. The owners had noticed a faint burnt smell in their laundry room. When we opened the outlet, the cloth insulation literally crumbled in our hands.

We replaced all the wiring with new copper runs, upgraded the panel to 200 amps, and grounded every circuit. While we were at it, we added GFCIs in the kitchen and bathrooms.

When we finished, we showed the homeowner the old wire — it was blackened and cracked all the way through. He just shook his head and said, “I can’t believe that was hiding in my walls.”

That’s the thing — you don’t see the danger until you fix it.

Why It’s Worth Doing Now

Besides safety, rewiring opens the door for everything else — smart switches, EV chargers, new lighting, and modern appliances.

Old cloth wiring can’t safely support today’s tech. We’ve seen homeowners burn out expensive electronics just because their old wiring couldn’t carry a stable current.

Once we replace it, you’ve got a clean slate. New, grounded circuits that’ll last another 50 years. No more flickering, no more worry.

The Coharbor Electric Difference

We’re electricians, but we’re also homeowners here in Fort Myers. We know what it’s like trying to modernize older Florida homes without destroying their charm.

We plan every job around your life — keep the mess down, finish fast, and make sure everything’s safe before we leave.

We handle all the permits, coordinate inspections, and use only copper wire rated for Florida’s humidity. And we don’t leave until we’ve tested every outlet and breaker ourselves.

When we’re done, your home’s wiring won’t just meet code — it’ll exceed it.

Wrapping It Up

If your Fort Myers home still has cloth-covered wiring, don’t ignore it. It’s not about panic; it’s about prevention.

The older the wiring gets, the higher the risk of heat, arcing, or short circuits. Replacing it is one of the best upgrades you can make — for safety, insurance, and peace of mind.

👉 Call Coharbor Electric today to schedule a wiring inspection. We’ll check your system, show you what’s going on, and lay out a clear plan to replace your old wiring the right way.

Old homes deserve care. We just make sure the wiring behind those walls is as strong as the walls themselves.