First Step BREATHE!!!!!!!!!
Yes, I knew I wad going to have to do that sometime.
Do you have a realtor and inspector that you trust? If there answer is yes. Trust them! there is a reason they make the big bucks.
I trust them both to give me information they believe. However, I don't trust them to properly evaluate risk of fiery death in electrical systems. I'm not sure who I would trust with that, probably not an electrician. Those people can tell you if things are installed correctly, but it's not like they are doing research into long term system longevity. The people doing that are possibly legislators who write the building codes (perhaps), insurance companies, and consumer groups. As mentioned above, there are mixed results from these groups.
Addressing your daily freak outs! Houses aren't perfect. they break have issues gain, lose valley and unpredictable. You will do the best you can and things will STILL happen. If you like the house, area and price than go for it. Talk to your peeps, take their advice, process it and move forward. There are things you want to freak out about, but if you freak out about everything your team won't take major things seriously. (i.e. boy who called wolf).
Yeah, believe me I realize no house is "perfect" and I'm not looking for that. If termite comes back with section 1, I'll ask seller to fix. No biggie. If the balcony railing is loose, I can fix that myself.
Many of these issues I have enough information to assess. I know how to read a title report to understand the obligations imposed by easements, etc. I can say "there's X risk the retaining wall will fail, and if it does, the repairs will cost Y". I'm OK with that risk after structural told me the wall is not holding up the house, just some landscaping.
In the case of electrical, as an engineer and a lawyer, I know just enough to freak out, but not enough to adequately assess risk. I can see why aluminum is inferior, and why it can only get
worse over time. Thus, the fact that the house has survived 34 years does not comfort me that there will be no future problems. Nevertheless, more research shows that the post-72 wiring is indeed a much better alloy (old alloys would break after 4-5 flexes).
But I still wonder why a modern builder would use aluminum to begin with. It has no advantage besides price, many downsides, and makes me worry about other cut corners.
For the record, I'm not worried about multi-stranded aluminum in street feeds, just the romex branch circuits running behind inaccessible walls.
Thanks Snackdog for the reference, I will probably see if he can perform an inspection.
edit while I type:
@dragoncar: I'd like to point out a separate angle to this discovery, and that is resale value and ability to sell. My guess is that when you contact qualified electricians, they will essentially second what the inspector said: Definitely substandard and short of ideal, but "serviceable." But no matter what they say, your own experience shows you what the reputation of aluminum wiring does to a potential sale. You almost certainly are going to encounter that one day when you try to sell. It's going to turn buyers off, it will make selling more difficult and you will possibly have to eat the cost of replacing it, or take a discount on sale price.
Sorry for the discovery, but you are wise to pay attention to the sunk costs fallacy and not get too wrapped up in the money you've sunk into inspections. Look at this way: Your inspection money was not lost, it did exactly what it was supposed to do.
Personally, I'd ask the sellers for a discount on the price to replace it (I'd ask them to pay half of the estimated cost, splitting it with you), and see what they say. If they balk, then your agent can politely point out that they will likely face this situation from the next buyers to come along. If they still refuse, you can decide how to proceed (either a counter offer, take it as is, or walk away). But it certainly does not hurt to ask.
Also, that aluminum wiring is likely from the Mark III series of leukemia generators, so watch out. (joke from other thread for those saying "wtf?")
Really good advice. I am indeed aware of resale issues, but I think knowledge of aluminum is waning -- nobody else I've talked to about this was aware of potential problems, including my realtor, wife, parents, and inlaws. Of course, once I mentioned it they quickly found information online. So I could totally see the next buyer completely ignoring this and other issues. That doesn't mean
I should ignore those issues, but I'm not sure how strong of a bargaining position I'm in. On the other hand, our contract is for over asking price, so I think a revelation like this warrants some further negotiation, and splitting the cost seems like it could gain more traction. Would it be better to start asking for full cost and negotiate to splitting?
Another question: Should I spend more money for an electrical inspection and quote now, or first ask my realtor to probe the sellers' willingness to negotiate? They already want to negotiate purchase of their furniture, and are apparently buddies w/ my parents after half a day of inspections (I couldn't attend).