Signs your Ocala home has aluminum branch wiring

Aluminum branch circuit wiring was installed in homes built roughly between 1965 and 1973, and Marion County has a meaningful share of houses from that window. The wire itself is not the hazard. The terminations are.

The visible signs are warm switch or outlet cover plates, outlets that stop working intermittently, a faint burning smell near a device, or flickering that follows a particular circuit. Any of those warrants opening a device box.

The definitive check is to pull a receptacle and look at the conductor. Aluminum branch wiring is dull silver rather than copper coloured, and the cable jacket is often marked AL or ALUMINUM. If you are not comfortable pulling a device, an electrician can check several in an hour.

Remediation usually means pigtailing every termination with a connector listed for the aluminum to copper transition, which is labour-intensive because it means opening every device box in the house. A wire nut and anti-oxidant paste is not remediation, and inspectors know the difference. Keep the documentation, because insurers ask for it.