Louisville and Jefferson County, KY
Knob and tube rewiring, with the price on the page
Louisville Knob & Tube is a knob and tube rewiring service for Louisville and Jefferson County, Kentucky. We trace what is live, quote from a published table, pull the Metro permit, and close out the inspection. If an insurer or home inspector found old wiring, start with a call.
- ✓ Published pricing, itemized per circuit
- ✓ Insurance letters answered with exactly the work your insurer requires
- ✓ Louisville Metro permit and inspection on every job
- ✓ Plaster protected, cuts patched before we leave
Replacing knob and tube wiring in a Louisville house costs $8,500 to $38,000 depending on size and wall access, with most two-story homes landing between $14,000 and $25,000 including a new 200 amp panel. About one in five Louisville houses predates 1950, and any of them can still carry live knob and tube behind a modern-looking breaker box. The work takes four to eight working days, you can stay in the house, and it requires an electrical permit from Louisville Metro Construction Review with a final inspection. If your homeowners insurance flagged the wiring, a scoped partial rewire of only the live knob and tube circuits runs $4,000 to $9,500 and satisfies most underwriters. A circuit trace, $250 to $450 and credited to the job, tells you which houses actually need which fix.
Insurance sent a letter about your wiring? Start here
Non-renewal notices and underwriting letters have a deadline and a specific ask. We scope the work to exactly what the underwriter requires, document it with the permit and inspection record, and get you back to a standard policy.
What knob and tube wiring is, and why it fails modern houses
Knob and tube was the standard way to wire American houses from the 1880s into the 1940s. Two separate copper wires, one hot and one neutral, run through porcelain knobs and tubes with open air as the insulation between them. Installed well, it was good work. Louisville’s electricians installed thousands of miles of it through Old Louisville, the Highlands, Germantown, and every streetcar suburb in between.
The problem is the century since. The rubberized cloth sheathing turns brittle and flakes off. Generations of owners spliced new outlets onto circuits sized for a few light bulbs. Attic insulation got blown in directly over wiring that was designed to shed heat into open air, a combination the electrical code now prohibits. And none of it is grounded, so there is no third wire protecting your appliances, your electronics, or you.
A house can hide all of this behind a modern panel. Breaker boxes get replaced; the branch circuits behind them often do not. The only way to know what is live in your walls is to trace the circuits, which is exactly where our assessment starts.
What a whole house rewire includes
A rewire is not just pulling new cable. The scope below is the same on every quote we write, so you can compare line by line.
Every live K&T circuit replaced
New grounded copper cable to every outlet, switch, and fixture the old system fed. Abandoned wiring is disconnected dead, not just capped.
A 200 amp panel
New breaker panel with arc-fault and ground-fault protection where code requires it, replacing fuse boxes and 60 amp services.
Grounded outlets throughout
Three-prong receptacles that are actually grounded, not two-prong swaps or bootleg grounds that fail inspection.
Minimal plaster damage
Circuits fished through basements, attics, and closet chases. Cuts happen only where fishing cannot reach, and we patch them square.
Permit and inspection
Electrical permit filed with Louisville Metro Construction Review, rough and final inspections passed, closed permit record handed to you.
Documentation for insurers and buyers
A written map of what was replaced, the permit number, and the inspection sign-off. This is the paperwork that ends insurance surcharges.
What knob and tube rewiring costs in Louisville
These are the working numbers we quote against, and the written quote itemizes your house per circuit against this table. The full breakdown, including what moves a job up or down inside its range, is on the cost guide.
| Job | Typical range | What moves the price |
|---|---|---|
| Walkthrough assessment and circuit trace | $250 to $450 | Credited to the job if you proceed |
| Insurance-scoped partial rewire | $4,000 to $9,500 | Number of live K&T circuits |
| Full rewire, one story (900 to 1,400 sq ft) | $8,500 to $14,000 | Attic and crawl access |
| Full rewire, two story (1,500 to 2,600 sq ft) | $14,000 to $25,000 | Plaster walls, sealed bays |
| Full rewire, large three story | $24,000 to $38,000 | Footprint, additions, outbuildings |
| Panel upgrade to 200 amp | $2,200 to $4,500 | Service entrance condition |
See your price range right now
Three questions, priced straight from our published table. No email wall, and the range updates as you answer.
Access is the swing factor. Every wall bay we can reach from the basement or attic stays cheap; every sealed one adds fishing time.
Who does the work, and how you pay
Licensed and insured
Every job runs under a licensed Kentucky master electrician’s responsible charge, through a licensed, bonded, and insured electrical contractor, the structure Kentucky’s Electrical Division requires. License and insurance certificates come attached to your written quote, so you verify before you sign.
No-obligation trace
The circuit trace is a paid diagnostic, $250 to $450, and it obligates you to nothing. You keep the written circuit map whether you hire us, hire someone else, or do nothing. It only becomes a credit if you choose to proceed.
Payment tied to progress
No large upfront deposit. A scheduling deposit holds your dates, progress payments follow the work, and the final payment is not due until the Metro inspection passes and the permit closes. The terms are printed on every quote.
How the electrical work gets done and inspected
- 1
Trace
We open the panel, trace every circuit to its end, and map which ones are live knob and tube. You get the map either way.
- 2
Quote
A written, per-circuit quote against the published table, scoped to a full rewire or to exactly what your insurer requires.
- 3
Rewire
Crews fish new grounded cable room by room. Power is back on each evening, and plaster cuts get patched as we go.
- 4
Inspect
Louisville Metro inspects the work, the permit closes, and you get the record your insurance agent and future buyer will ask for.
The point of the sequence is that nothing is taken on faith. The trace proves what is in the walls before you spend anything, and the inspection proves the fix after. See the step by step detail, timelines included, on the how it works page.
Neighborhoods we rewire
About one in five Louisville houses was built before 1950. We work where those houses are, from the Victorian blocks of Old Louisville to the bungalow belt along Southern Parkway. Each area page covers the local housing stock and what rewiring it usually involves.
Knob and tube questions, answered straight
Is knob and tube wiring actually dangerous, or just old?
Intact, unmodified knob and tube can work, but almost none of it is intact after a century. Splices from later owners, brittle insulation, buried runs under attic insulation, and no grounding are the real risks. The Electrical Safety Foundation attributes tens of thousands of home fires a year to electrical failure, and aging wiring is a leading driver. That is also why insurers treat it as a rated risk.
How much does it cost to rewire a house in Louisville?
Our published range is $7 to $12 per square foot with workable access, up to $16 when walls are sealed or insulated. In dollars: one-story shotguns and bungalows run $8,500 to $14,000, two-story houses $14,000 to $25,000, and large three-story Victorians $24,000 to $38,000, each including a new 200 amp panel. The full table is on our cost guide page.
Do I have to rewire the whole house, or just the knob and tube parts?
Often just the live knob and tube circuits. An insurance-scoped partial runs $4,000 to $9,500 and satisfies most underwriters. A circuit trace tells us which circuits are actually live K&T, and the quote follows that map, not a guess.
Can I stay in my house during the rewiring?
Yes. We work room by room, power is restored every evening, and a typical Louisville house takes four to eight working days. Plaster cuts are patched before we leave.
Will my homeowners insurance really cancel over knob and tube?
It happens in Kentucky regularly. Most standard carriers will not write a new policy on a house with known live knob and tube, and existing policies get non-renewed after an inspection or claim reveals it. Our insurance page walks through exactly how to respond to that letter, and the fix is usually cheaper than a year of surcharged premiums.
Do you pull permits for rewiring in Louisville?
Every job. The electrical permit is filed with Louisville Metro Construction Review, the work is inspected, and you get the closed permit record. That paperwork is what your insurer and a future buyer will ask for.
Bring your wiring up to code, starting with a written quote
Start with the address. We’ll call to set up the circuit trace and give you a written, itemized quote against the published table. On a closing or insurance deadline, say so and we schedule backward from your date.