Published pricing
What knob and tube rewiring costs in Louisville
Real ranges, what moves a job inside its range, and the line items other quotes leave out. These are the numbers we quote against, in writing.
The working price table
Every written quote itemizes your house per circuit against this table. Ranges assume a finished, occupied house; open-wall rehabs price below them.
| Job type | Typical range | What moves the price |
|---|---|---|
| Walkthrough assessment and circuit trace | $250 to $450 | House size; credited to the job if you proceed |
| Insurance-scoped partial rewire | $4,000 to $9,500 | How many circuits are live K&T; what the underwriter letter requires |
| Full rewire, one story shotgun or bungalow (900 to 1,400 sq ft) | $8,500 to $14,000 | Crawl space vs basement, floored attic, kneewall rooms |
| Full rewire, two story (1,500 to 2,600 sq ft) | $14,000 to $25,000 | Plaster walls, sealed or insulated bays, apartment conversions |
| Full rewire, large three story Victorian (2,700+ sq ft) | $24,000 to $38,000 | Footprint, additions from multiple eras, outbuildings |
| Panel upgrade to 200 amp breaker panel | $2,200 to $4,500 | Service entrance condition, LG&E coordination, meter relocation |
| Plaster patching allowance | included | We patch every cut we make; whole-wall skim coats quoted separately |
Per square foot, most Louisville rewires land between $7 and $12 with workable access, and up to $16 where walls are sealed or packed with insulation.
What pushes a job up or down
Access is most of it. A Crescent Hill balloon-framed house with an open basement lets us fish whole circuits without opening a wall, and it prices near the bottom of its band. A Highlands four square with blown-in insulation in every bay needs slow, blind fishing and more patching, and it prices near the top.
Circuit count beats square footage. Two houses of identical size can differ by thousands because one has 9 circuits and the other has 16. This is why we trace before we quote instead of pricing off a listing sheet.
The panel and service entrance. Fuse boxes and 60 amp services need replacement as part of any full rewire, and the utility side has to be coordinated with LG&E when the service upgrades. A corroded mast or a meter that must move adds real cost, and we flag it at the trace, not mid-job.
Permits and inspection are not optional. Louisville Metro requires an electrical permit for rewiring work, with rough and final inspections, and unpermitted work carries a $1,000 first-offense fine. Permit filing and both inspections are line items in every quote we write. The people doing the work matter too: Kentucky licenses electricians through the state Electrical Division, and a master electrician holds responsible charge of every job here.
Why the money is worth it
The U.S. Fire Administration’s residential fire statistics consistently rank electrical malfunction among the leading causes of home fires, and ungrounded, century-old wiring is the version of that risk you can actually retire. The financial side pays back too: no more insurance surcharges or surplus-lines premiums, no wiring contingency at resale, and grounded circuits that stop chewing through electronics. An insurance-scoped fix often pays for itself in premiums inside a few years. The insurance page covers that math, and the Louisville Knob & Tube homepage has the instant estimator if you want your own range now.
Cost questions, answered straight
Why do rewiring quotes for the same house vary so much?
Because access assumptions vary. A quote that assumes open walls is cheap until the change orders start. Ours prices from a circuit trace of your actual house, itemized per circuit, so the number you sign is the number you pay unless you change the scope.
Is a $6,000 to $7,000 rewire quote realistic in Louisville?
For a small shotgun with excellent access, it can be close to our published floor. For anything two-story or plaster-walled it usually means the quote skips the panel, the permit, or the patching. Ask any low bidder to itemize those three lines. Ours are always in the price.
Does rewiring include fixing the plaster afterward?
Our price includes patching every cut we make, filled square and flush, ready for paint. Full skim-coating and painting of whole walls is a plasterer’s trade, and where a room needs it we say so in the quote rather than hiding it.
Can I finance a rewire or phase it over time?
Phasing is the honest version of financing here. We can split a whole-house job into permitted phases, each passing its own inspection, starting with the circuits your insurer or inspector flagged. Each phase carries its own fixed price from the table.
How do payments work? Do you want a big deposit up front?
No. A scheduling deposit holds your dates, progress payments follow the completed work, and the final payment is not due until the Metro inspection passes and the permit closes. The exact schedule is printed on every quote, and the assessment fee only becomes a credit if you choose to proceed. It never obligates you to.
What does the Louisville Metro permit cost?
Electrical permit fees are set by Louisville Metro Construction Review and typically run a few hundred dollars for a rewire, based on the scope. The fee is included as its own line in our quotes, and skipping the permit risks a $1,000 fine plus an unsellable house later.
Turn the range into your number
The circuit trace turns this table into a fixed, per-circuit written quote for your house.