The process
How a whole house rewire actually works
Six steps, each with a timeline and a check. Nothing rides on faith: the trace proves what is in your walls before you spend, and the inspection proves the fix after.
1.Circuit trace
Half a dayWe open the panel and trace every circuit to its end with a toner, mapping which runs are live knob and tube, which are newer cable, and which are abandoned. You get the map in writing whether or not you hire us. This is the $250 to $450 assessment, credited to the job.
2.Written quote
2 to 3 days laterThe quote itemizes per circuit against the published table on the cost guide. Full rewire and scoped-partial options are priced side by side when both make sense, and deadline jobs get the schedule written into the quote.
3.Permit
Before any workThe electrical permit is filed with Louisville Metro Construction Review under our license. Starting electrical work without one carries a $1,000 first-offense fine in Jefferson County, and unpermitted work resurfaces at every future sale.
4.Rewire, room by room
4 to 8 working daysNew grounded cable is fished from basement and attic through closets and chases. Furniture gets covered, floors get runners, and each day ends with the occupied parts of the house powered. Plaster cuts happen only where fishing cannot reach, and each one is patched square before we leave.
5.Panel and service
Usually 1 day, inside the rewire windowThe new 200 amp panel goes in with arc-fault and ground-fault protection where code requires. If the service entrance upgrades, we coordinate the LG&E side so the utility visit lands inside the same window instead of adding weeks.
6.Inspection and close-out
Scheduled at finishA Louisville Metro inspector checks the work, including that abandoned knob and tube is disconnected dead. The permit closes, and you get the record plus a completion letter, the two documents your insurance agent and your future buyer will ask for.
Prices for each scope are published on the cost guide, and the Louisville Knob & Tube homepage has an instant estimator that prices your house from the same table. Insurance-deadline versions of this process are covered on the insurance page.
Process questions, answered
Do we have to move out during the rewiring?
No. Rewires here run with families in the house. Power returns to occupied rooms every evening, the refrigerator never loses a day, and bedrooms are done in sequence rather than all at once.
How long does the whole process take, first call to closed permit?
Typically two to four weeks: trace within a few days, quote in two or three more, then a 4 to 8 working day rewire once scheduled, and the final inspection right behind it. Insurance and closing deadlines compress that; tell us the date and we plan backward.
How much of my walls will you open?
In most houses, a handful of small cuts at switch drops and blocked bays, each patched before we leave. Basements, attics, and closets do most of the routing work. Houses with sealed, insulated bays need more openings, and the quote says so up front.
What happens to the old knob and tube wiring?
It is disconnected dead at both ends. Porcelain knobs and tubes stay in the walls harmlessly unless you ask us to strip accessible runs. The inspector verifies dead, not just capped, before the permit closes.
Start with the trace
Step one costs $250 to $450, credits to the job, and ends the guessing either way.