03 / Rewiring

Knob-and-tube and aluminium, replaced with care

Plenty of houses below the escarpment still have knob-and-tube in the walls, and many 1960s and 70s homes on the Mountain have aluminium branch wiring. Insurers ask about both. We replace it room by room, through small openings.

Room by roomYou can stay home

Small openingsPatched after

Insurance letterOn completion

A wall switch pulled out of its box, with old wiring showing behind it — Fig. 03 · Opening a box to see what's behind it

Two old systems

What's in your walls

Old wiring tangled inside an open electrical box

Knob-and-tube

Single wires on ceramic knobs, common in houses built before about 1940. It isn't dangerous because it's old; the trouble is brittle insulation, no ground, and decades of add-ons spliced into it.

Era: Roughly 1900 to 1940
Where: Durand, Kirkendall, Corktown, Crown Point
What we do: Replace it with grounded cable, circuit by circuit

A two-storey brick house with a white wrap-around porch

Aluminium branch wiring

Used for some house circuits in the late 1960s and 70s. The wire itself is fine; the risk is at the connections, where it loosens and heats up at switches, outlets and splices.

Era: Roughly 1965 to 1978
Where: Many streets on the Mountain
What we do: Repair every connection with approved connectors, or rewire

For your insurer

A letter that answers their question

Insurers usually want to know one thing: is the old wiring gone, or made safe? When the work passes inspection we write a plain letter that says what was there, what we did, and that it was inspected, with the inspection paperwork attached.

If a broker has sent you a form, send it with your quote request and we'll make sure the letter covers it.

Completion letter

Property: a 1½-storey house in Durand
Work: knob-and-tube replacement

All knob-and-tube circuits found in use are disconnected and replaced
New circuits are grounded and labelled at the panel
Work done under permit and passed inspection

Example for illustration. Real letters list your circuits and the inspection details.

Room by room

How we keep the walls standing

We fish new cable through the walls from the basement and the attic wherever we can, and only open plaster where we have to. You can keep living in the house while we work.

1 · Basement firstNew home runs to the panel, so each room has a new circuit waiting before we touch it.
2 to 5 · One area at a timeFurniture moved and floors covered. Power off in that area only, back on by the end of the day.
Small openingsOpenings about the size of a hand, behind baseboards and at the top of walls where possible. Our patcher fills and sands them; you paint.
6 · Attic, then inspectionWe confirm the old circuits are dead and disconnected, then book the inspection.

Before HST, including the permit and plaster patching, not paint.
Job	Typical range	Usually takes
Knob-and-tube, 1½-storey houseAbout 1,200 to 1,600 sq ft	$12,000 to $22,000	1½ to 3 weeks
Aluminium connection repair, whole houseEvery outlet, switch and splice	$2,500 to $5,000	2 to 4 days
Pot lights, open or accessible ceilingPer light, in a group of six or more	$180 to $260	1 day for most rooms
New dedicated circuitRange, dryer, heat pump or workshop	$350 to $800	Half a day

Next step

Find out what's in your walls before the insurer asks

We open a few boxes at the site visit, tell you what we find and quote from that.

Request a quote Call (555) 555-0103