Cost of replacing old knob ant tube wiring in house

bikerboy337 · 03-24-2005, 02:18 PM

So we had our inspeciton yesterday on a house we really like, 80 years old, great condition except a portion of teh house has old knob and tube wiring... need to replace it all... house is 3 bed, 1.5 bath, 1300 sq feet... have no idea how much things like this cost, looking for a general idea of what re-wiring a house would cost... just looking for a really rough idea... $5,000, $10,000 $15,000 to rewire?

housedocs · 03-25-2005, 04:30 AM

Hello and welcome aboard!!

I'm not an electrician, but I can tell you alot will have to do with where you're at. Rates vary alot by region and even between rural & urban areas within any given state. Best bet is to make a few phone calls to local guys to get some ballpark numbers.

If you have the knowledge, skills & tools to run the wire yourself and do alot of the labor you maybe able to save yourself some $$. I have a guy that works for me that's a great electrician, but unlicensed, he does most of our work and I sub a licensed local guy, he checks the work, basically inspects everything & pulls permits. Keep in mind this is a very rural area of Mo and our rules are very lax compared to many areas of the country, and you may not be able to get by with such an arrangement.

First thing to do is to check with local building inspector's office and see what is required locally. One thing I've learned is it's best to check in first and make sure you're not creating problems for yourself down the road.

ryaniniowa · 03-25-2005, 11:31 PM

It really depends on how accesable the wiring is. If it's just the stuff you can see you want to correct, it's probably not bad, if you really want to re-wire the house, you're looking at a lot of holes that need to be punched to access the wiring to replace it. That follows with drywall/plasture repair and you're spending a lot. I'd roughly figure $60 per opening and the repair to the walls/ceilings on top of that.

Speedy Petey · 03-26-2005, 09:50 AM

I have rewired many old houses. Not all require holes everywhere to get this accomplished. In fact older homes can be easier in many cases. With attic and basement access it is not as big of a job as it may seem. Typically homes like this have almost nothing existing, so this is technically a "wire", not a "re-wire". So it is not a case of having to snake to existing receptacles, it is a case of cutting in all new ones.

In any case it will run you a minimum of a few thousand $$ to get done.
Also, if it were me I would NOT do this as a contract job, I would only do it T&M. Too many unseen variables.