Old house, modern wiring.

Why rewire — and what's involved

If your home was built before 1945, there's a good chance you have knob & tube wiring somewhere. If it's from the '60s or '70s, you might have aluminum branch wiring. Both are fine when installed correctly in their era — but insurance companies increasingly won't write policies on them, and both have known failure modes that become real risks as they age.

Warning signs:

• Two-prong outlets throughout the house
• Warm or discolored outlets / switch plates
• Cloth-covered wires visible in the basement or attic
• Porcelain "knobs" on floor joists or "tubes" through framing
• Your homeowners insurance is refusing to renew
• Buyer's inspector flagged it during a sale

What a rewire actually looks like

This is the biggest and messiest electrical job in a house. We take pride in doing it without tearing up your home more than necessary:

• Walkthrough and plan — we map every circuit, outlet, switch, and fixture before we start. No surprises mid-project.
• Fish where possible, open where necessary — modern tools let us fish new wire through walls and ceilings without ripping them open. Where we do need to open up drywall or plaster, we cut clean access panels.
• New modern circuits — dedicated kitchen, bathroom, laundry, and general-use circuits as code requires. GFCI and AFCI where specified.
• New three-prong grounded outlets throughout
• New panel (usually paired with the rewire) sized for today's loads
• Permit and inspection — a permitted, signed-off rewire is a huge asset for insurance and resale

Timing & what to expect

A full rewire on a typical 3-bedroom Boston home takes 1–3 weeks depending on access, finish condition, and whether you're living there during the work. We phase the work so you're never without power longer than a normal service call. We'll coordinate with your painter or drywaller for patch-up after.

What it costs

Whole-home rewires vary enormously depending on house size, access, finished vs. unfinished spaces, and how much of the original wiring remains. We do a full walkthrough and give you a detailed written estimate with line items. If you're getting competing bids, ask them to itemize the same way — cheapest isn't always the real number.