Homeowner guide · October 15, 2026
What does knob and tube wiring replacement involve in a Louisville house?
Knob and tube wiring replacement in Louisville, KY means running new grounded cable to every outlet, switch and fixture that still sits on the original 1890s to 1940s circuits, disconnecting the old conductors at both ends, upgrading the fuse box or 60 amp panel to a 200 amp breaker panel, and closing a Louisville Metro electrical permit with a passed inspection. In an occupied house it takes three working days for a small shotgun and up to three weeks for an Old Louisville Victorian, and most jobs land between $8,500 and $38,000 on our published table.
Homeowners search for “replacement” and electricians say “rewire.” They are the same job. What follows is what that job actually looks like inside a Jefferson County house, step by step, so you know what a quote should describe before you sign it.
Do I have to replace all of it, or just what the insurance letter flagged?
You can do either, and the right answer depends on how much live knob and tube is left and why the project started. If an underwriter letter or a home inspection report named specific circuits, a scoped partial replacement that retires exactly those circuits satisfies the letter and runs $4,000 to $9,500. If more than half the house is still on knob and tube, a full replacement is cheaper per circuit, because the panel, the permit and the setup are paid once instead of twice. The one thing nobody should do is splice new cable onto old knob and tube runs. Kentucky follows the National Electrical Code, which bars extending knob and tube and bars burying it in insulation, and a splice like that fails the Metro inspection every time. Our insurance help page explains how scoped partials are written to match the carrier’s letter.
The seven steps, in the order they happen
- Circuit trace. We walk the house with the power on and map which outlets, switches and fixtures are still fed by knob and tube. The count of live circuits, not the square footage, sets the price.
- Written quote and permit. The quote is itemized per circuit against the knob and tube wiring replacement cost guide for Louisville, KY. Once you sign, we file the Louisville Metro electrical permit under the master electrician who will run the job.
- Panel and service entrance. A fuse box or 60 amp service cannot feed a modern house. The new 200 amp panel goes in early, and if the meter or the mast has to move, LG&E is scheduled before the first wall is touched.
- Rough in. New cable is fished from the basement or crawl space to the first floor and from the attic to the second floor, through drilled top plates and existing box openings. Small access holes, never open walls.
- Disconnect and remove. Old runs are cut dead at the panel and at every box. Exposed knob and tube in the attic and basement comes out. Runs buried in finished walls stay, disconnected.
- Rough and final inspections. Metro inspects the rough in, then the finished work. Final payment waits for the permit to close.
- Patching. Every hole we cut in plaster or drywall is filled square and flush, ready for paint.
How long does knob and tube replacement take in a Louisville house?
Three working days to three weeks, set almost entirely by access. The table below is how the neighborhoods we work in most often break out. The price column is the same published range you will find on the cost guide, and the house stays occupied the whole time.
| House type and where it is | What sets the pace | Working days | Published range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shotgun or camelback, Clifton, Germantown, Portland | Crawl space or shallow basement, one attic run, few walls | 3 to 5 working days | $8,500 to $14,000 |
| Craftsman bungalow, Beechmont, Crescent Hill | Floored attic and kneewall rooms slow the attic side | 4 to 7 working days | $8,500 to $14,000 |
| Two story four square, Highlands, Crescent Hill | Plaster walls, blown in insulation in some bays, second floor fished from attic | 6 to 10 working days | $14,000 to $25,000 |
| Three story Victorian, Old Louisville | Longest runs in the metro, multiple additions, sometimes a carriage house | 2 to 3 weeks | $24,000 to $38,000 |
| Insurance scoped partial, any neighborhood | Only the circuits named in the underwriter letter | 2 to 4 working days | $4,000 to $9,500 |
Add a week of lead time in front of any job where LG&E has to pull the meter for a service upgrade, and add a few days behind a job that needs whole wall skim coating by a plasterer, which is quoted separately when a room needs it.
What Louisville Metro and Kentucky require
Two things, and both protect you more than they protect the electrician. First, the work must be done under a Kentucky licensed electrician. The state licenses the trade through the Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction, Electrical Division, and you can look up the master electrician on your permit by name. Second, the job needs a Metro electrical permit with rough and final inspections. The permit fee is a few hundred dollars and sits as its own line on our quotes. Unpermitted rewiring surfaces at every home inspection at resale, and an insurer can deny a fire claim traced to it. The passed inspection is the document that ends the insurance conversation and the buyer’s inspector conversation at the same time.
Who this job is not for
If your house was fully rewired in the 1970s or later and you have one dead outlet, a service electrician will fix it faster and cheaper than a knob and tube crew. If your house is a gut rehab with the walls already open, the replacement prices below our published table, and any licensed electrician can do it well. Knob and tube specialists earn their rate in a finished, occupied, plaster walled house built before 1950, which in Jefferson County describes most of Old Louisville, the Highlands, Crescent Hill, Clifton, Germantown, Portland and Beechmont. The areas page lists what we see most in each one, and the how it works page shows the sequence with the paperwork at each step.
Get the replacement quoted per circuit
Send the form or call (502) 305-0444. We trace the circuits, write the quote against the published table, pull the Metro permit, and final payment waits for the inspection to pass. Every house is different, so the exact number comes from the trace, not from this page.
Replacement questions we hear every week
Can knob and tube be replaced without tearing out the plaster walls?
Yes, in nearly every Louisville house. New cable is fished from the basement or crawl space up to the first floor boxes and from the attic down to the second floor boxes. We open small access holes at top plates and behind existing boxes, not whole walls, and every hole we cut is patched flush in the price.
Does the old knob and tube have to be physically removed?
Dead knob and tube may stay in the walls as long as it is disconnected at both ends. Exposed runs in the attic and basement come out so an inspector, an insurer or the next buyer never mistakes them for live wiring. Buried runs in finished walls stay, disconnected, which is standard practice and what Metro inspectors expect.
Will my insurance accept a partial replacement?
Usually, if the scope matches the underwriter letter and the permit closes. Most Kentucky carriers want the live knob and tube gone from the circuits they named, with a passed Metro inspection as proof. We write the quote to the letter so the paperwork lines up.
Do I have to move out while the house is rewired?
No. The house stays occupied. Power is off room by room during the day and back on each evening, and the kitchen and one bathroom stay live except for the hours we are working in them. Larger Victorians are sequenced floor by floor for the same reason.