Your insurance company gave you 30 days to remove the knob and tube wiring, or they’re dropping your coverage. You’ve lived in this house for years, maybe decades. The thought of someone tearing into your walls—especially if you have original horsehair plaster—makes your stomach turn.
Here’s what most electricians will tell you: they’ll need to cut into the walls, pull the old wiring, run new lines, and then you’ll need to find a plasterer to patch everything back up. If your home was built before 1950, good luck finding someone who can match that plaster. Even if you do, it’s expensive, time-consuming, and the repairs rarely look right.
We don’t work that way. We use a camera system that goes through your existing outlets to locate and remove knob and tube wiring from inside your walls. No cutting. No notching. No damage to your plaster. If there’s any mark left at all, it’s minimal—a small access point at most. Your walls stay intact, your home’s character is preserved, and you get the documentation your insurance company needs.
We’ve been serving Rhode Island homeowners since the early 1990s. We’re Master Electricians, fully licensed and insured, and we’re certified members of the Rhode Island Electrical Inspectors IAEI. That’s not just paperwork—it means we know the code, we know the inspections, and we know how to document everything so your insurance company has no reason to push back.
Burrillville is full of historic homes. Harrisville, Oakland, Mapleville—these mill villages were built in the 1800s, and many of the homes still have the original plaster and wiring. We’ve worked in dozens of them. We understand what you’re trying to protect, and we’ve built our process around keeping your home intact while bringing it up to code.
You’re not going to find another electrician in this area using a camera system like ours. Most will tell you they need to open walls. We don’t. That’s the difference.
We start with an inspection. Our camera system goes through your outlets and into the walls so we can see exactly where the knob and tube wiring runs, how it’s connected, and whether there are any hidden issues—like junction boxes that were covered over, open joints, or damage from rodents. You get a full picture of what’s happening inside your walls without us touching a saw.
Once we map everything out, we remove the old wiring using the same access points. The camera guides us through the process. We’re not guessing. We’re not cutting exploratory holes. We know where everything is, and we pull it out without damaging your plaster.
After the old wiring is out, we install new wiring that meets current code. Then we document everything, run the final inspection, and provide you with the paperwork your insurance company requires. Most of our clients get their coverage reinstated within days. The whole process is faster, cleaner, and far less disruptive than traditional methods.
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You get a full knob and tube wiring removal and replacement that meets National Electrical Code standards. That includes the camera inspection, the removal of all active knob and tube wiring, installation of modern wiring, and a passed electrical inspection. We provide all the documentation your insurance company needs, including our Certificate of Insurance if requested.
Here’s what makes this especially important in Burrillville: many of the homes here were built during the mill era, between the 1800s and early 1900s. They have horsehair plaster, which is incredibly durable but almost impossible to match if you damage it. Our process protects that plaster completely. You’re not dealing with plaster dust for months. You’re not trying to find one of the few plasterers left in Rhode Island who knows how to work with it. Your walls stay original.
If your home is in Harrisville or Oakland—both listed as historic districts—you especially don’t want visible repairs that hurt your home’s character or value. Our camera-based process keeps everything intact. That’s not just convenient. For a historic home, it’s essential.
Not with our process. Most electricians will tell you they need to cut into your walls to access the old wiring, and if you have horsehair plaster, that’s a problem. Plaster from homes built before 1950 is mixed with horsehair for strength, and it’s extremely difficult to repair or match once it’s damaged.
We use a specialized camera system that we insert through your existing outlets. The camera lets us see inside your walls so we can locate the knob and tube wiring, trace where it runs, and remove it without opening anything up. No cutting. No notching. If there’s any access point needed at all, it’s minimal—nothing that requires a plasterer or major repair work.
Your walls stay intact. Your plaster stays original. And you avoid the mess, cost, and time that comes with traditional wall-cutting methods.
Most jobs take a few days to a week, depending on the size of your home and how much wiring needs to be replaced. That’s significantly faster than traditional methods, which can stretch out over weeks once you factor in wall repairs, plaster work, and drying time.
Because we’re not cutting into walls, we’re not waiting on other contractors to patch and paint. We inspect, remove, replace, and document—all in one streamlined process. If your insurance company gave you a 30-day deadline, we can work within that timeline without issue.
The actual removal process is just one part of it. We also handle the inspection and provide all the documentation your insurer requires, so you’re not coordinating multiple people or chasing down paperwork. It’s handled start to finish.
Insurance companies see knob and tube wiring as a fire risk, and they’re not wrong. The wiring itself isn’t necessarily dangerous if it’s original and untouched, but most knob and tube systems have been modified over the years—sometimes improperly. Insulation gets added around wires that were designed to stay cool. Circuits get overloaded with modern appliances. Junction boxes get covered up. All of that increases the risk of overheating and fire.
Even if your system is in good shape, insurers won’t make exceptions. If there’s any active knob and tube wiring in your home, most companies will either refuse to cover you or force-place a much more expensive policy. Some will give you 30 days to remove it. Others won’t insure the home at all.
The only way to get standard coverage back is to have the wiring removed and replaced by a licensed electrician, with documentation and a passed inspection. That’s exactly what we provide. Once the work is done and the inspection is passed, your insurance company has no reason to deny you coverage.
The camera inspection shows us everything that’s happening inside your walls without us needing to open them up. We insert a small camera through your outlets, and it gives us a clear view of where the knob and tube wiring runs, how it’s connected, and whether there are any problems we need to address.
We can see if there’s damage from rodents chewing through insulation. We can spot junction boxes that were covered over during renovations, which is a code violation and a safety issue. We can identify open joints or connections that aren’t secure. All of that gets documented before we start any removal work, so there are no surprises.
This also means we’re not cutting exploratory holes to figure out where the wiring goes. We know exactly what we’re dealing with before we touch anything. That saves time, reduces cost, and keeps your walls intact. It’s a smarter, cleaner way to handle the job.
Cost depends on the size of your home and how much wiring needs to be replaced. For most homes, you’re looking at somewhere between $12,000 and $36,000 for a full replacement. That typically works out to around $10 to $20 per square foot, though it can vary based on access, layout, and how the wiring is routed.
Our process tends to cost less than traditional methods because you’re not paying for wall repairs, plaster work, or additional contractors. There’s no plasterer to coordinate with. No painting to schedule afterward. No drywall or plaster dust to clean up for weeks. The camera system keeps the job contained, and that saves you money.
We provide a detailed estimate after the inspection so you know exactly what you’re paying for. No surprises, no hidden costs. And once the work is done, you’ll have the documentation you need to get your insurance back in place—which, for most people, is worth every dollar.
Technically, yes—but your insurance company probably won’t accept that. Most insurers require all active knob and tube wiring to be removed before they’ll provide coverage. Even if only one circuit still has the old wiring, that’s enough for them to deny your policy or charge you significantly more.
If you’re trying to save money by only replacing part of the system, it’s worth calling your insurance company first to see if they’ll accept a partial removal. In our experience, they almost never do. They want it all out, and they want documentation proving it’s gone.
The good news is that our camera-based process makes full removal faster and less invasive than you might expect. You’re not dealing with the mess and cost of opening walls throughout the entire house. We work through existing access points, remove everything that needs to go, and get you the documentation you need. It’s a one-time job, and once it’s done, it’s done for good.
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