Most electricians will tell you they need to open up your walls to remove knob and tube wiring. That means cutting into plaster, patching, repainting, and hoping the repair blends in. If you own a historic home in Fall River with original horsehair plaster, you already know how hard that material is to match.
We don’t work that way. We insert a specialized camera system through your existing outlets to locate the old wiring, map it out, and remove it without opening your walls. The camera shows us exactly where the wiring runs, where junction boxes are hidden, and whether there’s any damage from rodents or deterioration.
You get a fully updated electrical system that meets current code and satisfies your insurance company. Your walls stay intact. No patching. No mismatched plaster. No mess.
This matters because nearly half the homes in Fall River were built before 1940, and many still have the original knob and tube wiring installed when the house was constructed. Insurance companies won’t cover it anymore. Some will cancel your policy outright. Others will give you 30 days to replace it or lose coverage. Either way, you need it gone—but you don’t need your walls torn apart to make that happen.
We’ve been serving Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts for over 30 years. We’re licensed master electricians, members of the Rhode Island Electrical Inspectors IAEI Roger Williams Chapter, and fully compliant with NFPA standards.
Fall River has some of the most affordable historic homes south of Boston, and we’ve worked in plenty of them. Greek Revival, Victorian, homes from the 1700s—we’ve seen it all. We know how these houses are built, and we know what it takes to modernize the electrical system without destroying the character of the home.
Our camera-based removal process was developed specifically for situations like yours. No other electrician in this area uses this system. That’s not marketing talk—it’s just the reality. Everyone else is still cutting into walls because that’s how it’s always been done. We found a better way.
First, we insert our camera system through your existing outlets. The camera feeds live video as we navigate inside your walls, showing us exactly where the knob and tube wiring runs, how it’s routed, and what condition it’s in. We can spot mouse damage, exposed copper, covered junction boxes, and open joints—all without making a single cut.
Once we’ve mapped everything out, we remove the old wiring and install new wiring that meets the 2020 National Electrical Code. The new system is run through the same pathways, using the access points that already exist. In most cases, we don’t need to open your walls at all. If we do need to make a small access point, it’s minimal—usually around an inch, and we rough patch it before we leave.
After the work is done, your home is fully up to code. You can call your insurance company and confirm the knob and tube is gone. You can insulate your walls without creating a fire hazard. You can plug in modern appliances without worrying about overloading a system that was designed for a couple of lamps and a radio.
The whole process is faster and cleaner than traditional rewiring. You’re not living in a construction zone. You’re not dealing with drywall dust or plaster repairs. You’re just getting the problem fixed the right way.
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You get a full camera inspection of your electrical system. We document what’s behind your walls, identify any hazards, and give you a clear picture of what needs to be replaced. That inspection alone is valuable—most homeowners have no idea what’s actually going on inside their walls until something goes wrong.
Then we remove the knob and tube wiring and replace it with modern wiring that can handle the electrical load of a contemporary household. That means grounded outlets, proper circuit protection, and a system that won’t trip every time you run the microwave and the coffee maker at the same time.
Fall River’s housing stock is old. The median construction year here is 1945, and nearly half of all homes were built before the 1940s. A lot of those homes still have their original electrical systems, and those systems were never designed for the way we live now. Knob and tube wiring can’t be insulated, can’t handle modern appliances, and won’t pass inspection if you’re buying or selling a home.
This service brings your home up to current safety standards without the destruction that usually comes with it. If you’ve been putting off the work because you didn’t want to deal with the mess, this is the solution you’ve been waiting for.
Yes, they can and they will. Most insurance companies won’t issue a new policy on a home with knob and tube wiring, and many will cancel existing coverage if they find out it’s still in place. Some insurers will give you 30 days to replace it before they drop you. Others will exclude any damage related to electrical issues, which basically makes the policy useless.
The reason is simple: knob and tube wiring is a fire risk. The insulation deteriorates over time, the wiring gets overloaded by modern appliances, and there’s no grounding. Insurers don’t want to take on that liability, so they either refuse coverage or charge you a premium that reflects the risk.
If you’re trying to buy or sell a home in Fall River, this issue will come up during the inspection. Buyers will either walk away or demand that you replace the wiring before closing. Either way, you’re dealing with it eventually—might as well deal with it now, while you have control over how it’s done.
Traditional removal means cutting open your walls to access the wiring. Electricians make holes, pull out the old wire, run new wire, and then you’re left with a mess to patch and paint. If you have horsehair plaster, that’s a nightmare—it’s hard to work with, hard to match, and there are very few tradespeople who know how to repair it properly.
Camera-based removal skips all of that. We use a specialized camera system that goes through your existing outlets and shows us what’s inside your walls. We can see where the wiring runs, locate junction boxes, and identify problem areas without making a single cut. Then we remove the old wiring and install the new system using the same access points.
The result is the same—you get a fully updated electrical system that meets code. But the process is completely different. No wall damage. No plaster repairs. No mismatched patches that stand out every time you walk past them. Just clean, efficient work that solves the problem without creating new ones.
Yes, and that’s exactly why we developed this process. Historic homes in Fall River often have horsehair plaster walls, which are incredibly durable but almost impossible to match if you damage them. Horsehair plaster was mixed with animal hair for reinforcement, and it creates a finish that’s different from anything you can buy today.
Our camera system lets us work around that. We’re not cutting into your plaster to find the wiring—we’re using the camera to locate it first, then accessing it through existing openings like outlets and junction boxes. In most cases, we don’t need to make any new holes at all. If we do, they’re small and easy to patch.
This is critical for homeowners who care about preserving the original character of their home. You’re not just protecting your walls—you’re protecting the craftsmanship and materials that make your house unique. And you’re avoiding the cost and hassle of hiring a plasterer to come in after the electrical work is done.
The camera gives us a live video feed of everything inside your walls. We can see the knob and tube wiring itself—how it’s routed, whether the insulation is intact, and whether the copper is exposed. We can spot junction boxes that have been covered over by previous renovations. We can identify open joints where wires are connected without proper enclosures.
We also catch things that have nothing to do with the wiring but are still important. Mouse damage is common in older homes, and we’ll see if rodents have chewed through insulation or nested near the wiring. We’ll see if there’s moisture damage, if the framing is compromised, or if there are other issues that need attention.
This level of detail is something you just don’t get with traditional methods. Most electricians are working blind until they open up the wall. We know exactly what we’re dealing with before we start, which makes the whole process faster, cleaner, and more predictable. You’re not paying for guesswork—you’re paying for precision.
It depends on the size of your home and how much wiring needs to be replaced, but most jobs take between two and five days. The camera inspection itself usually takes a few hours—we’re mapping out the entire system and documenting what we find. The actual removal and replacement work happens after that.
Because we’re not opening up walls, the process moves faster than traditional rewiring. We’re not waiting for plaster to dry or coordinating with other trades to come in and fix the damage. We do the electrical work, rough patch any small access points if needed, and you’re done.
Fall River homes vary widely in size and layout, so there’s no one-size-fits-all timeline. A small bungalow will obviously take less time than a three-story Victorian. But the point is that you’re not living in a construction zone for weeks. The work gets done, your home stays intact, and you move on with your life.
It won’t necessarily increase your home’s value, but it will absolutely protect it. Homes with knob and tube wiring are harder to sell because buyers know they’ll have to deal with the replacement cost and the insurance headaches. Some buyers will walk away entirely. Others will make a lower offer to account for the work that needs to be done.
When you replace the wiring before listing your home, you remove that obstacle. Buyers don’t have to worry about it, their lender doesn’t flag it during the appraisal, and their insurance company doesn’t create problems at closing. The home becomes more attractive and easier to finance.
Even if you’re not planning to sell, the upgrade matters. You’re making your home safer, more functional, and more insurable. You’re eliminating a fire hazard and bringing your electrical system up to modern standards. That’s not about increasing value—it’s about protecting the investment you already have.
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