Your insurance company sent the letter. Thirty days to remove the knob and tube wiring or lose your coverage. Now you’re stuck between two bad options: pay for rewiring that destroys your walls, or risk losing your home insurance altogether.
Here’s what most electricians won’t tell you. Traditional knob and tube removal means cutting open your walls, removing sections of plaster, running new wire, then patching everything back up. If you’ve got horsehair plaster—which most Narragansett homes built before 1950 do—that’s a nightmare. The texture never matches. The repairs are obvious. And the dust settles into places you’ll find for years.
You don’t have to choose between safety and preservation anymore. Our camera system inspects and removes knob and tube wiring through your existing outlets. No cutting. No demolition. No patching. Your original plaster stays intact, your home keeps its character, and your insurance company gets the documentation they need.
We’ve spent over 30 years working inside Narragansett’s older homes. We’re Master Electricians who understand what you’re dealing with—not just the wiring, but the plaster, the framing, the quirks that come with homes built when craftsmanship meant something different.
Most of our work happens in homes like yours. Colonials along Ocean Road. Victorians near the Pier. Properties where the walls are horsehair plaster, the wiring is original, and the insurance companies are getting nervous. We’ve seen what happens when electricians treat these homes like new construction. It’s expensive, messy, and unnecessary.
Our camera system is the reason homeowners call us instead of general electricians. Nobody else in the area uses this technology. It’s the difference between preserving what makes your home valuable and turning it into a patchwork of drywall repairs that never quite match.
We start with the camera. A specialized inspection camera goes through your existing outlets and light fixtures to see inside your walls. We’re looking at the condition of your knob and tube wiring, checking for mouse damage, locating covered junction boxes, and mapping out exactly where everything runs. This tells us what needs to come out and the safest way to do it.
Once we know what we’re working with, we remove the old wiring using the same access points—your outlets and fixtures. No cutting into walls. No notching studs. If we need to make any openings at all, they’re minimal. Small access points that get covered by your outlet plates or fixture canopies. Most jobs require zero visible repairs.
Then we install your new electrical system. Modern wiring that meets current Rhode Island codes. Grounded outlets. Proper amperage for today’s appliances. A new panel if yours needs upgrading. Everything gets inspected, documented, and certified for your insurance company. You get the paperwork they’re asking for, and your home gets the electrical capacity it needs—without losing the plaster that makes it worth preserving.
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About 16% of homes in the Narragansett area were built before the 1940s. That’s when knob and tube wiring was standard. If you own one of these homes, you’re dealing with electrical infrastructure that’s 75 to 100 years old. The rubber insulation breaks down. The connections loosen. The system can’t handle what you’re plugging into it.
Insurance companies know this. That’s why they’re cracking down. Most carriers in Rhode Island won’t cover active knob and tube wiring anymore, and the ones that do are charging premiums that don’t make sense. You’re not being unreasonable for wanting to keep your original plaster intact during the upgrade. You’re being smart.
Horsehair plaster is nearly impossible to match. The mix, the texture, the way it was applied—it’s a lost craft. When you cut into it, you’re not just creating a repair job. You’re creating a visible scar that affects your home’s value and appeal. Our camera-based removal process exists specifically to solve this problem. You get code-compliant wiring. Your insurance company gets their documentation. And your walls stay original.
Not with our camera system. Traditional electricians cut open walls because that’s the only way they know how to access old wiring. They’ll tell you it’s necessary, then hand you a plasterer’s number to fix the damage afterward. That approach makes sense for them—it’s faster and easier. But it’s terrible for your home.
Our process is different. We use a specialized camera inserted through your existing outlets to inspect inside your walls. This shows us exactly where your knob and tube wiring runs, where the junction boxes are, and what condition everything is in. Then we remove the old wiring through those same access points. Your horsehair plaster stays completely intact.
If we do need to create any openings—and most jobs don’t require it—they’re minimal. Small access points that get covered by outlet plates or fixture canopies. Nothing that requires a plasterer. Nothing visible. Your walls look the same after we’re done as they did before we started, except now the wiring behind them is safe and up to code.
Most homes take three to five days, depending on size and how much wiring needs replacement. A smaller home with straightforward access might be done in three days. A larger property with multiple floors and complex layouts might take a full week. The timeline depends on what we find during the camera inspection.
Here’s what affects the schedule. If your knob and tube wiring is isolated to certain areas—say, just the second floor or one section of the house—that’s faster. If it runs throughout the entire property, that takes longer. The condition of the wiring matters too. Sometimes we find sections that have already been partially updated, which speeds things up. Other times we discover additional issues like covered junction boxes or improper modifications that need addressing.
We’ll give you an accurate timeline after the initial inspection. No surprises. And unlike demolition-based rewiring, our process doesn’t leave you with weeks of plaster dust and reconstruction. When we’re done, we’re done. You’re not waiting on plasterers, painters, or anyone else to make your home livable again.
Everything we need to see to do the job right. The camera shows us the exact routing of your knob and tube wiring—where it enters walls, how it travels between floors, and where it connects to outlets and fixtures. We can see the condition of the insulation, which is critical because that’s usually what’s deteriorating after 75+ years.
We’re also looking for problems that aren’t obvious from the outside. Mouse damage is common in older homes—rodents chew through insulation and create fire hazards. We find covered junction boxes that violate code and create safety issues. We spot open joints where wires connect improperly. All of this gets documented during the inspection so you know exactly what you’re dealing with.
The camera inspection is also how we plan the removal process. We’re mapping out the safest, least invasive way to extract the old wiring and install the new system. This is why our jobs don’t require wall demolition. We’re not guessing where things are and cutting exploratory holes. We know exactly what’s inside your walls before we touch them.
Yes. We’re licensed Master Electricians and Electrical Inspector Certified professionals. The documentation we provide meets Rhode Island insurance requirements. Most of our clients get their coverage reinstated or their cancellation notices withdrawn within days of submitting our paperwork.
Here’s what you get from us. A detailed inspection report showing what was removed and what was installed. Certification that all work meets current National Electrical Code standards. Proof that your home no longer has active knob and tube wiring. Photos and documentation of the new system. Everything your insurance company is asking for to verify the upgrade was done properly.
Insurance companies in Rhode Island know our work. We’ve been doing this for over 30 years, and we’ve handled the documentation process hundreds of times. If your carrier has specific forms or requirements, we’ll work with them directly. The goal is to get you back into compliance as quickly as possible so you’re not dealing with cancellation threats or inflated premiums.
Technically, you can do a partial removal. Practically, it depends on what your insurance company will accept. Some carriers want all knob and tube wiring removed before they’ll provide coverage. Others will allow you to remove it from certain areas—like living spaces—while leaving it in places like unfinished attics or basements where it’s not actively used.
Here’s what we typically recommend. If you’re already going through the process, removing all of it makes sense. Partial removal means you might face the same insurance issues again down the road. It also means your electrical system is still split between old and new, which can create complications. And if you’re planning to sell eventually, buyers and their inspectors will flag any remaining knob and tube wiring.
That said, we’ll work with whatever makes sense for your situation. If a partial removal solves your immediate insurance problem and fits your budget, we can do that. The camera inspection will show us exactly what’s where, and we’ll give you options. Some homeowners start with the areas that concern their insurance company most, then handle the rest later. It’s your call.
Because most electricians approach knob and tube removal the way they were trained—cut open the walls, pull the wire, patch it back up. It’s the standard method, and it works. It’s just destructive. For newer homes with drywall, that’s not a huge problem. Drywall is easy to cut, easy to patch, easy to paint. You’d never know it was opened.
But for historic homes with horsehair plaster, that approach is a disaster. Horsehair plaster is a completely different material. It’s harder, more brittle, and nearly impossible to match when you’re doing repairs. The texture is unique. The composition varies depending on when and how it was mixed. Cutting into it means you’re creating permanent damage that affects your home’s character and value.
Our camera system exists specifically to solve that problem. It’s specialized equipment that requires training and experience to use effectively. Most electricians don’t invest in it because most of their work doesn’t require it. We invested in it because most of our work happens in homes exactly like yours—older properties where preservation matters as much as safety. It’s what sets us apart, and it’s why homeowners with historic homes call us instead of general contractors.
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