If you just bought a home in Providence and your insurance company gave you 30 days to remove knob and tube wiring, you’re probably dreading what comes next. Most electricians will tell you they need to cut open walls, tear through horsehair plaster, and leave you with a repair bill that rivals the rewiring cost itself.
That’s not how we work. We insert a specialized camera system through your existing outlets to locate and remove old wiring from inside the walls. No cutting. No notching. No destroying the character of your 1920s Colonial or your Federal Hill Victorian.
You get modern, grounded wiring that passes inspection and satisfies your insurance carrier. Your walls stay intact. And if you’re in a historic home with original plaster and trim, you don’t spend months trying to match textures that haven’t been made in 80 years.
Most of our Providence clients have their coverage reinstated within days of completion. Some see their premiums drop because the fire risk is gone.
We’ve been upgrading electrical systems in Providence since before insurance companies started cracking down on old wiring. We’re licensed Master Electricians who know exactly how to pull outdated wiring from plaster walls without destroying your home’s character.
We’re the only electrician in Rhode Island using this camera-based system for knob and tube removal. Every other contractor will tell you they need to open your walls. We don’t, because we invested in technology that actually works for historic homes.
Providence has one of the highest concentrations of pre-1950 homes in New England. We’ve worked in nearly every neighborhood—College Hill, Elmhurst, Mount Pleasant, Federal Hill, the East Side. If your home has horsehair plaster, ornate molding, or original woodwork you want to preserve, this is what we do.
We start by inserting a specialized camera through your existing outlets and switch boxes. The camera travels inside your walls and lets us see exactly where the old knob and tube wiring runs, where it connects, and whether there’s any hidden damage from rodents or decades of heat exposure.
Once we map the system, we use the same access points to pull the old wiring out. In most cases, we can snake new wiring through the same pathways without making a single cut. If we do need a small access point—maybe to reach a junction box or navigate around a beam—it’s a small notch, not a gaping hole.
After the new wiring is in and your panel is upgraded, we close everything up and schedule the inspection. You get full documentation for your insurance company, including photos from inside the walls and a signed-off permit. The whole process typically takes two to five days depending on the size of your home, and you’re left with a fully modernized electrical system and walls that look exactly like they did before we started.
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When we remove knob and tube wiring, you’re not just swapping out old wire. You’re getting a full system upgrade that brings your home up to modern code and gives you the capacity to actually run today’s appliances.
That includes a new electrical panel with proper circuit breakers, grounded three-prong outlets throughout your home, and wiring that’s rated for modern electrical loads. Homes built in the 1920s were designed for 30 to 60 amps. Now you need 200 amps just to run your HVAC system and kitchen appliances.
In Providence, where so many homes still have original plaster and period details, we also include camera documentation of what’s inside your walls. That’s useful if you ever need future electrical work—you’ll have a visual record of how everything is routed. And if your insurance company wants proof the work was done right, we provide inspection certificates and photos that show the old wiring was fully removed, not just disconnected.
Most Providence homeowners pay between $12,000 and $36,000 depending on square footage and how much of the home still has active knob and tube. If your insurance company is threatening cancellation, that cost is a lot easier to swallow than losing your coverage or paying triple for force-placed insurance.
Yes. We use a camera system that goes inside your walls through existing outlets and switch boxes. The camera shows us where the wiring runs, where it connects, and whether there are any hidden issues like damaged insulation or covered junction boxes.
Once we map everything, we pull the old wiring out through those same access points and snake new wiring in. In most Providence homes, especially those with plaster walls, we complete the entire job without cutting a single hole. If we do need a small access point to navigate around a structural beam or reach a buried junction box, it’s a minor notch—not the kind of damage that requires a plasterer to come in and rebuild half your wall.
This is especially important if you have horsehair plaster, which is nearly impossible to match. Traditional methods leave you with visible patches, texture mismatches, and repair costs that can add thousands to the job. Our process avoids that entirely.
Absolutely. Insurance companies in Rhode Island want proof that a licensed electrician did the work and that it passed inspection. We provide both.
After we finish, you get a signed permit, inspection approval, and documentation that shows the knob and tube wiring was completely removed—not just capped off or partially updated. We also include photos from inside your walls that show the old wiring is gone and the new system is properly installed.
Most of our Providence clients submit this documentation and have their coverage reinstated within a few days. Some even see their premiums drop because the fire risk associated with old wiring is eliminated. If your carrier gave you 30 days to upgrade, this process fits that timeline comfortably.
Most jobs take two to five days depending on the size of your home and how much active knob and tube wiring is still in use. A 1,500-square-foot bungalow might be done in two days. A 3,000-square-foot Victorian with wiring on three floors could take closer to a week.
The timeline also depends on whether you’re upgrading the entire house or just the sections that still have old wiring. Some Providence homeowners have already had part of their home updated, and we’re just finishing the attic or the second floor. Others are starting from scratch.
Either way, we work efficiently and we don’t leave your home torn apart. You’ll have power throughout the process, and because we’re not cutting open walls, there’s no drywall dust, no plasterer waiting for an opening in their schedule, and no multi-week repair process after we leave.
That’s actually one of the biggest benefits of using a camera system. We often find issues that would’ve stayed hidden until they caused a real problem—things like rodent damage, open junction boxes that were plastered over, or wiring that’s been spliced incorrectly.
If we find something, we’ll show you exactly what it is and explain what needs to happen. You’re not getting surprised by a problem six months later when something stops working or, worse, starts a fire. And because we can see inside the walls without opening them, we can give you an accurate estimate for any additional work before we start tearing things apart.
In older Providence homes, this kind of transparency matters. You’re already dealing with the stress of an insurance deadline or a failed home inspection. The last thing you need is more unknowns.
Yes, and that’s exactly why we use this system. Horsehair plaster is one of the hardest materials to repair once it’s damaged. It’s labor-intensive, the texture is nearly impossible to match, and most modern plasterers don’t even work with it anymore.
If a traditional electrician cuts into your plaster to remove knob and tube wiring, you’re left with patches that never quite blend in. You’ll see the seams. The texture won’t match. And if you have decorative molding or original trim, good luck finding someone who can work around it without causing more damage.
Our camera-based process preserves your plaster completely. We’re not cutting, notching, or disturbing the wall surface. That’s a huge deal in Providence, where so many homes have original plaster that’s over 100 years old and still in great shape. You get a modern electrical system without sacrificing the character of your home.
Most Providence homeowners pay between $12,000 and $36,000 to replace knob and tube wiring throughout their entire home. The cost depends on square footage, how much of the house still has active K&T wiring, and whether you’re upgrading your electrical panel at the same time.
A smaller home with wiring in just the attic or one floor will be on the lower end. A larger home with wiring on multiple floors and in the basement will cost more. But here’s what you’re not paying for: wall repairs, plaster matching, repainting, and all the other costs that come with traditional removal methods.
If you’re comparing quotes, make sure you’re comparing the full scope. Some electricians will give you a low number for the wiring work, then tell you after the fact that you need to hire a plasterer and a painter to fix everything they opened up. We don’t work that way. What we quote is what you pay, and your walls stay intact.
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