Knob-and-Tube
Pre-1950s
Ungrounded with brittle, aging insulation — it's unsafe under modern loads and can't legally be buried in wall or attic insulation, where it traps heat.
Electrical Service
Wiring & Rewiring
Old, brittle or ungrounded wiring behind your walls is a quiet fire risk. Precision Power rewires NYC homes — whole-home and partial — retiring knob-and-tube, aluminum and cloth wiring and replacing it with grounded, code-compliant circuits built for how you live today.
What Rewiring Actually Does
New Wiring Is the Foundation Every Circuit Depends On
Your panel sets the ceiling on power, but the wiring running through your walls is what actually carries it to every outlet, switch and fixture. In older NYC homes that wiring is often the original install — ungrounded, undersized, and insulated with materials that get brittle, crack and crumble with age. Modern appliances and electronics push current those circuits were never designed to carry, and that's how connections overheat and insulation fails behind a wall where you'll never see it coming.
Rewiring replaces those aging runs with new copper conductors, grounded circuits and the AFCI/GFCI protection older wiring never had. We do whole-home rewires when the original system has reached the end of its life, and targeted partial rewires when only certain circuits, rooms or the dangerous legacy wiring need to go. New dedicated circuits give heavy appliances their own clean feed, and everything is brought up to code, permitted and inspected so it's safe, legal and documented.
- Whole-home & partial rewires
- New dedicated circuits
- Knob-and-tube & aluminum removal
- Grounding + AFCI/GFCI to code
TOCODE
Behind Your Walls
Old Wiring That Has to Go
Some wiring types installed in older NYC homes can't be made safe under modern loads. When we find these during an assessment, replacement — not patching — is the only real fix.
Aluminum Branch Wiring
1960s–70s
Loosens and overheats at connections as it expands and contracts — a documented fire risk that needs proper remediation, not just a watchful eye.
Cloth-Insulated Wiring
Pre-war
The fabric insulation frays and crumbles with age, exposing bare conductor — and these circuits are usually ungrounded as well.
Not sure what's behind your walls? Call (332) 290-3178 — we'll inspect it.
Warning Signs
Signs Your Home Needs Rewiring
Some of these are warnings you have time to plan around. Others mean stop and call an electrician today. Here's how to tell them apart.
Burning Smell or Scorch Marks
An acrid burning smell with no source, or scorch marks and discoloration around an outlet or switch, means a connection is overheating or arcing behind the wall. This is the urgent one — cut the circuit if you safely can and call the same day.
Two-Prong Ungrounded Outlets
Two-slot outlets with no ground are a tell-tale sign of original, ungrounded wiring. They leave sensitive electronics and anyone using them without the protection a grounded, modern circuit provides.
Frequent Breaker Trips
Breakers that trip again and again aren't being fussy — they're warning that circuits are drawing more than they're rated for, often because old wiring is undersized for today's loads.
Flickering or Dimming Lights
Lights that flicker or dim when an appliance kicks on point to loose connections or wiring that can't deliver steady voltage under load — an early warning the circuits are failing.
Buzzing Outlets or Switches
A buzzing or crackling outlet or switch means current is arcing across a loose or failing connection. That's heat and sparking inside the wall — treat it as urgent and stop using the device.
Warm or Discolored Outlets/Plates
An outlet or cover plate that's warm to the touch or browning around the slots is overheating behind the wall. Stop using it and have the circuit checked the same day.
NYC Specifics
Permits, Inspection & Insurance in NYC
Rewiring in New York City isn't a job you do quietly behind the drywall. A rewire is filed with the Department of Buildings (DOB) Bureau of Electrical Control and must be performed by a NYC-licensed electrician, then inspected on completion. Skipping the permit doesn't just risk a violation — unpermitted electrical work can void your homeowner's insurance and surface as a problem the moment a buyer's inspector opens a panel.
Opening and patching walls
Running new circuits means getting to the wires inside finished walls and ceilings. We plan the access points carefully to fish cable with the fewest openings possible, and we coordinate the patching so you're not left with a house full of holes. In a gut renovation, the timing is even simpler — we run everything while the walls are already open.
Why insurers and home sales flag old wiring
Insurers and lenders treat knob-and-tube, aluminum branch and cloth-insulated wiring as elevated risk — some surcharge it, some decline to cover it, and home inspections routinely call it out. A documented, permitted rewire with a passing inspection is what clears those flags and proves the home is safe and code-compliant.
Co-ops, condos & pre-war buildings
In a co-op or condo, electrical work usually needs board approval and an alteration agreement, and pre-war buildings are exactly where legacy wiring hides. We've worked across NYC's older housing stock and plan for what's likely behind the walls up front, instead of discovering it mid-job.
Honest Pricing
What Drives the Cost of a Rewire
We quote a flat rate after an assessment. These are the factors that move the number up or down.
Whole-Home vs. Partial
A full rewire of every circuit is a bigger job than retiring a few problem runs or one floor. We scope to exactly what your home needs — no more.
Home Size & Circuit Count
More square footage and more circuits means more cable to run, more devices to set and more terminations — all of which add labor and material.
Wall Access
Open walls during a gut reno are the easiest case. Fishing cable through finished walls and ceilings takes more time and careful patching afterward.
Type of Wiring Removed
Knob-and-tube, aluminum and cloth wiring each take different care to retire safely, which affects how much labor the removal adds.
Panel Upgrade If Needed
If your panel is undersized or out of slots for the new grounded circuits, an upgrade may need to happen alongside the rewire to carry it.
Permit & Inspection
DOB filing and the electrical inspection carry fixed fees. We roll these into your quote so there's no surprise line item at the end.
The honest version: there's no flat price for a rewire — how much wiring comes out, how the walls open up and whether the panel has to be touched all move the number. That's why we don't quote sight-unseen. We assess your home on-site, explain exactly what your job needs, and give you a clear flat-rate price before any work begins — and the assessment is free.
Our Process
How a Rewire Works
Clear, permitted and clean from first call to final inspection.
1
Inspection & Plan
We inspect what's behind your walls, identify any legacy wiring, and map a whole-home or partial plan — then hand you a clear flat-rate quote.
2
Permit
We file the DOB electrical permit and schedule the work, so the rewire is legal and documented from the start.
3
Rewire
We run new grounded copper circuits, retire the old wiring, set devices and add code-required AFCI/GFCI protection — tidy and labeled.
4
Inspection & Sign-Off
A NYC inspection agency signs off, you get your documentation, and we back the work with our guarantee.
Precision Power
Wiring Done Safe, Done to Code
We retire the wiring that puts your home at risk and replace it with grounded, inspected circuits built to last — clean work, fully documented.
Call (332) 290-3178Where We Work
Wiring & Rewiring Across New York
Licensed electricians serving every borough and the surrounding counties.
Questions
Wiring & Rewiring FAQs
Straight answers to the questions we hear most.
What are the signs I need rewiring?
The clearest warnings are a burning smell or scorch marks, buzzing outlets or switches, and outlets that are warm or discolored — treat those as urgent. Frequent breaker trips, flickering or dimming lights, and two-prong ungrounded outlets are signs the wiring is aging or undersized and should be assessed. If you're seeing several of these, it's time for an inspection.
What is knob-and-tube wiring and is it dangerous?
Knob-and-tube is an early wiring method (largely pre-1950s) that runs ungrounded conductors through ceramic knobs and tubes. The insulation gets brittle and breaks down with age, it has no ground, and it can't safely be covered by modern wall or attic insulation because it traps heat. Under today's electrical loads it's unsafe, and most insurers treat it as a risk — replacement is the fix.
Is aluminum wiring a fire risk?
Aluminum branch wiring (common in the 1960s–70s) expands and contracts more than copper, which loosens connections over time so they overheat — a documented fire risk. It doesn't always mean a full rewire: depending on the situation it can be remediated at the connections or replaced. We assess it and recommend the safest, code-compliant approach for your home.
Whole-home or partial rewire?
It depends on the condition of the existing wiring. If the original system has reached the end of its life or has legacy wiring throughout, a whole-home rewire is the right call. If only certain rooms, circuits or the dangerous runs need to go, a targeted partial rewire is enough. We scope it during the assessment so you only pay for what your home actually needs.
Do you have to open the walls?
Some opening is usually necessary to run new cable, but how much depends on the home. We fish wiring through existing cavities to keep openings to a minimum and plan access points carefully, then coordinate the patching. During a gut renovation, the walls are already open, so there's little to no extra disruption.
How long does a rewire take?
It varies with the size of the home, how many circuits are involved and how accessible the walls are. A partial rewire of a few circuits is much quicker than a whole-home job. After the on-site assessment we give you a realistic timeline along with the quote, so you know what to expect before we start.
Will my insurer or a home sale require it?
Often, yes. Many insurers surcharge or decline to cover homes with knob-and-tube, aluminum branch or cloth-insulated wiring, and home inspections routinely flag it during a sale or refinance. A documented, permitted rewire with a passing inspection is what clears those flags and proves the home is safe and code-compliant.
Do you pull the permit and handle inspection?
Yes. We file the DOB electrical permit, perform the work with NYC-licensed electricians, and schedule the inspection with a NYC-authorized agency. You don't chase paperwork — we handle the permit and the inspection as part of the job so the rewire ends up legal, documented and insurable.