New to Real Estate · Houston, St.Louis · Member since 2021 · 13 posts · 5 votes
Hello, I am currently in the prices of closing on a fixer upper in the St.Louis,MO area.The home is approximately 2 story 950 sf and currently has knob and tube wiring throughout.I spoke to a electrician who said he would charge me 11k for replacing all the electrical.I’ve never dealt with something like this before, is this a normal cost?.I plan on getting other bids from some more electricians.I’m simple trying to get an idea of what the cost should be.Thanks.
Your quote is EXTREMELY high regardless of where in the country you are doing a rewire. The one question I had that does impact the price is what is the condition of the interior and is there access to the attic area on the second floor. Obviously f you are opening walls the cost should be minimal as it would be just supplies (which have gone up of late) and the time to run the wires / connect the outlets, lights and switches. If you are not redoing walls, someone that has done this before can work around it. We did a number of 1800 homes in the Detroit area with knob-and-tube wiring and we were able to find electricians that were able to do it without tearing holes in the walls (except one which is a whole different story and lesson learned). All of the homes we did were in the 1800 ft2+ range and none (even a 2900 ft2 two story Victorian) cost more than 6K. Often when you get a high quote like that I reflect back to an old friend of mine who was a contractor in the Atlanta area who told me if he did not want the job he would throw out a high bid hoping they would find someone else but if not, he simply made twice what he usually woudl and took the job. Until you are comfortable with what area prices are for services such as a rewire, repipe (another thing you may need to look at if there are galvanized pipes, re-reoof, etc., always get at least two estimates and you will quickly see who wants to work with you and who does not.
But as far as your quote goes and the size of the house, I'd come to you and do it for that price and be done in a few days at most. Shop around, you are being quoted way more than you should be paying.
I just bought a property a few months ago that had knob and tube wiring. It is a 150 yr old 2 story home about 980 sqft, very similar to yours in New Jersey.
The seller didn’t know the knob and tube wiring existed. I discovered it when I did my inspection and brought that in for negotiation. It must be replaced to the new romex wiring as no insurance company will insure knob and tube.
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After doing a number of early homes like this, unless the seller says the house was rewired, you can expect to have knob-and-tube in at least some of the circuits so that cost should be factored in when you make an offer. Unless you have the proof it was totally rewired, assume it is because it probably has it behind the walls where you can't see the mess. We bought one 1840's house that had a new 200 amp panel and what looked like all new Romex but behind one beam where the wires went upstairs from the basement we saw where it had been tied into knob-and-tube. We pulled two outlets and one light fixture and it was all old wiring. Killed the power at the box and rewired the entire house. Never assume that if there is a breaker box that you are golden in terms of wiring.
@Alejandro Patino I would shop around for sure. Down here I Florida an electrician I know says the prices for wiring have gone up 4x. He also is so busy he is throwing such high numbers out with the idea he doesn’t want the work and people are still accepting them. It’s a hard time to find reasonable deals but they are still there if you have the time to wait and shop around.
@Andy Sabisch "if he did not want the job he would throw out a high bid hoping they would find someone else but if not, he simply made twice what he usually would and took the job."
That's a contractor pro move. I've experienced the same thing working on my properties.
@Alejandro Patino So what did you end up doing? Nice to know how the story ended.......
Sorry for the late late late update! I ended up having somewhat updated wiring.Paid an electrician 2000 to bring everything up to code and everything is good now?