# Knob and Tube Wiring Guides

> Knob and tube wiring guides for Los Angeles homeowners: how the system works, costs, insurance, California code, buying and selling, and the replacement process.

URL: https://laknobandtube.com/guide/

Plain answers about knob and tube wiring in Los Angeles houses, from how the system works to what a replacement involves.

## Learn how it works

- Learn [What is knob and tube wiring, and what should an LA homeowner do about it?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/knob-and-tube-wiring/)How the system works, why it was a sound design in its day, what goes wrong with it now, and how Los Angeles owners decide what to do.
- Learn [Do AFCI and GFCI protection work on knob and tube wiring?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/afci-gfci-knob-and-tube/)What each device senses, when the code requires them, and why they reduce some risks on old circuits without replacing the wiring.
- Learn [Do you need an electrical permit for rewiring in Los Angeles, and how does it work?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/los-angeles-rewiring-permit/)Who issues it, who is allowed to pull it, what the inspector checks, and how Pasadena, Glendale and South Pasadena differ from LADBS.
- Learn [How does knob and tube replacement work, from the first visit to the final inspection?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/knob-and-tube-replacement-process/)Each stage depends on the one before it. Here is what has to be known before the next step starts, and where the path splits by house.
- Learn [How long does rewiring take, and can you live at home while it happens?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/living-at-home-during-rewiring/)The schedule depends on circuits, access and inspections. Here is what decides it, and what an occupied house should plan for.
- Learn [How do you identify knob and tube wiring?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/how-to-identify-knob-and-tube/)A look-only guide to the clues in attics, crawlspaces, fuse boxes and rooms, and why what you can see is never the whole answer.
- Learn [Is knob and tube wiring dangerous?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/is-knob-and-tube-wiring-dangerous/)How the risk develops in old wiring, which signs mean a circuit should go off today, and what nobody can know about your house without seeing the wiring.
- Learn [Is knob and tube wiring legal in California?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/is-knob-and-tube-legal-in-california/)Existing wiring, new work, the insulation rule, permits and licensing, and how the state code is enforced in Los Angeles and nearby cities.
- Learn [How does knob and tube affect home insurance in California?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/knob-and-tube-insurance-california/)What carriers tend to ask, how to get their answer in writing, what an electrician's letter can and cannot say, and where the FAIR Plan fits.
- Learn [Can you put three-prong outlets on knob and tube wiring?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/knob-and-tube-three-prong-outlets/)What a ground wire does, why knob and tube never had one, and the options the electrical code allows for replacing two-prong outlets on old circuits.
- Learn [Knob and tube vs cloth wiring: what is the difference, and which one is in your house?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/knob-and-tube-vs-cloth-wiring/)Both use cloth over rubber, so they get confused. They were built differently, come from different decades, and fail in different ways.
- Learn [What happens with lead paint and asbestos when an older house is rewired?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/lead-and-asbestos-during-rewiring/)Rewiring opens painted plaster, and sometimes older materials that can contain asbestos. Federal and regional rules set how that work is done.
- Learn [How do you rewire a historic home in Los Angeles without losing what makes it historic?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/rewiring-historic-homes-los-angeles/)Interior rewiring is usually outside preservation review in an HPOZ. The exterior, the finishes and the paperwork are where the care goes.

## Decide what to do

- Decision Guide [What should you know before buying a house with knob and tube?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/buying-a-house-with-knob-and-tube/)How to fit an electrical evaluation, an insurance answer and a negotiation into the time escrow gives you.
- Decision Guide [Is knob and tube still active in your house, or abandoned?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/active-vs-abandoned-knob-and-tube/)How live, dead and mixed wiring is told apart, why the answer is rarely visible, and what it changes for an insurer, an insulation job and removal.
- Decision Guide [Panel upgrade vs rewiring: which one does an older house need, and when does it need both?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/panel-upgrade-vs-rewiring/)They are separate jobs on separate parts of the system. Here is how to tell which one your house needs, and how they fit together when it needs both.
- Decision Guide [Should you rewire during a seismic retrofit, and which job should go first?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/seismic-retrofit-and-rewiring/)A cripple-wall retrofit and a knob and tube rewire both happen in the crawlspace. Planned together, one job can make the other easier instead of harder.
- Decision Guide [What should you do when selling a house with knob and tube in California?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/selling-a-house-with-knob-and-tube/)The disclosures every California seller gives, the choice between rewiring first and pricing it in, and the paperwork that keeps a partial job from becoming a surprise.
- Decision Guide [What should a rewiring quote include, and how do you compare two of them?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/rewiring-quote-checklist/)Two quotes for the same house can be thousands apart because they describe different jobs. This list shows what to look for and how to line them up.

## Plan the cost

- Cost Guide [How much does knob and tube replacement cost in Los Angeles?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/knob-and-tube-replacement-cost-los-angeles/)The ranges, what moves a house within them, and the parts of the price that come from public figures.