# Knob and Tube Replacement Cost Calculator

> Free knob and tube replacement cost calculator for Los Angeles, Pasadena, Glendale and South Pasadena houses. Budget range, panel add-on and permit notes in seconds.

URL: https://laknobandtube.com/tools/knob-and-tube-cost-estimator/

Enter the living area and a few facts about the house for a budgeting range for whole-house knob and tube replacement in the Los Angeles area. No contact details needed, and the result updates as you go.

## Estimate your house

The range changes with the living area only. The other answers tell you where in the range your house is likely to sit.

## How the estimate works

The range applies the typical LA-area range of $10 to $20 per square foot of living area to the area you enter, rounded to the nearest $100. It does not use any other input to change the dollar figure.

Stories, crawlspace and attic access, and wall finish each add a note saying whether they push a house toward the high end or the low end. Those are the conditions that make routing new wire slower or faster, but there is no honest way to turn them into a percentage, so the tool does not try.

The national budgeting range of $12,000 to $35,000 for a whole house is shown for comparison. The panel line is a typical LA-area range of $2,500 to $5,500 for a 100 to 200 amp upgrade in the same location. Pasadena permit fees come from the [City of Pasadena general fee schedule](https://www.cityofpasadena.net/finance/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/FY-2027-General-Fee-Schedule-Adopted.pdf), and LADBS totals come from the [LADBS permit fee calculator](https://08web15.lacity.org/fee_est_dir).

## What the range leaves out

- A panel or service upgrade, shown as its own line when you say the panel needs one
- Plaster patching, texture and paint after the openings are closed
- Utility-side work such as a new meter, mast or service drop
- Permit fees, which the city sets
- Testing or abatement for lead paint or asbestos, where a house needs it
- Attic insulation, which follows the electrical work

## What moves a house within the range

The single biggest factor is how many circuits are still live knob and tube. A house with a few live runs left over from earlier partial work sits very differently from one that still runs entirely on the original wiring, and only a circuit map shows which one you have.

### Live circuits

Every live run is replaced. Dead runs left in the walls need no new wire.

### Access

Open attics and crawlspaces let wire run above and below rooms instead of through finished walls.

### Walls and ceilings

Plaster and lath is opened in small, planned cuts and closed with more care than drywall.

### Devices and new circuits

Kitchens, bathrooms and laundry areas often need dedicated circuits that the old system never had.

[Read the full Los Angeles cost guide](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/knob-and-tube-replacement-cost-los-angeles/) · [Take the assessment](https://laknobandtube.com/tools/knob-and-tube-assessment/)