# Whole-House Rewiring in Los Angeles > Whole house rewiring in Los Angeles for mixed-era homes: cloth and ungrounded circuits, code protection, sequencing and cost. Request a whole-house circuit map. URL: https://laknobandtube.com/whole-house-rewiring/ Replace every old branch circuit, knob and tube or not, and add the circuits and protection a modern house needs. Questions answered Last Updated: October 24, 2026 **19.1%** of homes in the City of LA were built before 1940, by the Census Bureau's count **Express** LADBS issues nearly every house rewire permit as an express permit, with no plan check **394.12** California's rule on insulating over knob and tube, explained in plain terms [LA Knob and Tube](https://laknobandtube.com/) handles whole-house rewiring across Los Angeles, Pasadena, Glendale and South Pasadena, replacing every old branch circuit in the house, whether it is knob and tube, cloth-sheathed cable or later wiring that was spliced into both. The work is carried out by licensed and insured electrical contractors. Whole house rewiring in Los Angeles is rarely about one wiring type. A house built in the 1920s may have knob and tube in the bedrooms, cloth-sheathed cable from a 1950s kitchen, a bathroom redone in the 1990s and a garage circuit nobody remembers adding. That mix is why a whole-house scope is planned from a map, not from the age of the house. In the City of Los Angeles, 19.1% of housing units were built before 1940 and 27.9% before 1950, according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, and the decade in between is when cloth-sheathed cable, usually without a ground wire, replaced knob and tube in new construction. ## What happens on the first visit The first visit maps every circuit in the house: which run on knob and tube, which on cloth-sheathed cable, which on later wiring, and which are a mix. At the panel, each circuit, its protection and the spare capacity are recorded. In the attic and crawlspace, the routes are followed, along with splices where newer wiring was tied into older runs. Outlets, switches and lights are matched to their circuits room by room. The visit also looks at the house as a job site. Attic clearance, crawlspace height, wall finishes, coved ceilings and original trim all decide where cable can travel and where openings are needed. That becomes the route plan, and the quote lists each opening and who patches it. ## Mixed-era houses and cloth-sheathed wiring Knob and tube is the oldest layer, but it is not always the weakest. Cloth-sheathed cable installed in the 1940s and 1950s ran two insulated conductors in a single woven jacket, usually with no ground wire. Its rubber insulation ages the same way knob and tube’s does, and because the conductors are bundled together, it does not shed heat into open air the way separated knob and tube runs do. The [knob and tube vs cloth wiring guide](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/knob-and-tube-vs-cloth-wiring/) explains how to tell them apart. The riskiest points in a mixed house are often the joints between eras. A later owner extending a circuit may have spliced new cable onto old conductors without a box, or tied a new outlet into the middle of a knob and tube run. Those splices are hidden in attics, walls and ceilings, and they are why a three-prong outlet on a newer-looking box proves nothing about what feeds it. A whole-house scope removes those joints by replacing every circuit back to the panel. LADBS records show how ordinary this kind of job is. Of 3,886 rewire permits on one- and two-family dwellings from January 2020 to October 2026, 1,137 describe a complete or whole-house rewire. One filed in 90043 reads, in part, “Install a 200A main … Provide a complete rewire of all the old knob & tube.” ## Adding circuits, not just replacing them Original circuits were laid out for a few lights and outlets per room. A whole-house rewire is the one chance to fix that without opening walls twice. The new circuit plan usually separates kitchen countertop outlets onto their own circuits, gives bathrooms, laundry and any home office their own, adds outlets where rooms had one or two, and provides dedicated circuits for appliances that used to share. Planning them all at once also shows whether the panel has room. ## Code protection on the new work New and replaced circuits follow the current California Electrical Code, in force since January 1, 2026. Branch circuits in kitchens, living and dining rooms, bedrooms, closets, hallways, laundry areas and similar rooms get arc-fault circuit interrupter protection, either at the breaker or at the first outlet. Kitchens, bathrooms, laundry areas, garages and other wet or damp locations get ground-fault protection. New 15- and 20-amp receptacles in the house are tamper-resistant. Every new circuit carries an equipment grounding conductor, so the grounded receptacles at the end of it are grounded in fact. The [AFCI and GFCI guide](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/afci-gfci-knob-and-tube/) explains what each device does. ## Sequencing an occupied house A whole-house rewire can usually be done with people living in the house. The work is sequenced circuit by circuit, so the new circuit is run and connected before the old one is cut off, and most of the house has power most days. Rooms in progress are covered and sheeted, and openings stay open until the city inspector has seen the new wiring inside them. The kitchen and bathrooms can be scheduled so they are not out of service on the same day. The [living at home guide](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/living-at-home-during-rewiring/) covers power, dust and daily routine. Two- to four-unit buildings follow the same logic with one more layer: each unit has its own circuits and often its own panel and meter, so the sequence is planned unit by unit with residents or occupants in mind. ## Panel coordination A whole-house rewire often brings the panel into question. A fuse box, a panel with no spare spaces, or an undersized service cannot take a new circuit plan. LADBS permit descriptions pair the two, for example a 200-amp service upgrade with sections of knob and tube rewired. Changing the panel is a separate scope from the branch wiring: a new panel alone removes no knob and tube. When both are needed, they are sequenced so the new panel is in place before new circuits land on it, with the utility involved where the service changes. The [panel upgrade page](https://laknobandtube.com/electrical-panel-upgrade/) covers that work, and the [panel upgrade vs rewiring guide](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/panel-upgrade-vs-rewiring/) explains when each is needed. ## Access, openings and restoration New cable for first-floor outlets usually comes up from a crawlspace where the house has a raised floor, and ceiling lights and upstairs circuits are reached from the attic. Openings are made at boxes and where routes have to cross fire blocks, headers or walls with no open space above or below. In a plaster house, the [plaster wall rewiring](https://laknobandtube.com/plaster-wall-rewiring/) page covers how openings are cut, closed, textured and painted. In houses built before 1978, cutting painted plaster brings in the EPA’s lead rules, and the [lead and asbestos guide](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/lead-and-asbestos-during-rewiring/) explains what that involves. ## Permits and inspection A whole-house rewire is permitted work. In the City of Los Angeles, LADBS issues the electrical permit, and LADBS records from January 2020 to October 2026 show that all but one house rewire permit was issued as an express permit, without plan check. The inspector checks the new wiring before walls are closed and again at the end. Pasadena, Glendale and South Pasadena permit through their own building departments. The [replacement process guide](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/knob-and-tube-replacement-process/) covers each stage in order. ## What whole-house rewiring costs Whole-house knob and tube replacement typically runs $10 to $20 per square foot of living area, a typical LA-area range, before panel work and patching. A national budgeting range for a typical house is $12,000 to $35,000. Where a house falls depends on the number of circuits, attic and crawlspace access, one story or two, plaster or drywall, how many new circuits are added, panel work and how much patching and paint the quote includes. Electricians in the Los Angeles metro earn a mean $39.57 an hour against $34.37 nationally, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which explains part of the local premium; a wage is not a billing rate, which also carries licensing, insurance and overhead. The [LA cost guide](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/knob-and-tube-replacement-cost-los-angeles/) breaks the price down, and the [cost estimator](https://laknobandtube.com/tools/knob-and-tube-cost-estimator/) shows how the factors combine. ## What's included - A circuit map of the whole house, separating knob and tube, cloth-sheathed, later and modern wiring - A new circuit plan that adds circuits where the old layout had too few - New grounded cable for every branch circuit in scope, routed through the attic and crawlspace first - New boxes, receptacles and switches where old ones cannot be reused - Arc-fault, ground-fault and tamper-resistant protection as the code requires for new work - Disconnection of every retired run at both ends, with accessible dead runs removed where agreed - Panel connections and a labeled panel, coordinated with any panel or service upgrade - City permit and inspection, and a quote that lists each opening and who patches it ## Whole-house rewiring or partial replacement | | Whole-house rewiring | Partial replacement | | --- | --- | --- | | Best fit | Most circuits are original or a mix of old wiring types | A remodel already replaced part of the house | | What is replaced | Every old branch circuit, knob and tube or not | The named circuits in scope | | Grounding | Grounded circuits throughout | Only on replaced circuits | | New circuits | Planned for the whole house at once | Added where the scope reaches | | Insurance | The scope most likely to answer an insurer's question | Accepted by some carriers and not others | | Disruption | Openings in most rooms, done in sequence | Limited to the rooms in scope | ## Related resources - 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. - 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. - 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 [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 [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. ## How a job runs 1. First call What you have seen, the age of the house, and any inspection, insurer or escrow deadline. 2. Walk-through and circuit map Which runs are live, which are dead, the panel, attic and crawlspace access, and where openings would go. 3. Permit and rewire Circuits are replaced in sequence, so most of the house keeps power on most days. 4. Inspection and patching The city inspection, a labeled panel, and the openings closed as the quote describes. ## What this work looks like New white cables running into the top of a gray breaker panel on a garage wall A new outlet on a plaster bedroom wall beside a built-in window seat Old gray cloth-jacketed cable and new white cable fastened to a crawlspace floor joist A new double light switch beside an original wood door frame Before After ## Whole-house rewiring questions ### What does whole-house rewiring cost in Los Angeles? Whole-house knob and tube replacement typically runs $10 to $20 per square foot of living area as a typical LA-area range, before panel work and patching. A national budgeting range for a typical house is $12,000 to $35,000. Access through the attic and crawlspace moves a house within those ranges more than anything else. ### Does whole-house rewiring replace cloth-sheathed wiring too? It should, if the goal is a fully modern house. Where a house has knob and tube plus later cloth-sheathed cable, the later cable often has no ground wire either. A whole-house scope replaces every old branch circuit, not only the porcelain runs, and the quote should say so. ### Can we live in the house during a whole-house rewire? Usually, yes. Circuits are replaced in sequence so most of the house has power most days, and rooms being worked are protected. Some days a kitchen or bathroom may be without power for part of the day, which the schedule should show in advance. ### Will a whole-house rewire give me grounded outlets everywhere? Yes, on every circuit it replaces. New cable carries an equipment grounding conductor, so new receptacles are genuinely grounded rather than only three-prong in appearance, and new outlets in living areas get arc-fault protection. ### Does whole-house rewiring always need a new panel? No. If the existing panel has room, is in good condition and can carry the new circuits, it can stay. A full or outdated panel, or a fuse box, usually means a panel upgrade alongside the rewire, which is planned with the circuit map. ## Related services ### Partial replacement Replace the live circuits that matter now and document exactly where the old system stops. ### Panel upgrade Replace a fuse box or undersized panel with capacity for the new circuits, coordinated with the utility and the rewire. ### Plaster-wall rewiring Route new circuits through the attic and crawlspace, keep openings small and planned, and agree the patching before work starts.