Wiring & Rewiring near you

Age alone doesn't condemn wiring, but some conditions call for a licensed electrician's assessment and, often, replacement. ESA considers knob-and-tube safe when a Licensed Electrical Contractor keeps it properly maintained, and recommends an assessment for deterioration or damage; the same caution applies to any circuit altered by previous owners.

A partial rewire replaces the circuits that cause trouble or that a renovation already exposes: the kitchen, a bathroom, the basement, or the last runs of knob-and-tube the previous owners never removed. It makes sense when the rest of the wiring is sound and grounded, and it spreads the work over several projects. Old and new wiring then share the house, so the electrician should record which circuits were replaced and label the panel to match.

A whole-house rewire replaces every branch circuit, usually with many of the boxes and devices, and often goes hand in hand with an electrical panel upgrade. It is the logical choice when old wiring runs through every floor, when circuits are ungrounded throughout, or when a major renovation opens most walls anyway. Technical Safety BC's bulletin on upgrading electrical systems in single dwellings draws the line: when an installation is completely rewired or upgraded, all the wiring must comply with the current regulations and code, whereas in partial work, existing branch circuits that are adequate may be reconnected and additions to them must meet the code.

Rewiring rarely means stripping walls to the studs. Electricians work from the spaces that are already open, running cable through the unfinished basement and the attic, then fishing it down or up the wall cavities with fish tapes, flexible drill bits and pull lines. Small openings are cut where a cable has to cross a top plate, a fire block or a joist, and baseboards or trim may come off so cable can run behind them. Old boxes are replaced or enlarged, and a few outlets may move to where the new cable reaches most easily.

Plaster-and-lath walls, common in older homes, are harder to open cleanly than drywall, as are finished ceilings with no attic above. Before work starts, agree on who patches: many electricians leave neat openings, and a drywall repair contractor fills, sands and readies them for paint. Ask for a walkthrough showing where the openings will be.

New wiring comes with newer protection. An arc-fault circuit interrupter, or AFCI, detects the arcing that damaged or loose wiring can produce and cuts the circuit before it can start a fire. A ground-fault circuit interrupter, or GFCI, trips when current leaks to ground, for instance through a person, which protects against shock near water. Both come as breakers in the panel or as receptacles, and the electrical code sets where each is required.

Rewiring is when those rules come into play. Technical Safety BC's bulletin on upgrading electrical systems gives examples: circuits with receptacles added in a dwelling unit must be AFCI protected, and existing bathroom and exterior receptacles must be GFCI protected. Other provinces apply their own edition of the electrical code, so the electrician confirms the requirements where you live. Replacing ungrounded circuits also brings a proper ground to each new receptacle, and grounding and bonding are checked at the panel.

In Ontario, rewiring is notified to ESA before the work begins, and Licensed Electrical Contractors are the only businesses legally authorized to do electrical work in your home. Because an installation has to be inspected before it is concealed, new wiring is checked at rough-in while the walls are open, then at the end, and ESA issues a Certificate of Acceptance to whoever filed the notification.

In Quebec, electrical work for others is reserved for contractors licensed through the CMEQ, and the contractor declares to the RBQ the work subject to the electrical chapter of the Construction Code; the exemption for small jobs doesn't cover work that replaces or adds wiring. In British Columbia, electrical installation permits come from Technical Safety BC. Wherever you live, schedule the drywall patching after the rough-in inspection so nothing is closed too soon.

Old wiring often surfaces through an insurer or a buyer rather than a failure. ESA notes that many insurers won't provide or renew coverage on homes with knob-and-tube, and that some won't insure a home with aluminum wiring without an ESA inspection. If a renewal notice or a pre-purchase inspection raises the question, ask the insurer exactly what it needs: full replacement, a partial repair or a written assessment.

When the job is done, keep a file: the notification or permit and, in Ontario, ESA's Certificate of Acceptance; the licensed contractor's invoice; a description of the circuits replaced; an updated panel directory; and the terms of any workmanship warranty. Those papers answer the insurer today and spare a future buyer from guessing what is behind the walls.

Most families stay home during a rewire. Electricians usually work room by room or circuit by circuit, so power goes off in parts of the house for part of the day and returns in the evening, and the fridge, the furnace and a few outlets can often stay on a live circuit. Expect dust around openings, shifted furniture and workers in bedrooms and closets; covering floors, keeping pets and children away from open walls, and clearing the basement ceiling and the attic hatch make each day go faster.

Timing matters in a cold climate. In homes heated with electric baseboards, heating circuits may be off while they are replaced, so a winter rewire needs a plan to keep rooms warm and pipes from freezing. Attic work is easier outside the summer heat, and inspections and patching run more smoothly when the schedule is set in advance.