Home · Historical Homes
No. 05 · Our SpecialtyCentury-old houses, modern wiring, original plaster.
Most contractors look at a 1920s Hyde Park foursquare and quote you a gut job. We look at the same house and see plaster worth saving, trim a craftsman spent a week on, and wiring that just needs to catch up to this century.
What we replace, and why it matters
Knob-and-tube was good work for 1915. It was never built for window units, space heaters, or a house running forty devices at once. The insulation goes brittle, splices sit open in the joists, and there's no ground anywhere in the system.
Insurance carriers know this. Plenty of Cincinnati homeowners find out their policy is getting non-renewed over wiring they didn't know they had. That's usually the call we get.
How we work in an old house
We fish walls instead of opening them wherever the framing allows. When a cut is unavoidable, it goes where a patch disappears, not in the middle of your dining room plaster. We show you the route before we start, not after.
- Knob-and-tube and cloth-wire replacementWhole-house or circuit by circuit, on your budget.
- Panel and service upgrades100A to 200A, inspection-ready and documented for your insurer.
- Grounded circuits where there were noneKitchens, baths, and anywhere a GFCI belongs.
- Minimal-cut routingPlaster, trim, and hardwood stay where the builder put them.
- Period-appropriate fixtures and switchesWe'll wire the reproduction push-button switch if that's what the house wants.
- Documentation for insurance and resalePhotos, panel schedule, and the inspection record.
The questions every old-house owner asks.
Do I have to rewire the whole house at once?
No. Plenty of jobs run in phases: the panel and the dangerous circuits first, the rest as budget allows. We'll tell you honestly which parts can wait.
Will you wreck my plaster?
That's the whole point of hiring someone who does this work on purpose. We fish walls and use existing chases. Where we do have to cut, we tell you first and we keep it small.
How long does it take?
A panel swap is usually one day. A full rewire on a typical Cincinnati two-story runs a week or two depending on access and how much of the original framing is open.
Can you talk to my insurance company?
Yes. We document the work and provide what the carrier needs to close out a knob-and-tube exclusion.
Other work we do
Not sure what's behind your walls?
Describe what you're seeing and we'll tell you whether it's knob-and-tube, what it means for your insurance, and what it would take to fix.
Call Grant (859) 905-9541