Looking for certified electrician to replace my knob and tube

Hello neighbors,

I own my house and finally decided to hire an electrician to remove my knob and tube wiring for new.

pretty much the entire house….

I am having a really hard time finding a certified electrician to do it.

any of you had a similar experience and have someone I can call?

much appreciated.

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In spite of their hokey name, I, and several people on my street, have had a good experience with Five or Free Electrical

https://5orfreeelectrical.com/

They upgraded my electrical panel and did such a good job that the PGE inspector commented on how good the work was.

Guerreros Electric in Berkeley. They have done major work on my former house and current house (including whole house re-wire because of knob and tube.) I would trust them with even the most complicated job. They are totally trustworthy and professional.

I am guessing that they decided they didn't want the job because it is going to take more than an electrician. If it is most of the house, probably some of the wires can be fished, and others cannot. Which means holes will have to be made in walls and ceilings, and then patched. You could try working with an electrician yourself, finding out where the walls need to be opened, then hire a handy person to open and patch the walls. Or perhaps a general contractor would be a better bet. They could figure out needs to be done and hire the appropriate trades people at the appropriate time to get the job done. 

Keep in mind that knob and tube is not necessarily bad, and is in some cases better than replacement wires. If you don't need to replace it for your insurance company or to put in new insulation, you might just want to leave it. 

I used Guerrero's Electric to remove my knob and tube.  They were very professional and the price was quite a bit lower than another quote I got.  I used them for a second project more recently, and again was pleased with their service.  

We spoke to a couple of different highly experienced, strongly recommended electricians and a contractor when we bought our 1926 Oakland house about replacing the knob and tube.  They all suggested that if the knob and tube hasn't been tampered with and is in good condition, it probably doesn't need to be replaced.  We also did a kitchen remodel recently and of course had to put in all new electrical for that room, but the city inspector agreed we didn't have to touch the undisturbed knob and tube running through the kitchen to other locations.  I can highly recommend electrician Ann Detzner who is very experienced and will give you an honest assessment of whether and how much of your knob and tube needs to be replaced.  Her phone number is 510-644-1050. Don't assume you need to replace it all.

Agreed with others--if it hasn't been spliced into, you don't necessarily need to replace knob and tube. We did ours in two phases (2008 and 2014), mostly because we wanted to move our home to our long-time insurance company, who wouldn't insure knob and tube even with a clean inspection. (We were very happy with State Farm for the years until we completed the replacement, though, and they had no issue with it.) We have a single-story house so opted to leave all the knob and tube wiring in place and just disconnect it, since removing it would have meant opening all the walls. The electricians we used wired all the ceiling fixtures from the attic and fished up all the outlet wiring from the basement, which minimized the holes. We just patched the few that were needed ourselves, though you could easily hire a handyman for that too. We used Tinpa Electric in Alameda for the second phase of work and highly recommend them.