Your rewire, step by step
Rewiring your home is a big project — but it doesn't have to be a mystery. Here's exactly how the week goes when Mr. Poppy rewires your home.
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1Before we startEstimate
We visit your home and scope a complete knob-and-tube safety rewire — full abandonment and replacement of every knob-and-tube circuit running through your walls, ceilings, floors, and attic. You'll get a clear, honest price before any work begins.
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2Before we startPreparation Meeting
We walk the house together and plan the week — where we'll work each day, what to move or cover, and what to expect so there are no surprises.
During this meeting we get an accurate count of receptacles, switches, and light fixtures for the permits. We also talk to you about anything you want to add! Perhaps a receptacle in your closet for the Dyson, or a receptacle behind the toilet for the bidet? Maybe you want to add switches for those pesky pull-chain lights in your closet?
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3Day 1Protection & First Holes
We fully protect your floors, furniture, and home from construction debris before anything else starts — that protection stays in place for the whole project. Then we open the first access holes in the walls, ceilings, and attic so the new wiring has a path through the house.
One thing customers tell us sets us apart: our focus on dust mitigation. We're the only rewire company in the Bay Area running HEPA filtration for the entire install, so your home stays far cleaner throughout the project.
We also provide large batteries (1 kWh+) that keep your refrigerator, Wi-Fi, and laptop running during the work — an idea from one of our own technicians that customers love.
Full Floor & Home Protection HEPA Dust Mitigation 1 kWh+ Battery Backup📷 See photos
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4Days 2–4Rewire — with Inspection on Thursday
The main event: every knob-and-tube circuit in the home — running through walls, ceilings, floors, and the attic — is de-energized, disconnected, and replaced with modern NM-B (Romex) wiring, properly sized for each circuit's load and secured to code. New receptacles, switches, and junction boxes go in throughout the home, all built to current electrical code and left reachable for future service.
In the attic, every new circuit is run to full code compliance — cables crossing the ceiling joists are protected with running boards, wiring near the attic access is protected as code requires, and every old knob-and-tube conductor is disconnected and safely abandoned. New AFCI protection covers your living spaces, and GFCI protection covers kitchens, bathrooms, laundry, the garage, and outdoor outlets. We also install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors as required by code.
On Thursday, the city inspector reviews everything and signs off before we close up any walls.
Full Knob-and-Tube Removal Code-Compliant Attic Wiring AFCI + GFCI Protected Smoke & CO Detectors Included📷 See photos
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5Day 5Make-up, Cleaning & Rough Patch
We finish the connections, start patching the access holes, and begin putting your home back the way we found it.
📷 See photos
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6Day 6Final Cleaning
Our professional cleaners come in to get your house looking great again — more cleanup and more patching, so your home is tidy, safe, and ready for paint where we patched.
Professional Cleaning Included📷 See photos
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7For Your RecordsKnob & Tube Free Guarantee
Once your rewire is complete, we provide a signed document confirming your home is knob-and-tube free — many insurance companies require this to remove a knob-and-tube surcharge or exclusion from your policy.
📄 View the Knob & Tube Free Guarantee (PDF)
Every home is a little different — your project lead will confirm your exact schedule at the preparation meeting.
What Our Customers Say
4.9 stars · Google Reviews
I had an excellent experience with Mr. Poppy while replacing the old knob-and-tube wiring in my older Berkeley home. From start to finish, their communication was outstanding—they kept me informed every step of the way and were always available to answer questions.
The team was extremely professional, knowledgeable, and respectful of my home. Working on an older house can feel stressful, but I felt completely comfortable knowing my home was in their hands. Their expertise and attention to detail truly stood out, and the service was prompt and well-organized.
I genuinely trust Mr. Poppy and would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone needing electrical work, especially in older homes. I greatly appreciated the clear communication, professionalism, and quality of work. Highly recommend!
I had to get the knob and tube electrical upgraded to a current system in order to begin a chain of other upgrades for my house. It was important to me to find a small independent company that wasn't purchased by a big time corporation that offered an inferior product with a high price tag.
After getting a number of quotes, Mr. Poppy was the clear choice for me. Andrei was very charismatic and straight forward with expectations on how the job should be executed. We spoke at length about what needed to happen and what wasn't necessarily important; he never tried to upsell me on something that I didn't want.
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Mike was the project manager for the job and he was always helpful and transparent when I had a question. He runs multiple jobs so I made sure to be patient when I was curious about something because he always got back to me by the end of the day at the latest.
Misa was the first person I met upon the arrival of the electricians and he was very friendly. He was very thorough when he began prepping my house with plastic and cardboard as the place was about to be a legitimate construction zone. I made sure to get my family out of the house for the extent of the work because a whole-house rewire can be very messy and my house is on the rather small side. It made it easier for the electricians to complete their work if they weren't worrying about inhabitants at the same time.
Gerardo was incredibly professional when it came time to patch the outside stucco and the interior sheetrock walls. He's very talented and was very attentive to blending all of the patches considering the house is nowhere near perfect before the job had begun. He made sure that I was satisfied with all of the work he had completed before leaving each day.
T was the foreman for the job and came at the very beginning and the very end of the job. He was responsible for making sure everything was done up to par. He didn't mind as I asked him questions about certain aspects while he was completing a few tasks.
Despite the best efforts to write an accurate estimate, my house had work done previous to my ownership that wouldn't pass inspection. There was no way we'd have known it was poorly done until the guys really dug in and got to work. Andrei worked with me on the added scope and I felt really good about paying my bill as soon as the last bit of work was completed.
After the work was completed, a house cleaning service came and cleaned the place from top to bottom. It's way better than the competing electricians that only offered a "broom sweep" clean especially after all of the sheetrock dust. Another part of the package is the removal of all of the vintage insulation I had in the attic so they could remove the knob and tube wiring and install all of the new romex. Once the work was completed, they blew in new R38 insulation that works much better than what I had previously.
I'd recommend Mr. Poppy for anybody's rewire job. The whole staff was very personable and wanted to make sure I was comfortable with all of the decisions that had to be made. I'd have them back anytime if I needed any more electrical additions to my house.
Mr Poppy replaced knob and tube wiring throughout my house. They were so well organized and efficient from start to finish. The estimate process was thorough and Andrei really took time explaining each item and answering questions. For the work done, I believe the price was fair and it also included getting the permits and inspections which was great. They were very careful with my wood floors and covered surfaces well to limit dust intrusion. Some of the holes were bigger than I expected, but overall, they cut into the walls and ceilings respectfully. They were done exactly when they said they would be. You'll be in good hands with Mr Poppy for your knob and tube replacements. I am happy to recommend them and would use them myself again for other electrical work.