Home Rewiring Toronto
Home Rewiring Toronto
Toronto · Rewiring & Old Wiring
Rewiring Toronto's older homes — knob-and-tube, ungrounded circuits and tired service entrances, done zone by zone so you keep living there.
Toronto has the GTA’s largest stock of pre-war housing, and most of what we rewire is in it. The work is less about wire than about access: getting new circuits through lath-and-plaster, balloon framing and finished ceilings without taking the house apart.
Full or targeted. The ESA permits K&T to remain under three conditions — we establish whether yours actually meets them first.
Three-prong outlets on two-wire circuits are everywhere in older Toronto. A rewire puts a real equipment ground behind them.
A rewire creates far more circuits than an original fuse service carries. The service goes in first so there is somewhere to land them.
We work a section at a time so an occupied house keeps power everywhere we are not working.
Three conditions come up on nearly every pre-war Toronto rewire.
K&T was designed to shed heat into open air. Blown-in attic insulation traps it against rubber that is already ninety years old. It is the most common serious defect we find, and it is almost always the result of a well-meant energy retrofit done without an electrician looking first.
Finished basements, added kitchens, window air conditioners and home offices have all been spliced onto original circuits. A rewire is often the first time anyone has mapped what is actually connected to what.
The ESA may permit your knob-and-tube to stay. Many Ontario insurers will not write a policy on it, or will load the premium heavily. That is usually what determines whether a project goes ahead, and it is worth settling in writing before planning the work.
Finding knobs and tubes in a basement does not mean the system is energised. We trace what is actually in service so you are pricing a defined scope, not an unknown.
The service and panel go in first, then we rough in by zone so the house stays usable throughout.
ESA inspection on completion, then making good. Who patches, and to what standard, is agreed in writing before we start.
We work right across Toronto. If your street is not listed it almost certainly still counts — see home rewiring in full, or our Toronto electricians page.
No. The ESA permits existing knob-and-tube to remain where it is on a 15-amp fuse or breaker, no outlets have been added to the original circuits, and the conductors are sound. The ESA explicitly calls “all knob-and-tube must be replaced” a myth. What you cannot do is install new K&T or extend an existing circuit.
Often not. Many Toronto homes have only two or three original circuits still energised, with the kitchen and bathrooms long since replaced. A targeted remediation retires what is actually in service. A full rewire makes sense when the house is already open, when an insurer requires it, or when enough original circuits remain that a partial job means doing it twice.
Partly. Balloon-framed Toronto houses often make vertical runs easier than people expect, and experienced crews fish a great deal through existing cavities. But some openings are unavoidable, particularly at horizontal runs and at every new box. Anyone promising zero damage is describing a different job.
Usually. A rewire creates far more circuits than an original 60-amp fuse service was built for, including the dedicated kitchen, bathroom and laundry circuits the Code now requires. In most century homes the service and panel are done first so the new circuits have somewhere to land.
In most cases yes. We work zone by zone so power stays on everywhere we are not actively working. Kitchens and bathrooms are sequenced to minimise the time they are out. It is disruptive, but it is rarely a move-out.
The three conditions that let it stay, and why insurance decides most rewires.
Read more →A rewire usually needs the service done first. This is what that costs.
Read more →Still legal in Ontario homes — here is when replacing one is actually worth it.
Read more →Nearby: YorkEast YorkEtobicoke. Related services: Home Rewiring · Panel Upgrades · Electrical Inspections. Or see every area on our service areas page.
We will map what is actually live before anyone talks about opening walls.