Knob and tube replacement cost estimator
Fog City SF Knob and Tube manages knob and tube replacement across San Francisco and the East Bay; licensed and insured electrical contractors (California C-10) carry out the electrical work. This estimator turns a few facts about your building into the published ranges that apply, with the panel, the permit and any rebate on their own lines. No contact details, and it updates as you answer.
San Francisco and the East Bay: Berkeley, Oakland, Alameda and Piedmont.
Your building, in published ranges
The dollar ranges come only from published figures and DBI's fee schedule. Your answers decide which ranges apply and where a building is likely to sit within them; none of them stretches or shrinks a range.
Budgeting range
$20,000 to $50,000 or more
Whole house, a typical San Francisco range
- Whole house$20,000 to $50,000 or moreA typical San Francisco range for the electrical scope of a single-family home, with permits, before any panel work.
- Whole house, for comparison$12,000 to $35,000A national budgeting range for the same scope. Bay Area wages run well above the national figures, which is part of the gap.
Where your building may fall
- In betweenWith one open route, some runs come from above or below and the rest need openings in finished walls, which puts a house between the two ends.
- Toward the high endPlaster and lath is opened in small, planned cuts and closed with more care than drywall, which pushes toward the high end.
Overall, your answers point toward the high end of the range.
Separate line: panel and service
$3,000 to $10,000 a typical San Francisco range, 100 A to 200 A
If the walk-through finds the panel too small, full or outdated for the new circuits, a 100 A to 200 A panel and overhead service upgrade is a separate line, a typical San Francisco range. PG&E sets its own utility-side charges case by case.
Separate line: permit
San Francisco Department of Building Inspection (DBI)
One permit at $740, the "more than 40 outlets and devices" category, where a whole-house rewire usually lands.
| Up to 10 outlets and devices | $305 |
|---|---|
| 11 to 20 outlets and devices | $450 |
| Up to 40, including a service upgrade up to 200 A | $580 |
| More than 40 outlets and devices | $740 |
| Buildings of 5,000 to 10,000 sq ft | $1,289 |
- Appliances count as devices alongside receptacles, switches and light outlets.
- Re-inspections beyond those included cost $259 per half hour. Work started without a permit costs nine times the issuance fee plus the original fee.
- If the service changes, it either rides in the "up to 40" category (which includes a service upgrade up to 200 A) or goes on its own service permit, $450 for 225 A or less.
Plaster patching
Plaster patching is included in a Fog City SF Knob and Tube quote as its own itemized line. The published ranges describe the electrical scope; other contractors' quotes may or may not include patching, so compare that line before comparing totals. Paint is a separate question to ask.
Incentives for San Francisco
Utility: PG&E, which delivers power to most San Francisco addresses, including CleanPowerSF customers.
- BayREN EASE Home: fixing active knob and tubeUp to $2,000 reimbursedA limited-time rebate for PG&E customers. Household income at or under 120% of area median (in San Francisco, up to $232,050 for a household of four), a home of four or fewer units built before 2010, and at least one weatherization measure such as insulation or duct work in the same EASE Home project. The contractors supply the licensed electrician's invoice or inactivity certification the program asks for, and Fog City SF Knob and Tube helps with the paperwork; BayREN decides eligibility and the amount.
- BayREN EASE Home: inactive certification$300Toward a licensed electrician's certification that the knob and tube is inactive, under the same conditions.
- PG&E PanelBoostNot open yetA PG&E program that may offer a no-cost smart panel as an alternative to some service upgrades; it has a waitlist only, and it does not replace any knob and tube.
- Federal 25C panel tax creditEndedThe IRS allows it only for property placed in service by December 31, 2025.
These are budgeting ranges from published sources and agency fee schedules, not a quote and not Fog City SF Knob and Tube's prices. The price for your building comes after a walk-through where every circuit is tested, in a written scope that lists each opening and who closes it.
How the estimate works
Where the figures come from
The whole-house range of $20,000 to $50,000 or more is a typical San Francisco range, drawn from San Francisco contractor cost pages for the electrical scope of a single-family home with permits. The $12,000 to $35,000 whole-house figure and the $2,000 to $10,000 figure for replacing a few remaining circuits are national budgeting ranges from published cost guides. The $3,000 to $10,000 panel and overhead service line is a typical San Francisco range for a 100 A to 200 A upgrade, from the same kind of local sources; PG&E sets its own utility-side charges case by case.
Permit fees are DBI's current Category 1 fees from its electrical permit fee schedule, from $305 to $1,289. Rebates come from the BayREN EASE Home program pages ($2,000 and $300), Alameda Municipal Power's rebate page, and the building departments of San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, Alameda and Piedmont for the local rules.
What it will not do
- Multiply a house range by square feet, units or any other factor. No published figure supports that, so access, walls, size and city only add a note on which end of the range they push toward.
- Add up a total for a building of flats. Each unit is priced from its own circuit test; DBI's per-unit permit count is the only figure that depends on the number of units.
- Invent a local range where none exists. East Bay cities have no published range of their own, so they see San Francisco's, labeled as the nearest local figure.
- Promise a rebate. BayREN decides eligibility; the tool only shows which programs could apply to your utility and building type.
What moves a building within the range
The biggest factor is how many circuits are still live knob and tube, which only a test of every circuit shows; a knob and tube inspection is where that starts. After that come access from the attic, basement and garage, and how much plaster wall rewiring the openings call for. The San Francisco cost guide explains each driver, and the rewiring quote checklist shows how to compare two quotes line by line.
Lines kept separate
A panel or service upgrade is its own scope, and a new panel removes no knob and tube, as the panel upgrade vs rewiring guide explains. The permit is its own line, covered in the San Francisco electrical permit guide, and the BayREN rebate guide has the program's conditions. For buildings of flats, see apartment building rewiring; for a few remaining circuits, partial replacement. Not sure how soon to act? Try the knob and tube assessment.
Get an Exact Quote
A walk-through tests every circuit and turns these ranges into a written price for your building.
Send the building details and what prompted the question. Your estimator answers are added to the request, so the walk-through starts from them.
Fog City SF Knob and Tube2141 Mission St
San Francisco, CA 94110
office@fogcitysfknobandtube.com