# Knob and Tube Replacement for Jamaica Plain, Roslindale and West Roxbury Homes > Knob and tube replacement in Jamaica Plain, Roslindale and West Roxbury: finishing partly rewired houses through attics and basements, with Boston permits. URL: https://deckerbostonknobandtube.com/service-areas/jamaica-plain-roslindale-west-roxbury/ Boston Inspectional Services Department issues the electrical permit (City of Boston) Eversource electric utility 32 electrical permits describing a rewire in ZIPs 02130, 02131 and 02132, Nov 2021 to Oct 2026 02130, 02131, 02132 ZIP codes ## What usually starts a rewire in Jamaica Plain, Roslindale and West Roxbury ### The kitchen is new, the bedrooms are not A renovated kitchen or bath can sit on modern cable while the upstairs bedrooms and ceiling lights still run on the original knob and tube. ### An inspector wrote "knob and tube observed" A buyer's home inspection confirms the wiring method exists somewhere in the house. It doesn't say how much of it is live or where it ends. ### The attic insulation is on hold A Mass Save energy assessment found old wiring in the attic or walls, and insulation can't go in until a licensed electrician certifies the work areas. ### Fuses still blow on one bedroom circuit A space heater or window air conditioner on an original circuit is a common reason owners finally trace what that circuit feeds. ## Services in Jamaica Plain, Roslindale and West Roxbury ### Partial Replacement → The circuits still on knob and tube replaced from the panel to the last device, with a written record of anything left for a later phase. ### Whole-House Rewiring → Every branch circuit replaced with new grounded cable, for houses where knob and tube, cloth cable and old splices are mixed through the walls. ### Knob and Tube Inspection → A licensed electrician traces every circuit, finds which old runs still carry power and puts the findings and a recommended scope in writing. ### Plaster Wall Rewiring → New circuits fished through plaster-and-lath houses with routes planned to keep openings few and small, and patching scoped in writing. ### Insulation Barrier Work → The licensed electrician's work and certification that clear a Mass Save knob and tube barrier, so recommended insulation can go in. ### Fuse Box and Panel Upgrades → Fuse boxes and full panels replaced, and 60 or 100 amp services enlarged where the load calculation calls for it, planned together with the rewire. Boston’s permit records name knob and tube more often in Jamaica Plain, Roslindale and West Roxbury than anywhere else in the city. Of the 79 electrical permits since 2010 whose descriptions mention it, 50 are in these three neighborhoods, against 10 in Dorchester. [Decker Boston Knob and Tube](https://deckerbostonknobandtube.com/) arranges knob and tube replacement across all three and in Hyde Park, from Pondside and Forest Hills to Roslindale Village and West Roxbury Centre, carried out by licensed and insured electrical contractors. In many of these houses the question isn’t whether to rewire. It’s how much old wiring is left after earlier updates, and how to reach it. That starts with a [knob and tube inspection](https://deckerbostonknobandtube.com/knob-and-tube-inspection/) that traces each circuit back to the panel. ## What the permit records say about these houses The permits read like finishing work: owners replacing the knob and tube that earlier remodels left behind, rather than gutting whole houses. A 2018 Roslindale permit reads “Remove knob and tube and replace with Romex for all light fixtures and devices.” A 2019 West Roxbury permit covers “outlets & lighting currently served by Knob & Tube wiring,” and a 2018 Jamaica Plain job paired a 200 amp service upgrade with rewiring the “knob & tube locations.” Citywide, 25 of the 79 permits also mention a service or panel. The city’s open dataset seems to be missing many recent permits, so these counts are a floor, not a measure. ### Detached houses and two-families The housing explains part of it. Census figures put 59.3% of West Roxbury’s housing units (02132) in detached houses, the highest share in Boston, against 11.9% citywide. Roslindale’s 02131 is 54.2% pre-1940, with 33.5% of units detached and 21.0% in two-unit buildings. Jamaica Plain’s 02130 is 57.7% pre-1940 but mixed, with a third of its units in three- and four-unit buildings, where the job looks more like a [triple-decker rewire](https://deckerbostonknobandtube.com/triple-decker-rewiring/). ## Finishing a house that was rewired in pieces Where most rooms already run on newer cable, the job is to find and replace what remains. Where the old system still feeds most of the house, one full rewire usually costs less than several partial ones spread over the years. ### Finding the boundary A partly updated house is a mixed system. Newer cable often feeds the kitchen and bath while a bedroom, the hall lights or a porch circuit still run on porcelain, sometimes spliced into newer cable inside a wall or ceiling. Tracing finds each of those joints, so a [partial replacement](https://deckerbostonknobandtube.com/partial-knob-and-tube-replacement/) ends at a known point rather than a guess. The [guide to knob and tube mixed with newer cable](https://deckerbostonknobandtube.com/guide/knob-and-tube-mixed-with-romex/) explains why those splices matter. ### When finishing becomes a full rewire The case for a [whole house rewire](https://deckerbostonknobandtube.com/whole-house-rewiring/) grows when tracing finds several wiring eras, buried splices, or a panel with no room for the arc-fault breakers new circuits need. Massachusetts doesn’t force the decision: Rule 3 of 527 CMR 12.00 lets new work be added without bringing the rest of an installation up to code. The [partial vs full guide](https://deckerbostonknobandtube.com/guide/partial-vs-full-knob-and-tube-replacement/) compares the two. ## Reaching the leftover runs without opening every wall Patching follows access. Where open framing sits above or below a leftover circuit, new cable can reach it through the joists instead of through the plaster. ### From above A walkable attic lets top-floor circuits cross the joists and drop into wall cavities. Blown-in insulation over old runs complicates that: Mass Save’s assessment standards bar insulating over any active knob and tube, so an insulated attic is first a question of which runs are live. Where the attic is floored or finished, routes shift to closets and small ceiling openings. ### From below An unfinished basement ceiling lets first-floor circuits come up from below. The middle floor of a two-story house is the hard part, because nothing open sits directly above or below it. The Massachusetts code lets cable be fished between access points in finished buildings where strapping it is impracticable, and that is what keeps those openings small. ### Openings and lead-safe rules In a house built before 1978, opening more than six square feet of painted surface per room makes the job lead-safe renovation work under Department of Labor Standards rules. Small fishing holes can stay under that line. The [plaster wall rewiring](https://deckerbostonknobandtube.com/plaster-wall-rewiring/) page covers how openings are cut and closed. ## From the first visit to closed walls The order is the same in most houses here, though the access plan changes with each one. - **The first visit** starts at the panel, traces every circuit to the rooms it feeds, and checks the attic and basement routes. - **The written scope** lists each new circuit, each old run to be disconnected, the openings the routes need, whether the panel stays, and patching as its own line. - **The licensed electrician pulls the Boston permit.** ISD warns that starting before the permit is issued can mean double the permit cost or a code violation. - **The rewire goes area by area,** with planned power-off windows that keep the boiler or furnace controls powered. - **The rough-in inspection** comes before any wall closes. Massachusetts gives the inspector up to 72 hours after notice, weekends and holidays excluded. - **The old circuits are disconnected and tested,** reachable attic and basement runs come out, and the walls are closed. - **The finish** is a final inspection, a labeled panel schedule and a written summary stating that no knob and tube remains in service. The [living at home guide](https://deckerbostonknobandtube.com/guide/living-at-home-during-rewiring/) covers the working days themselves. Finishing a partly rewired house? Start with which circuits still run on the old wiring and how the attic and basement reach them. Get an Estimate (617) 405-3599 ## From Jamaica Pond to the VFW Parkway The three neighborhoods share a permit office and a utility, but the houses change as you move south and west from Jamaica Pond. Around Jamaica Pond, Pondside and Jamaica Hills, and up Centre Street toward the Arnold Arboretum, the old housing mixes single-family houses with two- and three-family buildings. A Jamaica Plain job can be a single attic-to-basement rewire or one unit in a stacked building, and the first visit settles which it is before anything is priced. Past Forest Hills, where the Orange Line ends, Roslindale Village and Bellevue Hill shift toward detached houses and two-families. West Roxbury, along the Needham Line, Centre Street and the VFW Parkway, is the most single-family part of Boston, so the work there is usually one household’s house, staged around one family’s routine. Winter changes the schedule more than the scope. Boston averages 91.6 days a year with a low at or below freezing (NOAA), so power-off windows are planned around the heating system, and attic work runs in the cold. A Mass Save assessment that finds old wiring can also push the electrical work into fall, because insulation has to wait for it. ## Permit fees, Eversource and paying for the work All four neighborhoods sit under the [Boston Inspectional Services Department](https://www.boston.gov/permitting/permits/electrical-permit), and a homeowner must hire a licensed contractor to apply. With no change in service, ISD charges $20 plus $1 per fixture, plug or outlet and $5 per meter. The [Boston permit guide](https://deckerbostonknobandtube.com/guide/boston-electrical-permit-for-rewiring/) explains the other cases. A service upgrade adds an Eversource work request to the schedule. The [panel and service upgrade page](https://deckerbostonknobandtube.com/electrical-panel-upgrade/) covers when that’s needed. For money, three routes come up most. Mass Save’s barrier incentive pays up to $7,000 for moderate-income households in 1 to 4 unit homes when knob and tube blocks recommended insulation, and its HEAT Loan offers 0% financing after an assessment; the [grants guide](https://deckerbostonknobandtube.com/guide/knob-and-tube-removal-grants-massachusetts/) covers both. The Boston Home Center’s repair loan, described in the questions below, names knob and tube removal outright. The [Boston cost guide](https://deckerbostonknobandtube.com/guide/knob-and-tube-replacement-cost-boston/) shows what moves the price. ## Hyde Park Hyde Park shares Boston’s permit office and Eversource service, so it is covered here. Its housing is younger: 32.7% of units in 02136 date from before 1940, but 9.8% are from the 1940s, the highest share in the city, and 36.4% are detached. That makes the first question less predictable. Around Cleary Square, Fairmount Hill and Readville, near the Fairmount Line and Route 138, a house from the 1940s may hold knob and tube, early cable or both. Only three Boston permits naming knob and tube came from Hyde Park, but 10 rewire permits did between November 2021 and October 2026, so tracing comes before any assumption. ## Neighborhoods, landmarks and routes - Jamaica Plain - Jamaica Hills - Pondside - Forest Hills - Roslindale Village - Bellevue Hill - West Roxbury Centre - Hyde Park - Cleary Square - Readville - Fairmount Hill ### Landmarks - Arnold Arboretum - Jamaica Pond - Forest Hills Cemetery - Millennium Park - Stony Brook Reservation ### Routes - VFW Parkway - Centre Street - Washington Street - MBTA Orange Line (Forest Hills) - Needham Line commuter rail - Fairmount Line - Route 138 1. 1. Back Bay, Beacon Hill & South End 2. 2. Belmont 3. 3. Brookline 4. 4. Cambridge 5. 5. Dorchester 6. 6. Jamaica Plain, Roslindale & West Roxbury 7. 7. Medford and Malden 8. 8. Newton 9. 9. Somerville Schematic, not to scale: close-together neighborhoods are spread out so each number reads. Planning a rewire in Jamaica Plain, Roslindale and West Roxbury? Start with which circuits are still live. The rest of the estimate follows from that. Get an Estimate (617) 405-3599 ## Jamaica Plain, Roslindale & West Roxbury questions ### What does it cost to finish replacing knob and tube in a partly rewired Jamaica Plain house? There is no Jamaica Plain price of its own. For a whole house, a typical Boston-area budgeting range of $8,000 to $25,000 or more covers replacing the active circuits, and bigger or plaster-heavy jobs can pass it. Finishing a partly rewired house is priced from the circuit map instead: how many runs remain and how hard they are to reach. A panel or service upgrade adds a typical Massachusetts range of $3,000 to $6,500. ### Why do so many Boston permits naming knob and tube come from Jamaica Plain, Roslindale and West Roxbury? Of 79 Boston electrical permits since 2010 whose descriptions name knob and tube, 50 are in these three neighborhoods. Their pre-war detached and two-family houses are a likely reason, along with how individual electricians word their permit descriptions. The city dataset also looks incomplete for recent years. The count shows where the work is written down, not which houses still have live old wiring. ### Can a West Roxbury house be rewired from the attic and basement alone? Much of it can. Top-floor circuits often drop from an open attic and first-floor circuits come up from an unfinished basement, but the middle floor of a two-story house has no space above or below it to work from. Openings are still needed at each new box and wherever blocking or a header stops the cable. The access plan from the first visit shows where they fall. ### Does a 1940s house in Hyde Park still have knob and tube? It might, though it's less certain than in an older house. Hyde Park has the highest share of 1940s housing in Boston, 9.8% of units in ZIP 02136, and houses from those years can have knob and tube, early cable or a mix. Only tracing the circuits from the panel answers it for a specific house. ### Can a Boston Home Center loan pay for knob and tube removal? It can. The City of Boston's Home Repair and Improvement Loan lists the removal of knob and tube wiring among covered work, as a deferred 0% loan of up to $50,000 with no monthly payments. You must own and live in a 1 to 4 family home or a condo in an association of six units or fewer, within the income limits. Work done before approval isn't reimbursed. ## Related guides Decision Guide Should you replace part of your knob and tube or all of it? Repair, partial replacement and a whole-house rewire answer different problems. The circuit map, the reason you're acting now and your plans for the walls decide which one fits. Learn What happens when knob and tube is mixed with Romex? Decades of kitchen remodels and added outlets can leave an old house with new cable spliced onto its original circuits. The cable isn't the weak point. The places where it meets the old wiring are. Decision Guide Should you buy a house with knob and tube wiring? Plenty of good Boston-area houses still have some knob and tube. The ones that turn into problems are the ones bought without knowing how much is live, what it costs and whether it can be insured on time. Cost Guide How much does knob and tube replacement cost in Boston? The range Boston-area owners budget with, the handful of things that push a house toward either end, and the public figures sitting inside every price. ## Nearby service areas Town of Brookline inspector of wires permits Brookline A condo purchase turned up knob and tube Boston Inspectional Services Department permits Dorchester The stair lights still run on the old wiring City of Newton inspector of wires permits Newton The kitchen was redone, the bedrooms weren't