What questions should I ask a knob and tube contractor in Cecil County?

Ask nine questions, in this order: whose Maryland master license the work runs under, who files the Cecil County permit, how they find live knob and tube before quoting, whether the price is per circuit or a lump sum, what happens to the old wire, how plaster gets patched, whether the panel is included, how long power is off, and what the insurer letter will say. The answers sort real rewiring crews from everyone else in about fifteen minutes.

Most of what ranks for this question is a national forum thread or a parenting board, which is why so many Cecil County homeowners walk into an estimate with no idea what to ask. These are the questions we would want a family member to put to us, and to the two other companies they call. The right answers are below each one, along with the answers that should end the conversation.

The nine questions and the answers you want

1. Whose master license is this job under, and can I look it up? The right answer is a name and a number you can check tonight on the Maryland State Board of Electricians site. A Delaware or Pennsylvania license, or “my guy has one,” is a no. Maryland requires a state master electrician on every electrical business, and the county will not issue a permit without that number.
2. Who pulls the Cecil County electrical permit, and will I see the inspection report? The contractor files it, against their license, through the county permit office, and the finished work gets checked by a county approved third party inspector. You should get the approved inspection in writing. It is the document your insurer will ask for later.
3. How do you find out how much live knob and tube is actually in the house? By tracing circuits with the panel open, a tone tracer, and a look in the attic and basement, before the number is written. Houses in Elkton, Port Deposit, and Chesapeake City have been partially rewired for a century, and dead abandoned runs still hang next to live ones. A quote given from the doorway is a guess.
4. Is the price per circuit, per square foot, or one lump sum? You want it itemized. Per circuit or per square foot, written down, with the panel, the permit, and the wall patching as their own lines. Our own numbers are on the cost page: $8 to $12 per square foot for houses with an open basement and attic, $12 to $17 for pre-1900 balloon frame and masonry houses with finished walls throughout. Any serious bidder can match that level of detail.
5. What happens to the old wiring? It gets disconnected at both ends and removed where it can be reached, and what stays in the walls is dead and labeled. The wrong answer is leaving old cloth insulated conductors energized behind a new panel so the house looks updated on paper. That is the exact arrangement insurers now check for.
6. How many holes, and who patches them? A rewiring crew fishes wire through existing cavities and keeps openings small, usually a few per room near the baseboard and ceiling. Ask whether patching is in the price, excluded, or quoted as its own line. Each is fine. Finding out after the fact is not.
7. Is the panel in this quote? Most knob and tube houses here still run a 60 or 100 amp fuse panel, and the new circuits need a modern panel to land on. It usually goes in the same permit. Make sure the quote says whether it is included.
8. How long will my power be off? The honest answer is a few hours at a time, circuit by circuit, with the house live every night. Anyone promising zero interruption or asking you to move out for a week is describing a different job.
9. What will my insurance company receive when you are done?A letter on the contractor’s letterhead stating the knob and tube was removed, plus the county inspection approval. Our insurance page explains what carriers in Maryland ask for and why a partial rewire often does not satisfy them.

How do I tell a good answer from a bad one in the moment?

A good answer is specific, written down, and checkable by you. A bad answer asks for your trust. The table below is the short version to keep on your phone during the walkthrough.

Why do these questions matter more in Cecil County than most places?

Because the housing is older than the contractor pool. Elkton, North East, Perryville, and Rising Sun have blocks of pre-1940 houses, while most electricians working the county cut their teeth on new construction toward Newark and Bel Air. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has documented for decades that aging wiring is a leading factor in residential electrical fires, and the CPSC home electrical safety guidance still lists knob and tube among the systems to have evaluated. A company that rarely sees it will quote it wrong in one direction or the other, and the direction that hurts you is the cheap one that leaves live cloth wire in the walls.

If you are buying rather than already living in the house, the same questions apply, with a tighter clock. Our guide to buying a house with knob and tube covers how the finding gets settled before closing, and this piece on finding reputable companies covers who actually does the work here.

Where we fit, stated plainly

We are one of the companies you would be asking, so hold us to the list. Old house rewiring is the only thing we do in this county, pricing is published, quotes are itemized per circuit after tracing, old wire comes out, and every job runs through the county permit described in how it works. Ask us the nine questions. Ask the other two companies the same nine. Hire whoever answers all of them in writing.