# Knob & Tube Wiring and Idaho Home Insurance | Boise Electrician Experts > Why Idaho carriers refuse knob-and-tube, what partial removal does and does not satisfy, and what documentation to get before you take bids. URL: https://boiseelectricianexperts.com/guide/knob-and-tube-insurance-idaho/ Many carriers will not write or renew a policy on a home with active knob-and-tube wiring, and requirements differ substantially between them. Get your carrier's position in writing before you scope removal — partial removal satisfies some and not others. ## Get the requirement in writing first This is the whole point of this page, and skipping it is the most expensive mistake people make here. Carriers differ, and the difference decides your budget. Some accept certification that all knob-and-tube has been **de-energized and removed from accessible areas**. Others require **complete removal**, including conductor buried in inaccessible wall and ceiling cavities — a materially larger and more expensive scope. Ask your carrier, in writing, before you take bids: 1. Do you require removal, or is de-energizing sufficient? 2. Does "removal" include conductor in inaccessible cavities? 3. What documentation will you accept, and from whom? 4. Is partial-removal certification acceptable, and for how long? 5. Will you bind a policy conditional on completion within a set period? An electrician who scopes this job without those answers is guessing at your requirement, and the gap between the two answers on a North End bungalow can be tens of thousands of dollars. ## Why carriers care Knob-and-tube was standard from roughly the 1880s to the 1940s. Three properties drive the underwriting position, and they are legitimate rather than arbitrary. **No equipment grounding conductor.** The system has no ground at all. Every original outlet is two-prong and nothing with a metal case is safely grounded. **Insulation that embrittles.** The conductor insulation is rubber and cloth. It dries, cracks and sheds with age. **It was designed for a fraction of modern load.** A 1915 bungalow was wired for a few bulbs and perhaps a radio. The same house now runs a refrigerator, a microwave, a window unit and a dozen chargers. There is a fourth that matters specifically in a cold climate: knob-and-tube relies on **air circulation around the conductor** for cooling. Burying it in blown-in attic insulation — which a great many Idaho energy retrofits did, entirely reasonably — makes it run hotter than designed. If your North End house has had its attic insulated since the 1970s and still has knob-and-tube up there, that combination is worth taking seriously. ## What documentation to get Whatever the carrier requires, you want a written record including: - A **room-by-room statement** of what was removed and what was de-energized - The **DOPL permit number** and the passed state inspection record - **Photographs** of the removed conductor and the new circuits - A statement identifying any knob-and-tube **remaining in inaccessible cavities**, if your carrier's requirement allows it to stay - The **panel directory** showing the new circuits That is the package a carrier or a future buyer will ask for. "The electrician said it is all gone" is not documentation. ## Idaho specifics worth knowing **The permit comes from the state.** Idaho electrical permits are issued by the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses, not the city. If your carrier asks for evidence of permitted work, that is the record to point at. **Idaho allows homeowner permits** for work you perform yourself on your own primary or secondary residence. Be careful here: if you rewire it yourself under a homeowner permit, confirm your carrier will accept that as remediation. Some want a licensed contractor's certification specifically. **Rental property is different.** The homeowner permit does not cover a home you rent to a tenant, and landlord policies frequently treat knob-and-tube more harshly than owner-occupied ones. ## What removal costs $12,000 to $25,000 for a full rewire of 1,200 to 1,800 square feet, which covers most North End and older Nampa housing. Access and finish sensitivity drive where you land. A new panel, if the existing service cannot carry the rewired load, is separate at $1,500 to $4,000. Partial rewiring is legitimate when the knob-and-tube is geographically contained — confined to the original bedrooms while a later addition is sound copper. It works badly when the eras are interleaved. ## Bottom line Your carrier's written requirement determines the scope, so get it before you get quotes. Then have the house surveyed and scoped to that specific requirement rather than to a generic one. Call 208-856-4826 to book the survey. ## FAQ ### Can I keep knob-and-tube if it is not being used? De-energized conductor left in place is a different thing from live knob-and-tube, and many carriers accept it. But some do not distinguish, which is exactly why you want their position in writing before deciding how much conductor to physically pull out of the walls. ### Will a home inspection tell me if I have it? A general inspection usually flags visible knob-and-tube in an attic or basement, but it will not tell you how much is live, which circuits it feeds, or whether it is buried in insulation. That takes circuit tracing at the panel. ### I'm buying a North End house with knob-and-tube. What should I do? Get an insurance quote before you remove the inspection contingency, not after. Discovering at closing that no carrier will bind a policy is a genuinely bad position. If you can, get an electrician's scope during the inspection period so you know the number you are negotiating against.