# Knob and Tube Replacement in Longfellow and Nokomis

> Knob and tube replacement in Longfellow and Nokomis: story-and-a-half houses rewired from attic and basement with fewer openings. Request an estimate.

URL: https://northloomminneapolisknobandtube.com/service-areas/longfellow-nokomis/

Knob and tube replacement in Longfellow and Nokomis: story-and-a-half houses rewired from attic and basement with fewer openings. Request an estimate.

- **85.2% built by 1939**: Longfellow's one- to three-unit buildings; 59.6% in Nokomis (city property records)
- **About 16% two-story**: 16.1% in Longfellow, 16.3% in Nokomis
- **Mostly forced air**: 74% of Longfellow's pre-1940 homes, 69% in Nokomis
- **Electrical permits**: [Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry](https://www.dli.mn.gov/business/electrical-contractors/electrical-permits-contractors)

Story-and-a-half houses: one attic and one basement can often reach every room.

## What usually starts the work in Longfellow and Nokomis

- The attic can't be insulated A cold story-and-a-half with original runs across the attic floor, and an insulation bid on hold.
- An inspection before closing A buyer's inspector notes knob and tube in the basement ceiling of a 1920s house.
- Half the house already redone A kitchen, bath and basement rewired over the years, with the upstairs still on original circuits.
- An insurance questionnaire A new carrier wants to know whether any knob and tube is still energized.

Your house is a story-and-a-half with dormer bedrooms upstairs, the attic runs cold, and an insulation bid, a buyer’s inspector or a new insurer has stopped at the knob and tube. That’s how most calls from Longfellow and Nokomis start.

At [Northloom Minneapolis Knob and Tube](https://northloomminneapolisknobandtube.com/), we replace knob and tube across Longfellow and Nokomis, from Seward and Cooper down to Keewaydin and Diamond Lake. We treat the two communities together because their houses are built the same way: mostly one or one-and-a-half stories, forced-air heat, an attic above and a basement below. Between those two spaces, new cable can reach most of your rooms, and that keeps the number of wall openings low.

Many houses here have also been updated room by room, so the job is often smaller than the age of the house suggests. That’s why we trace your circuits before we price anything.

## What happens when you come out to my house?

We start at the fuse box or panel and work outward, so the price you get rests on what’s actually live in your walls.

- **Tracing**: We match every circuit to the rooms it feeds and mark it as knob and tube, cloth-covered cable or modern wiring.
- **Attic and basement**: We look at both closely, because in these houses they usually carry most of the new cable, and that’s what keeps openings low.
- **Permit**: The permit goes to the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, which inspects electrical work in Minneapolis. Getting it in place is part of the job.
- **Switch-over**: We bring new circuits live one at a time and keep your furnace on a working circuit the whole way through.
- **Record**: You get a written list of what we replaced and disconnected, ready for your insurer or the next buyer.

## Is a Nokomis house likely to have less knob and tube than one in Longfellow?

Often, yes, because the age of the housing differs even where the style looks the same. City property records show 85.2% of Longfellow’s one- to three-unit buildings, 7,332 of 8,606, were built in 1939 or earlier. In Nokomis the share is 59.6%, 8,529 of 14,317, with the rest built in later decades.

That difference shows up in the wiring. The later your house was built, the more likely its oldest circuits are cloth-covered cable rather than knob and tube. Both can still be ungrounded and both may need replacing, but they’re handled differently on an insurance form and in a written scope. Tracing tells us which one you have, circuit by circuit.

## How will new cable reach my upstairs rooms?

Mostly through the spaces your house already has. Only about 16% of one- to three-unit buildings in either community have two or more stories: 16.1% in Longfellow and 16.3% in Nokomis. Most are one or one-and-a-half stories, often with dormer bedrooms tucked under the roof.

| Part of the house | How we reach it with new cable |
| --- | --- |
| First-floor walls | Up from the basement ceiling through the bottom plate, or down from the knee-wall attic |
| Upstairs dormer rooms | From the small attic spaces behind the knee walls and above the ceiling |
| First-floor ceiling lights | From the floor above through the knee-wall spaces, or from the attic in one-story houses |
| Kitchens and baths | Usually from the basement, where plumbing walls already have openings in the floor |

Your furnace ducts help too. In Longfellow, 74% of pre-1940 homes heat with forced air and 22% with hot water; in Nokomis, the split is 69% and 28%. The duct chases between floors can sometimes carry cable alongside, which saves an opening when a circuit has to reach upstairs.

## Why won’t the insulation contractor work in my attic?

Because the original wiring is lying where the insulation would go. Story-and-a-half houses lose heat through their knee walls and sloped ceilings, and the same attics that make rewiring easier are often the reason you’re calling. The Center for Energy and Environment notes that insulation contractors generally won’t insulate around active knob and tube.

- **Wiring first**: We confirm the original attic runs dead or replace them, and give you a record to hand the insulation contractor.
- **The rebate**: Xcel Energy pays 40% of qualifying attic or wall insulation, up to $1,200 each, for customers who heat with Xcel gas or electricity, with air sealing required.
- **One trip into the attic**: When we settle the wiring just ahead of the insulation crew, your attic only gets opened once.

The [attic insulation service](https://northloomminneapolisknobandtube.com/knob-and-tube-attic-insulation/) explains the sequence, and the [rebates guide](https://northloomminneapolisknobandtube.com/guide/knob-and-tube-grants-and-rebates-minnesota/) tracks the current terms.

### In what order do you rewire a story-and-a-half?

The layout of these houses sets the order. We usually put in the first-floor circuits first, from the basement, where the ceiling is open and the panel sits. The upstairs dormer rooms follow, from the knee-wall attics. We clear the attic floor last, once every original circuit that crossed it has been replaced, so your insulation contractor can follow straight after.

## Do I need the whole house rewired, or just part of it?

In Longfellow and Nokomis, often just part. Earlier owners tended to update these houses piece by piece: a kitchen in one decade, a bathroom in another, a finished basement later. When we trace, the remodeled rooms are frequently on modern cable already, while the bedrooms and the upstairs still hang off one or two original circuits.

For a house like that, [partial replacement](https://northloomminneapolisknobandtube.com/partial-knob-and-tube-replacement/) is usually the right job, and we write down the boundary between new and old wiring so your insurer can see it. The [partial versus full guide](https://northloomminneapolisknobandtube.com/guide/partial-vs-full-knob-and-tube-replacement/) walks through how to decide.

## What if I own a duplex or a rental here?

Most of what we rewire in this part of the city is single-family. Longfellow has 1,348 active rental licenses and Nokomis 1,549, fewer than the older, denser communities to the north and west, and there are fewer two- and three-unit buildings: 691 built by 1939 in Longfellow, 286 in Nokomis.

If your duplex needs rewiring, Minnesota’s homeowner permit is off the table, because it covers only an owner-occupied single-family home. The permit for a rental is filed as part of the job. We trace each unit separately and schedule the outages with the residents of each one.

## Does living in a historic district change anything?

Two designated districts fall in this part of the city: Milwaukee Avenue in Seward, a street of small brick workers’ houses, and the Minnehaha district around the falls. Interior rewiring is mostly out of sight. For any exterior change, such as a new service mast or meter location, we confirm with the city for your address before we design the job.

## What will the permit cost?

The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry inspects electrical work here. A rewire of 15 to 30 circuits in an existing one-family home carries a $191 state fee, or $226 with a new service, and the request for inspection goes in at or before the start of work. The [cost guide](https://northloomminneapolisknobandtube.com/guide/knob-and-tube-replacement-cost-minneapolis/) covers the whole budget, including illustrative figures for a story-and-a-half bungalow.

> What to have ready
>
> The inspection report or insurer letter, an insulation bid if you have one, and photos of the attic from the hatch and of the panel. Questions:
>
> (612) 509-6597
>
> .

## Services in Longfellow and Nokomis

- [**Whole-House Rewiring** Most rooms still on the original wiring? We replace every branch circuit with new grounded cable, the knob and tube and everything spliced into it since, under one permit and its inspections.](https://northloomminneapolisknobandtube.com/whole-house-rewiring/)
- [**Attic Insulation Over Knob and Tube** Your insulation contractor stopped at the attic hatch because of the old wiring? We trace the original runs, confirm them dead or replace them, and give you the written record the insulation crew needs to go ahead.](https://northloomminneapolisknobandtube.com/knob-and-tube-attic-insulation/)
- [**Partial Replacement** Earlier owners rewired most of your house, but a few original circuits are still live? We replace just those with grounded cable, leave the rest as it is, and write down exactly where the line falls.](https://northloomminneapolisknobandtube.com/partial-knob-and-tube-replacement/)
- [**Removal and Disconnection** Old knobs and wire still in your attic, and nobody can say for sure they're dead? We prove each original run dead at its source, pull out the exposed wiring if you want it gone, and give you a written record that the old system is out of service.](https://northloomminneapolisknobandtube.com/knob-and-tube-removal/)

## Neighborhoods, landmarks and routes

### Neighborhoods

- Seward
- Cooper
- Howe
- Longfellow
- Hiawatha
- Standish-Ericsson
- Keewaydin
- Morris Park
- Minnehaha
- Wenonah
- Diamond Lake
- Hale-Page-Diamond Lake

### Heritage preservation districts

- Milwaukee Avenue
- Minnehaha

### Landmarks

- Minnehaha Falls
- Lake Nokomis
- Lake Hiawatha
- Mississippi River Gorge

### Routes

- Hiawatha Avenue and the METRO Blue Line
- Minnehaha Parkway
- Lake Street
- Cedar Avenue
- 34th Avenue South

## Longfellow and Nokomis: questions

### What is the permit fee to rewire a story-and-a-half house in Longfellow?

Electrical work in Minneapolis is permitted by the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. A rewire of 15 to 30 circuits in an existing one-family home carries a $191 state fee, including the $25 permit fee and $1 surcharge, or $226 if the service is replaced too. Many story-and-a-half houses fall inside that circuit range once we draw the new layout.

### Can a story-and-a-half house be rewired without opening walls?

Not entirely, but often with very few openings. We drop cable from the knee-wall attics into first-floor walls, climb from an open basement ceiling, and reach the dormer rooms upstairs from the small attics beside them. We open a wall mainly where a new box goes or a fire block stops the cable.

### Do Longfellow and Nokomis houses usually need a whole-house rewire?

Not necessarily. Many have been rewired in pieces during kitchen, bath and basement projects, leaving only some original circuits live. We trace your circuits, and that shows whether a partial replacement covers what remains or original circuits still feed most of the house.

### Does the Milwaukee Avenue historic district affect rewiring?

Interior rewiring is mostly out of sight. Whether your project needs review, and especially any exterior change like a new meter location or service mast, we confirm with the city for your address before we design the job.

### How do forced-air houses help with rewiring?

Duct runs between the basement and upper floors create chases that cable can sometimes follow, which saves openings when a circuit has to reach the second floor. In Longfellow, 74% of pre-1940 homes heat with forced air, against 22% hot water.

## Guides for this area

- [**Do You Have to Replace All the Knob and Tube?** Not always. It comes down to how much of your wiring is still live, what your insurer or buyer needs to hear, and what else your house is asking for.](https://northloomminneapolisknobandtube.com/guide/partial-vs-full-knob-and-tube-replacement/)
- [**How Long Does It Take to Rewire a House?** You need to plan your life around a rewire, and you want a number. Your house decides it more than anything else. Here's what sets the schedule, and how to read the one in a quote.](https://northloomminneapolisknobandtube.com/guide/how-long-does-it-take-to-rewire-a-house/)
- [**How Much Does Knob and Tube Replacement Cost in Minneapolis?** Our typical ranges for whole-house and partial jobs, what goes into a Minneapolis price, the permit fees you'll pay, and why two quotes for the same house can be thousands apart.](https://northloomminneapolisknobandtube.com/guide/knob-and-tube-replacement-cost-minneapolis/)
- [**Are There Rebates or Grants for Knob and Tube Replacement in Minnesota?** Nothing pays for the rewire itself. What the rewire makes possible, mainly insulation, does have real money attached.](https://northloomminneapolisknobandtube.com/guide/knob-and-tube-grants-and-rebates-minnesota/)

## Nearby service areas

- [**Powderhorn**](https://northloomminneapolisknobandtube.com/service-areas/powderhorn/)
- [**St. Paul**](https://northloomminneapolisknobandtube.com/service-areas/st-paul/)
- [**Southwest Minneapolis**](https://northloomminneapolisknobandtube.com/service-areas/southwest-minneapolis/)