Whole house rewiring · Essex and Morris County
Rewiring a house replaces the old circuits behind your walls, often with you still living there. MDL Electric, a licensed electrician in West Orange, NJ, plans electrical rewiring around plaster, occupied rooms, the town permit and its inspections.
The short answer
What it costs. Published whole-house ranges mostly fall between $8,000 and $30,000. HomeGuide says $10,000 to $30,000, and Harrelson Electric, a Central New Jersey contractor, says about $8,000 to $30,000. HomeGuide's own breakdown puts labor at $6,000 to $12,000 of a $10,000 to $20,000 job when the walls stay closed. The cost section compares sources. These are market ranges, not MDL prices.
When it is the right job. A new panel does not touch the wiring behind the walls. If the house has cloth-covered cable, aluminum branch circuits or ungrounded outlets, or a renovation is already opening walls, a rewire is the question to ask. If it has porcelain knobs in the attic, start with MDL's knob and tube replacement page, which covers that wiring in full.
What makes North Jersey different. Most homes in the towns in the table below were built before 1980, and people are living in them. Where the walls are plaster, plaster and occupied rooms shape the schedule and the repair bill as much as the wire does.
MDL Electric works from 4 Harrison Avenue in West Orange and holds a New Jersey electrical contractor license (34EI01606200) and an electrical business permit (34EB01606200). Call 973.809.2339 to book a walkthrough.
How old is your wiring?
Each column below is a building period with its own wiring. Glen Ridge's question is mostly the first column. Parsippany's is the third.
Scroll sideways to see the whole table.
| Town or area | Homes | Before 1940 | 1940 to 1959 | 1960 to 1979 | All before 1980 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glen Ridge | 2,569 | 81.1% | 4.9% | 5.7% | 91.7% |
| Verona | 6,012 | 33.5% | 30.2% | 24.3% | 88.0% |
| Millburn (with Short Hills) | 7,436 | 33.4% | 29.5% | 24.6% | 87.5% |
| Montclair | 16,521 | 59.4% | 14.5% | 11.8% | 85.7% |
| Maplewood | 9,051 | 55.5% | 15.9% | 11.9% | 83.3% |
| Bloomfield | 21,789 | 37.7% | 26.3% | 16.3% | 80.4% |
| South Orange | 6,208 | 43.5% | 24.6% | 10.2% | 78.4% |
| West Orange | 17,870 | 24.8% | 34.5% | 18.1% | 77.4% |
| Chatham Borough | 3,010 | 31.9% | 33.0% | 11.7% | 76.6% |
| Essex County, all towns | 336,962 | 29.1% | 23.5% | 21.6% | 74.2% |
| Parsippany-Troy Hills | 23,622 | 5.4% | 18.9% | 47.6% | 72.0% |
| Livingston | 10,699 | 9.2% | 36.1% | 25.8% | 71.1% |
| New Jersey | 3,791,354 | 17.4% | 20.3% | 25.2% | 62.8% |
| Morris County, all towns | 199,506 | 12.4% | 20.5% | 29.5% | 62.4% |
| Morristown | 9,360 | 23.5% | 15.6% | 20.1% | 59.2% |
The Census reports when a home was built, not what is in its walls today. Any of these houses may have been rewired since, in whole or in part, so the table tells you what to look for, not what you have. New Jersey's seller disclosure form asks the same thing directly: "What type of wiring is in this structure?" with copper, aluminum, other and unknown as the answers (NJ form, question 61).
Old wiring, by type
They get lumped together as old wiring. The risk, the test and the fix are not the same.
CPSC adds that failing aluminum connections have been reported to overheat with no prior warning, so a quiet house is not proof. Nationally, fire departments responded to an estimated 46,652 home electrical structure fires a year from 2020 to 2024, with an estimated 527 civilian deaths a year (NFPA, May 2026). That covers all electrical causes, not only old wiring.
Cost to rewire a house
These are market ranges, not MDL prices. MDL prices a house after seeing it.
Scroll sideways to see the whole table.
| What is being priced | Published range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Whole house, national average | $10,000 to $30,000, or $5 to $17 per square foot | HomeGuide |
| Whole house, New Jersey contractor | About $8,000 to $30,000; small two-bedroom at the low end, large multi-floor at the high end | Harrelson Electric |
| Whole house, national | $8,000 to $20,000 | Palmetto |
| Worked through attic, basement or joists | $10,000 to $20,000 | HomeGuide |
| Walls opened and drywall replaced | $20,000 to $30,000 or more | HomeGuide |
| 1,500 square feet | $7,500 to $25,500 | HomeGuide |
| 2,000 square feet | $10,000 to $34,000 | HomeGuide |
| 3,000 square feet | $15,000 to $51,000 | HomeGuide |
| Per square foot, other guides | $6 to $10 (SoFi); $2 to $4 (Angi) | SoFi, Angi |
| Permit | $250 to $900 | HomeGuide |
| Plastering walls | $2 to $10 per square foot | HomeGuide |
| New panel, if needed | $850 to $2,500; see MDL's panel upgrades page for the New Jersey steps | HomeGuide |
Plaster walls, people at home
Published advice splits here, and it is worth seeing both sides. HomeGuide says electricians recommend staying out of the house. Harrelson Electric and Bright Ideas Electric, both New Jersey contractors, say owners usually stay, with power kept on in the rest of the house.
Trace what feeds what, floor by floor, and look at the panel, the attic and the basement.
Rooms, circuits, panel in or out, expected openings, who repairs them, and which rooms lose power when.
The application goes to the town before work starts, because New Jersey treats wiring as permit work.
New cable goes in room by room, and the town inspects rough wiring, panel and service.
Devices and fixtures go on, the old circuits come off, and the town does its final inspection.
All at once, or in stages
We found no New Jersey rule that makes you do it all at once. The trade-off is money against disruption.
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| Question | All at once | In stages |
|---|---|---|
| Total cost | HomeGuide says most contractors recommend this when possible. | Takes longer and typically costs more in total, HomeGuide says, and more per square foot. |
| Budget | One large bill. | Splits the job into smaller, more affordable projects. |
| Living there | Bright Ideas says full gut renovations are faster because the walls are already open. | You can stay. HomeGuide warns it can be dusty and disruptive. |
| Typical order | The whole house under one scope. | Bright Ideas describes kitchen and baths first, then bedrooms, then remaining circuits. |
| Best moment | A renovation, or a vacant house before move-in. | A lived-in house, or a budget that needs spreading over time. |
Permit, insurance, sale
From the Uniform Construction Code as published by the NJ Department of Community Affairs, read November 2, 2026, and the sources named on each line.
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| Question | What applies | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Is a permit needed? | Yes. Addition, alteration, replacement or relocation of electrical wiring is outside ordinary maintenance, apart from narrow exceptions that do not cover a house rewire. | 5:23-2.7(b)6.iii |
| Who may do the work? | Licensed people, except a single-family homeowner on his or her own dwelling. | 5:23-2.15 |
| What gets inspected? | Rough wiring, panel and service installation, then a final inspection of wiring, devices and fixtures. | 5:23-2.18(b), (d) |
| If the service equipment changes | The grounding electrode system must be updated to Article 250 Part III of the electrical subcode. | 5:23-6.5 |
| Lead paint, built before 1978 | EPA's rule names electrical work. Firms paid to disturb paint must be certified. Minor work of six square feet or less of paint per room is not covered. Ask to see the firm's certificate. | EPA RRP |
| Insurance | Some insurers may not want to offer a policy on knob-and-tube or aluminum wiring (Progressive). Those homes are treated as high-risk, with higher rates likely and coverage that may be canceled or denied (Policygenius). Get your carrier's requirement in writing before you scope the job. | Progressive, Policygenius |
| Selling the house | The state's seller form asks the wiring type, the amp service, breakers or fuses, and whether additions to the service had permits. Keep the closed permit with the house file. | NJ form, questions 61 to 65 |
Before you call
Why MDL
MDL Electric Cooling & Heating does electrical work across Essex and Morris County from its shop at 4 Harrison Avenue, West Orange. A rewire touches the rest of what MDL does: panel upgrades for the service behind it, electrical repair for the circuits that fail first, and knob and tube replacement where the oldest wiring is still live.
Whole house rewiring
Tell MDL your town, the year the house was built, and what started the question.
Rewiring questions
Costs are published market ranges, not MDL prices. Code lines are from the New Jersey construction code and the National Electrical Code.
Published whole-house ranges mostly fall between $8,000 and $30,000. HomeGuide (updated August 29, 2025) says $10,000 to $30,000, or $5 to $17 per square foot, and Harrelson Electric, a Central New Jersey contractor, says about $8,000 to $30,000. Size, access and wall type move the number most. These are market ranges, not MDL prices; MDL prices a house after seeing it.
HomeGuide's table gives $7,500 to $25,500 for 1,500 square feet and $10,000 to $34,000 for 2,000 square feet. Those are national market ranges, not MDL prices, and they do not show the plaster repair on an older house as its own line.
HomeGuide says 3 to 10 or more days, depending on size, age, crew and how much wall is opened. New Jersey contractors publish similar figures: Trapani Electric says 3 to 7 days and Luminous Electric says 5 to 10. Bright Ideas Electric says a room-by-room job in a lived-in house takes longer on the calendar. Ask for the schedule in writing after a walkthrough.
Published advice differs. HomeGuide says electricians recommend staying out, because living there takes longer and costs more through daily cleanup and restoring circuits each day. Harrelson Electric and Bright Ideas Electric, both New Jersey contractors, say owners usually stay, with the work done room by room and power kept on elsewhere. Which fits depends on the house and who lives in it.
Not usually when the house has basement, attic or crawl space access. HomeGuide describes several small holes to fish the new cable, and says fully opening the walls adds 25% to 30% to the job and may be the only option in a house without access. Plaster costs more because the holes cost more to repair.
Ask before you sign. Harrelson Electric says it does not patch and paint, because that is a separate trade. HomeGuide puts wall plastering at $2 to $10 per square foot. Get the expected openings, and who repairs them, written into the scope.
Often just part, if an electrician can show which circuits are sound. HomeGuide says most contractors recommend doing it all at once when possible, because room-by-room work takes longer and typically costs more in total, but stages are possible. Bright Ideas Electric describes kitchen and baths first, then bedrooms, then the remaining circuits.
Yes. New Jersey's ordinary maintenance rule, N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.7, excludes the addition, alteration, replacement or relocation of electrical wiring, with narrow exceptions that do not cover a house rewire. The town's electrical inspector checks rough wiring, panel and service, then does a final inspection of wiring, devices and fixtures.
N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.15 limits electrical work to licensed people, with an exception for a single-family homeowner on his or her own dwelling. The permit and inspections still apply. A two-family house, or a house you rent out and do not live in, does not read as fitting that exception, so ask your town's construction office.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission says homes built before 1972 and wired with aluminum are 55 times more likely to have a connection at an outlet reach fire hazard conditions than homes wired with copper. It approves only three permanent repairs: complete replacement with copper, the COPALUM method and AlumiConn connectors. We found no New Jersey rule ordering it out.
Not automatically. Two-prong outlets usually mean no equipment ground on that circuit. The National Electrical Code lets a two-prong receptacle be replaced with a GFCI marked No Equipment Ground, which protects people from shock but does not add a ground. A rewire is the fix when you need grounded circuits throughout or the wire itself is failing.
It can. Progressive says some insurers may not want to offer a policy on a home with knob-and-tube or aluminum wiring. Policygenius says those homes are considered high-risk, that rates will likely be higher and that coverage may be canceled or denied. Ask your carrier in writing what it will accept before scoping the job.
Not automatically, so it should be stated in the scope. Harrelson Electric and Bright Ideas Electric both describe a new panel as part of, or often alongside, a rewire. Under New Jersey's rehabilitation subcode, any replacement of electrical service equipment means updating the grounding electrode system. See MDL's panel upgrades page if the panel has no room for new circuits.
It can. EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule names electrical work in housing built before 1978, and it does not cover minor work that disturbs six square feet or less of paint per room. Firms doing covered work must be certified. Tell any contractor the year the house was built and ask to see the firm's certificate.
Sources
Next steps
The separate answer for porcelain knobs in the attic: insurance, insulation, costs and permits for that wiring.
Learn moreFuse boxes, small services and panel replacements, planned with the wiring.
Learn moreA home Level 2 charger planned around the panel, the circuit route and the permit.
Learn moreDead circuits, tripping breakers and warm outlets, diagnosed before anything is replaced.
Learn moreRequest service
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