Auburn Knob and Tube provides knob-and-tube removal and rewiring in Enumclaw, WA, from finding which porcelain-knob circuits still carry power to replacing them with grounded wiring, retiring old fuse boxes and splitting the job into phases when the house stays occupied. Enumclaw’s housing is older on average than Auburn’s or Kent’s, so original wiring is a realistic question there.
About 17 percent of Enumclaw’s roughly 5,550 homes were built before 1950, around one in six, and about 700 date from before 1940. That is a far larger share than in Auburn itself, though most homes in the city are still post-1980.
In an Enumclaw house from the early 1900s, any knob-and-tube that remains is most likely to be visible in the attic or basement, possibly alongside later cable added room by room. We work out which of those runs are energized, replace them with grounded circuits, and leave a record of which old runs stay dead in the walls. The overall approach matches what we describe on the Auburn Knob and Tube homepage.
Where a house still has screw-in fuses, the fuse sizes are checked against the wire first, since every plug fuse up to 30 amps fits the same socket. New grounded circuits need breaker spaces, and any knob-and-tube that stays needs protection sized to its wire; if it will be insulated around, Washington requires breakers or Type S fuses at the 60°C rating. Details are on our fuse box replacement page.
When moving out is not an option, the rewire is split into inspected stages that follow the circuits, often a floor or one attic route at a time, with kitchens and bathrooms scheduled so they are not both out together. Our room-by-room rewiring page explains how phases are chosen.
Enumclaw was homesteaded in 1879 and platted in 1885, the year the Northern Pacific mainline was routed through the townsite; a Milwaukee Road branch followed in 1910. After hop crops failed in the 1880s and 1890s, dairy farming became the mainstay, and the town incorporated in 1913. The old Enumclaw High School dates from 1921.
That timeline puts much of the older housing in the decades when knob-and-tube was the normal way to wire a house, before it was phased out from the 1930s. Some of those houses were rewired long ago, some only had new circuits added for appliances, and some still rely on original runs upstairs. Each needs tracing on its own terms.
Enumclaw does not appear on L&I’s list of cities that issue their own electrical permits, which means electrical permits and inspections there go through Washington L&I. The city’s own building department handles building permits, which is a separate matter from the electrical permit.
As anywhere in the state, whoever does the electrical work buys the permit before starting, and inspection is requested before new wiring is covered. Rural addresses outside city limits are checked individually before a permit is applied for.
Older houses rarely have one generation of wiring. A kitchen remodel from the 1950s may have brought cloth-jacketed cable without a ground, a later addition may hang off an original circuit, and a newer bathroom may be fully modern. Tracing sorts these into what is knob-and-tube, what is early ungrounded cable and what can stay. Most cable installed before the early 1960s lacks a grounding conductor too, so it is worth deciding up front whether those runs are part of the job.
Access shapes the work more than floor area does. A full basement makes the main floor straightforward, and an open attic does the same for upstairs ceilings and walls. Rooms under a low roof, sloped ceilings and spaces with finished floors above and below are harder, and may need openings in the plaster to pass cable through. Walking the house to find those spots is part of scoping, so the plan and any patching are clear before work begins.
Before any wall is opened, the written scope should answer a short list of questions. Which circuits are being replaced, and which, if any, stay on knob-and-tube for now? Does the fuse box or panel change? Which rooms gain grounded circuits? Are dead runs left in the walls, or are exposed attic and basement runs taken out as well?
It should also cover access and finish work: where openings in plaster or ceilings are expected, who patches them after inspection, and how furniture and stored items are handled in each phase. Agreeing those points up front avoids surprises in an older house where wall cavities are not always where you expect.
Finally, decide what records you need. An inspected L&I permit can be looked up online by address for permits bought since 2020, and a circuit list shows exactly what changed, which helps when an insurer or future buyer asks.
Washington L&I, because Enumclaw is not among the cities that run their own electrical program. We still confirm the jurisdiction for each address, particularly for rural properties outside city limits.
More likely than in Auburn or Kent, given that about one in six homes predates 1950. Likely is not the same as present, though. Many have been rewired, and the only way to know is to trace the circuits from the panel.
Our focus is knob-and-tube in the house itself. If a detached garage or shop is fed from an old circuit in the house, that feed is part of the tracing, and we will tell you what we find.
It is a good reason to look further, not a full answer. A general home inspector usually sees only what is visible in the attic, basement and panel and does not open walls or trace circuits. The next step is an electrician confirming which runs are live, which are abandoned and how far the old wiring reaches before anyone prices removal.
After the house has been traced. The price depends on how many original circuits remain, access from the basement and attic, wall materials, any panel or fuse box change, the number of phases and finish work. Because those vary widely in older houses, we do not quote general figures.
Ask them to put the requirement in writing first. Useful documents afterwards are the inspected permit record and an electrician’s list of what was replaced and anything that remains. Each insurer decides for itself what it accepts.
Send the Enumclaw address, the approximate year the house was built and what you have noticed: exposed knobs in the attic, a fuse box, or a note from a home inspector or insurer. We'll get back to you soon with an estimate or any questions we have. Estimates are free and there's no obligation.
Call (253) 285-1913