Updated October 2026
Straight answer
Yes. In Jamaica Plain we mostly rewire older houses and wire kitchen and bath remodels, often both at once. A remodeled kitchen needs at least two 20 amp countertop circuits plus dedicated circuits for appliances, and open walls are the easiest moment to replace the old wiring around them. We work to your contractor's schedule and file the electrical permit.
What a modern kitchen asks of an older house
Kitchens are the hardest-working room electrically. Current code expects at least two 20 amp small-appliance circuits for the counters, GFCI protection on those outlets, and dedicated circuits for the dishwasher, disposal, microwave and often the refrigerator. An induction range or a wall oven adds a 240 volt circuit on top. In an older house wired with one or two kitchen circuits, that is a big jump, and it usually lands on a panel with few open spaces.
We sort that out at the design stage. Once your contractor has a layout, we map the outlets along the counter so no stretch is too far from one, plan the island outlet, and list every dedicated circuit with its breaker size. That list goes against the panel. If spaces or service capacity come up short, you hear it before demolition, when adding a subpanel or upgrading still fits the schedule.
Old houses, new kitchens
Jamaica Plain has a deep supply of triple-deckers dating from the late 1800s through the 1920s, and Massachusetts overall keeps more pre-1940 housing than most states. Wiring from that era was laid out for a few lights and maybe an iron, not a kitchen with a dishwasher, a microwave and an induction range. When a remodel opens a wall in one of these houses, we expect to replace more than the outlets on the new plan, and we tell you that before demolition starts.
Replacing the old wiring you find when the walls come down
Demolition in an older Jamaica Plain house tends to reveal more than the kitchen. We find ungrounded cable running on to the next room, splices with no box, cloth-covered wire feeding the old ceiling light, and sometimes live knob and tube in the wall next door. None of it should be closed back up behind new drywall. While the wall is open, replacing those runs takes a fraction of the effort it would take later.
We keep the scope honest. If the remodel exposes a circuit that also feeds rooms you are not touching, we show you where it goes and give you the choice: replace it now through the open wall, or isolate the kitchen and leave the rest for a later phase. Either way, the new work gets the right GFCI and AFCI protection, is labeled at the panel and is ready for the rough inspection before anything is covered.
Bathrooms, laundry and the rest of the remodel
Kitchen projects often pull in the bathroom or the laundry too. A bathroom needs a 20 amp circuit for its outlets with GFCI protection, an exhaust fan ducted to the outside so it actually removes moisture, and lighting rated for a damp location near the shower. A heated floor adds its own GFCI-protected circuit. A basement laundry needs a dedicated washer circuit and a 240 volt dryer circuit unless you are switching to a heat pump dryer.
Grouping that work into one permit and one rough inspection is usually faster than three small jobs spread over a year. It also means one panel review, so the dryer, the floor heat and the kitchen circuits are planned against the same available capacity. We give your contractor a schedule of when we need walls open and when we are finished, so the trades are not stepping on each other.
Remodel and rewiring work we do in Jamaica Plain
Kitchen Remodel Wiring
Counter, island and appliance circuits planned against the panel before demolition.
Whole-House Rewiring
Open walls during a remodel are the easiest time to replace old runs nearby.
Bathroom Electrical & Exhaust Fans
Bath remodels often ride along with the kitchen and share one permit.
Dedicated Circuit Installation
Induction ranges, wall ovens and dryers each need their own circuit.
GFCI & AFCI Protection
New kitchen, bath and laundry work gets the protection current code expects.
Knob & Tube Wiring Replacement
Live runs sometimes turn up in the wall next to the remodel.
Remodel starting in Jamaica Plain? Bring us in before demolition.
Call (617) 843-6591Jamaica Plain remodel wiring questions
At least twice. Once at design to plan circuits and check the panel, then for rough-in after demolition and framing, before insulation and drywall. We return for trim-out once cabinets and counters are set.
Yes. We take the layout from your contractor or designer, agree on dates for rough-in and trim, and handle the electrical permit and inspections for our part of the job.
No. The new kitchen circuits must meet current code, and we replace old wiring the remodel exposes. The rest of the house can stay as it is unless it is unsafe or you choose a larger scope.
It needs a 240 volt circuit, often 40 or 50 amps depending on the model. Whether that fits depends on the panel and service, which we check before you order the range.