Residential Remodel Wiring
The Walls Are Open. This Is Your One Good Chance
Here is something most homeowners find out too late. During a remodel, electrical work is cheap. After the drywall goes back up, the exact same work costs several times more because now it involves cutting, fishing, patching, texturing, and painting.
So if you are tearing into a kitchen, a bathroom, or a basement, this is the moment to fix the wiring behind it. Silver Stone Electric handles residential remodel wiring throughout Summit, Wasatch, Utah, and Salt Lake counties, and we would rather talk to you before demo than after.
What Usually Needs Attention in a Remodel
Once we open a wall in a house built before the 90s, we tend to find the same short list.
- Not enough circuits, so the kitchen runs on two when it needs six or more
- Two-prong ungrounded outlets
- Cloth or brittle insulation that cracks when moved
- Aluminum branch wiring on 1970s circuits
- Junctions buried in walls with no accessible box
- A panel that is full, double-tapped, or long past retirement
- No GFCI protection anywhere near water
None of that is unusual and none of it means your house is a disaster. It just means it was wired to the rules of its day. outdated wiring replacement during a remodel is the least painful way to bring it forward.
Kitchens
Kitchens have the most electrical demand of any room in the house, and modern code reflects that. When we do kitchen remodel wiring we plan for:
- Two or more dedicated small appliance circuits for countertops
- A dedicated circuit for the dishwasher, disposal, microwave, and fridge
- Range or cooktop circuit sized to the appliance you actually bought
- GFCI protection at every counter receptacle
- Island and peninsula outlets placed where they are usable, not awkward
- Under-cabinet lighting and switching
- Recessed lighting laid out around the cabinet run instead of fighting it
If you are searching for electrical wiring for kitchen remodel in Utah, bring us your cabinet drawings and appliance specs. Those two documents drive the whole plan.
Bathrooms
Bathrooms are small but fussy. bathroom remodel electrical work usually means a dedicated 20-amp circuit for the receptacles, GFCI protection, a properly vented and rated exhaust fan, vanity lighting that does not cast shadows on your face, and sometimes heated floors or a heated towel bar that needs its own circuit.
Fan placement matters more than people expect. A fan installed in the wrong spot will not clear steam, and steam is what ruins new paint and new cabinets.
Basements, Additions, and Whole-House Updates
Finishing a basement means new circuits, new lighting layout, smoke and CO detectors, and often a panel that suddenly needs more space. Additions need the same plus a load calculation to make sure the existing service can carry it.
And sometimes the honest answer is home rewiring during renovation for part or all of the house. We will tell you plainly whether that is warranted or whether targeted repairs get you there for less. We are not interested in selling you a rewire you do not need.
Panel Upgrades
A lot of remodels hit the same wall: the panel is out of room. Adding a kitchen, a basement, an EV charger, and a hot tub to a 100-amp service does not work, no matter how creatively you arrange breakers.
A panel upgrade during remodel is the cleanest time to do it because the walls are already open and the trades are already scheduled. You get a modern panel, proper AFCI and GFCI protection, and space for whatever you add next. If you need an electrical panel upgrade during home remodel Utah, we will do a load calculation first so you know exactly what size you need.
Working Around Your Other Trades
Remodels are tight quarters. Cabinet installers, tile setters, plumbers, and drywall crews all need the space, and everyone is on a schedule. We coordinate with your GC or run the electrical sequence ourselves if you are managing the project.
We also try to be a decent houseguest. Drop cloths, contained dust where we can, tools not spread across your living room, and the power back on before we leave for the day whenever it is possible.
Code and Inspections
Remodel work gets inspected, and inspectors look hard at kitchens and baths. Everything we install is code compliant wiring: correct circuit counts, tamper-resistant receptacles where required, AFCI and GFCI protection, proper box fill, and accessible junctions.
The result is an improved home electrical system that will pass inspection and, more importantly, will not give the next owner a headache during a home inspection down the road.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not always. It depends on what we find and how much of the house you are opening up. If the existing wiring is grounded, in good shape, and has enough circuits, we work with it. If it is aluminum, brittle cloth-insulated, or badly overloaded, replacing it while access is easy makes sense. We will walk you through what we found before recommending anything.
It depends on room count, how many new circuits are needed, whether the panel has capacity, and how much access we have. A single bathroom is a small job. A kitchen plus a panel upgrade is a much bigger one. We quote after seeing the space and your plans, so the number is real and not a guess.
Yes, and this is the ideal time to do it. We do a load calculation based on what your house will have when the remodel is done, then size the service and panel to match with a little room to spare.
Most remodel electrical work does, especially anything involving new circuits or a panel change. We handle the permit for our scope and meet the inspector on site.
Yes. We are used to sequencing rough-in before drywall and trim-out after cabinets and tile. Just get us the schedule and we will fit into it.