How do electricians fish new wire through plaster and lath walls in Kerrisdale?

Fishing wire through plaster and lath is one of the more time-consuming parts of any rewire or circuit addition in Kerrisdale's older character homes, and the labour cost reflects it. Expect to pay roughly $400 to $900 per new circuit in a finished plaster-and-lath house, compared to $300 to $600 in a home with drywall, because access is slower and the risk of cracking plaster is real.

How electricians actually do it

The basic goal is to get wire from point A to point B with as few holes as possible. In a plaster-and-lath wall, the lath strips run horizontally behind the plaster, which means a drill bit or fish tape can't travel freely the way it can inside a drywall cavity. Electricians work around this in a few ways.

The first step is always to map what's above and below. If there's an unfinished basement or an accessible attic, the electrician will try to run the wire vertically through the wall cavity from one of those spaces rather than cutting into the face of the wall at all. A long flexible drill bit, sometimes called a bell hanger bit, goes up or down through the top or bottom plate, and the wire follows. This is the cleanest approach and the one good electricians in Kerrisdale reach for first.

Where that isn't possible, they cut small access holes at strategic points, typically at the top of the wall near the ceiling line or behind baseboards, where patching is easiest to hide. A fish tape or a glow rod is threaded through the cavity, and the wire is pulled back through. The lath strips themselves sometimes need to be notched or drilled through, which requires a right-angle drill and patience. Plaster is brittle, so any cut near a lath strip risks cracking the surrounding surface if the tool vibrates too aggressively.

In Kerrisdale homes built before roughly 1950, the electrician will also be watching for knob-and-tube wiring in those same cavities. If live knob-and-tube is present, it changes the job significantly: new wire can't simply be run alongside it without addressing the older system, and most insurers in BC will condition or refuse coverage on homes with active knob-and-tube. That discovery mid-job can push a single-circuit addition toward a broader remediation conversation.

Plaster patching is a separate cost. Electricians are not plasterers. A skilled electrician will keep holes small and tidy, but matching original sand-finish or smooth plaster is a specialist repair. Budget $200 to $600 for patching per room depending on hole count, and find a plasterer or skilled drywaller separately. The Vancouver Construction Network at vancouverconstructionnetwork.com can connect you with finishing trades.

For permit purposes, any new circuit in the City of Vancouver requires a permit and inspection through the City's own electrical department, not Technical Safety BC. The permit fee is typically included in a contractor's quote for a job of this size, but confirm that explicitly. Ask your electrician for their Technical Safety BC licence number and verify WorkSafeBC coverage before work starts.

Want quotes for this kind of work? Vancouver Electrical Repair can match you with local electricians who know older Kerrisdale homes, for free.