The Town of Tonawanda runs north from the Buffalo line along the Niagara River, and it has the single most concentrated housing era of any community we serve: more than four in ten of its homes were built in the 1950s. Those houses are all reaching the same age at the same time.
Tell us what's happening at the Tonawanda property and we'll come take a look.
Census ACS estimates for 2020-2024 put about 41 percent of the Town of Tonawanda's roughly 35,200 housing units in the 1950s alone, with another 15 percent from the 1940s and 19 percent from before 1940. The 1960s add 10 percent. Almost nothing has been built since 1990 - about 5 percent combined - because the town filled in decades ago. If you live in a cape or ranch between Sheridan Drive and the river, or in the grid around Brighton and Kenmore Avenue, your house was almost certainly wired between 1946 and 1960.
That era's wiring was copper, which is good news, but it has specific weaknesses. Early NM cable from the late 1940s and 1950s often has cloth-and-rubber insulation that has hardened and cracks when handled. Circuits are few and long, so a single 15-amp breaker may feed every outlet in two bedrooms and a hallway. Grounding may be present at the panel but missing at the devices, and kitchens usually have one or two general circuits where the code now requires dedicated small-appliance circuits, GFCI protection and a separate circuit for the microwave.
Kitchen and bath rewiring is the most common project, because owners renovating a 1955 kitchen discover the wiring cannot support the new layout. We add the required circuits, bring in GFCI and AFCI protection, and often replace the panel in the same job since a 1950s 60- or 100-amp panel rarely has the slots.
Panel upgrades stand on their own too. Federal Pacific panels turn up regularly, and many homes are still on 60-amp services. With National Grid and NYSERDA incentives pushing heat pumps and residents adding EV chargers in the driveway - many Tonawanda homes have detached or carport-style garages - a 200-amp service is frequently the first step.
Along the river, the town's older industrial corridor and the neighborhoods near it have a higher share of pre-war houses, and there we see knob-and-tube and fuse boxes as well. The approach is the same as in the City of Buffalo: map what is live, prioritize insulated attics and kitchens, and stage the rewiring.
Tonawanda's 1950s houses also share a construction detail that matters for rewiring: many have finished attics or half-story dormers added later, wired from the nearest bedroom circuit. Those attic rooms are the ones most likely to be running space heaters on a 15-amp circuit shared with two other rooms, and putting them on their own properly protected circuit is often the highest-value small job in the house.
The Town of Tonawanda contains the Village of Kenmore and is separate from the City of Tonawanda to its north; each has its own building department and its own page on this site. In the town, electrical permits go through the Building Department and are inspected by an approved electrical inspection agency under the New York State Uniform Code, which references the 2023 National Electrical Code for permits issued on or after December 31, 2025. We handle the permit and the inspection scheduling, and coordinate any service disconnect with National Grid.
Tonawanda is part of our Western New York service area. Free on-site estimates, no obligation.
Call the local line or send the form, and we will set up a free visit to look at the wiring, the panel and the problem.
Request a free estimate Call (716) 466-5182