The Smallest Jobs Are Still Wiring. They Still Get Done Right.
Outlet and Switch Work We Do
- New outlet installation — adding a receptacle where the room was never given one
- Outlet replacement and repair — dead, loose, scorched, or painted-shut receptacles
- Switch replacement — single-pole, three-way, and four-way, including pairs that stopped working together
- Dimmers and smart switches — sized to the load so LED fixtures behave
- USB and USB-C receptacles — nightstands, kitchens, and desks without the wall-wart pile
- Tamper-resistant receptacles — the shuttered devices current code calls for in living areas
- Two-prong to grounded outlets — a real grounding solution, not a three-prong adapter over an ungrounded box
- Countertop and island receptacles — including the pop-up and under-counter options remodels tend to need
GFCI and AFCI Protection
These two devices get confused constantly, and they do completely different jobs.
GFCI (ground-fault circuit interrupter) protects people. It watches for current leaving the circuit through something other than the neutral — through a person standing on a wet floor, for example — and cuts power in a fraction of a second. Current code calls for GFCI protection in kitchens, bathrooms, garages, laundry areas, unfinished basements, crawlspaces, and outdoors.
AFCI (arc-fault circuit interrupter) protects the building. It detects the electrical signature of an arcing connection — a loose backstab, a nicked wire behind drywall, a chewed cord — and trips before that arc has time to start a fire. Current code calls for AFCI protection across most living areas of a home.
We install both, as receptacles or as breakers in the panel, plus dual-function devices that cover both in one. Which one belongs where depends on the circuit, not on preference.
Outdoor and Garage Receptacles
Outdoor power gets abused by weather, and a receptacle that was fine indoors will not survive on an exterior wall. Outdoor work includes weather-resistant receptacles, in-use "bubble" covers that stay closed on a plugged-in cord, GFCI protection on every exterior circuit, and proper boxes for decks, patios, porches, soffits, and garages. If you need holiday-lighting power, shop power, or a receptacle at the far end of a driveway, that is a circuit conversation, not just a device swap.
Dedicated Circuits
Some things simply should not share a circuit. We install dedicated circuits for microwaves and countertop appliances, window and through-wall AC units, freezers and second refrigerators, sump pumps, workshop tools and welders, and home-office equipment.
Two of the biggest dedicated-circuit loads get their own pages: EV charger installation and the pool and hot tub circuits covered under residential electrical services. Both need a load calculation before anything gets pulled.
When an Outlet Problem Is Really a Circuit Problem
A dead receptacle is a symptom. What we look for behind it:
- Backstabbed devices — receptacles wired through the small push-in holes on the back rather than the side screws. They loosen over time and are a common cause of dead outlets and arcing.
- Half-hot receptacles — one half switched at the wall, usually on purpose, occasionally by accident.
- An open neutral — one bad connection upstream that takes out everything past it on the circuit.
- Aluminum branch wiring — common in homes of a certain age, and unsafe with standard devices. It needs rated connectors and devices, or replacement.
- Overloaded circuits — a breaker that keeps tripping is doing its job. Adding a bigger breaker to a circuit that was not built for it is how fires start.
Chasing that kind of fault is what electrical repairs and troubleshooting is for. When the panel itself is the constraint — no slots left, or a service that is undersized for how the house is actually used now — see electrical panel upgrades and replacements.
Remodels, Additions, and Whole Rooms
Device work is usually the last step of a bigger job. If you are opening walls anyway, that is the moment to fix outlet spacing, add the circuits the room actually needs, and plan switching that makes sense. See lighting installation and new construction electrical wiring.
