How to hire an electrician

So…  I shared with you some of the projects I’ve been doing but I haven’t talked about the electrical delays.  I’ve put it off but I guess it’s time to talk about the electrical… This is your lesson in how to hire an electrician or… how not to.

If you’ll remember from waaaaay back, I needed to move the outlet behind the fridge’s new home.  I also wanted to add an outlet in a corner of the kitchen where there was none and I hoped to add a light over the sink.

Finding an electrician

Referrals are usually a good way to find help. If they’ve done good work for others, odds are good they’ll do a good job for you too. Years ago, I got a referral for having some lights installed. He did a great job so he was my first phone call but I never got through to him.  (Turns out I had the wrong number.)  Next, I went to social media for referrals.  Local moms groups are full of helpful referrals. I was given several recommendations and chose a handyman service who was mentioned multiple times.  We made an appointment and he came to do the work. 

Over the course of three days he worked on my outlets, my light over the sink and he convinced me to add lights over my peninsula as well.  It looked great and I was thrilled to have power where I needed it and having more light in the kitchen was so exciting.

Work was done but…  

My excitement, though, was short lived.  As I talked to a friend about what I had done, she asked me some questions that made me doubt the quality of the work.  That little inner voice told me I needed to make sure everything was okay.  After getting the right phone number, I reconnected with my previous electrician and he came out to check the work. 

I’ll always be grateful to God I listened to that little inner voice.  It turns out the original work wasn’t to code and was actually a fire hazard.  I was told it wasn’t a matter of IF I had a fire, it was a matter of WHEN that fire would happen.  I was blown away.

When I went back to the company that did the work, they handled it professionally.  While I was disappointed things went the way they did, I have zero complaints as to how they paid to have the problem fixed by a company I trusted. 

When the thought of how to hire an electrician crosses your mind, here’s my advice. First and foremost, make sure that whoever does electrical work for you is licensed to do so.  That license is your protection.  I didn’t even ask if the handyman had a license for electrical work.  That was definitely my mistake and it’s one I’ll never make again.

XOXO

Donna
I love having you on the road with me!