Outlet & Switch
Repair & Replacement

Three usual causes: a GFCI outlet elsewhere on the circuit has tripped, a backstab connection on an upstream outlet has let go, or the outlet itself has failed. We check the GFCIs first, then the chain of outlets back to the panel.

Washington lets you do electrical work on a home you own and live in. The catch is that a dead or warm outlet is often a loose connection upstream, not the device in front of you — the part you cannot see is the part that starts fires. If you do it yourself, use the screw terminals, not the push-in holes.

Yes. Every replacement 15 A or 20 A outlet in a home has to be tamper-resistant under the code Washington uses. They cost a little more and are standard on every job we do.

A loose or corroded connection is heating up under load. Turn the breaker off and call us. If there is a burning smell, scorch marks or smoke, leave the breaker off and treat it as urgent.

About 30 minutes per outlet or switch once the fault is found, 10 to 20 minutes more if we are tracing a dead circuit. Several devices in one visit is the efficient way to do it.

Yes, and there are three legal ways: run a ground wire to the outlet, fit a GFCI outlet labeled as having no equipment ground, or protect the circuit with a GFCI breaker. Simply swapping in a three-prong outlet on an ungrounded box is not allowed and gives a false sense of safety.

It depends on the house. Where there is a crawl space or attic above or below, we can often run a ground to the outlets that matter, such as the ones for computers and kitchen appliances. For the rest, GFCI protection is the accepted fix. We check a few boxes and give you the exact price before any work.

Often, yes. Outlets wear out: plugs fall out, connections loosen and run warm. Replacing them in one visit with tamper-resistant outlets costs less per outlet than doing them one at a time. In a 1965 to 1975 house we check for aluminum wiring first, because that changes the repair.