Did you know that there are over one million electricians in the United States? You may not look forward to this day but eventually, you are likely going to need an electrician to fix something in your home.
However, problems can arise when you start to look for someone that is affordable and reliable. So, what should you look for when you start to consider hiring an electrician? What can you do to make sure you have the right one working for you?
Here are some of our biggest tips for seeking out electrical repair services.
1. Search Your Location
When it comes to any common business, something you can do is search for ones in your area. You can do this with anything from grocery stores to convenience stores, lawyers, real estate agents, and yes, electricians.
What does this do for you? Well, the biggest thing you achieve here is that you narrow down your search to electricians in your local area.
Let's say that you live in the New York metropolitan area. This is one of the biggest cities in the world with millions of people in a small area.
However, if you get more specific and say that you need to find an electrician in Brooklyn, you have a better chance of finding someone that is close to you. Also, they may have more knowledge of the electrical challenges that you may face in your neighborhood.
Regardless, doing this first should help you get in the right direction.
2. Ask About Experience
The next thing you should do is ask an electrician how much experience they have. They could be someone that is just getting started and you are their first major project.
Or, they could be someone that has decades of experience. If this is the case with your electrician, you may expect them to be able to figure out electrical issues around your home immediately.
Also, it could give you more peace of mind having someone with enough experience that they have likely seen similar electrical issues as yours many times before.
3. Ask About Credentials
To follow up on asking about experience, you are also going to want to ask about the credentials an electrician has. These two points relate because to get the proper credentials, an electrician typically has to have a few years of supervised experienced.
Those years are called apprentice years. This is about four years and once they do the amount of hours necessary, they can take an exam. If they pass that exam, then they can receive an electrician's license.
On top of all of this, potential electricians are encouraged to go to technical or vocational school to learn the basics about this field. This can even be done during the apprenticeship if someone so desires.
The point of all of this is to say that certified electricians have to go through a rigorous process to make sure that they are qualified to do their job. If a potential electrician does not claim to have these credentials or dances around questions about that, then you should look at other options.
4. Ask Around
If you are not sure what electrician you want to hire, one thing that you can do is ask your social circle who they would recommend. This can be any circle from your friends to family, and even other business associates.
No matter which circle you turn to, they are likely going to be people that you trust and whose word you take at face value. They can point you in the right direction and potentially save you the hassle of having to go through the validation process yourself.
It is only natural to ask the people that you trust for advice on what to do in situations like this. That is why that customers that are referred by a friend are four times more likely to buy from that business.
So, if you hear about a good electrician from a friend or a family, think about it as you suddenly becoming four times more interested in that electrician than you were before.
5. Read Reviews
Let's say that you do not have anyone in your social circles that knows a good electrician for your purpose.
What do you do now? The next best thing is to read online reviews about each electrician. Some of the best ones may even have testimonials that you can read on their website.
So, what do reviews do for you? They give you a good idea of how electricians have treated their past customers and what kind of work they did for them.
If they consistently do good work for customers, they are likely going to have a high rating along with almost all positive reviews.
As for negative content, you should not panic if an electrician has one or two bad reviews out there. Not everybody gets along and it may have been an extremely complicated project compared to the norm.
However, if there are several negative reviews with similar complaints, that is when the red flags should be up. This can be anything from the electrician having to constantly go back and fix work that they did prior, having a bad attitude with customers, ripping customers off, and more.
Reading these reviews allows you to get a better idea of the quality of work that the electrician is putting out there along with how they treat and manage their customers.
6. Get a Quote
Like most things in life, an electrician's services are not going to be free. You may not have all of the money in the world to spend on electrical repairs. If this describes your situation, you are going to want to make sure you get a ballpark of how much an electrician is going to charge you for this repair.
You may have been expecting to pay $200 for a standard electrical repair in your home. However, one electrician may come back and quote you $300 for that job. If this happens to you, you may be hesitant to go forward with that electrician.
While trying to protect yourself from being ripped off is ok, it is important to not get too cheap during this process.
For example, let's say you meet one electrician willing to do a job that you think is going to be $200 for $100. You meet three other electricians and nobody gives you a quote under $200.
In this situation, you may want to think twice about going with the cheapest electrician. The reason for this is they may do substandard work and leave your house in worse shape than when you started.
7. Shop Around
Another step you have to take to find the right electrician for you is to be willing to shop around. You do not want to hire the first electrician that you meet when you have no one to compare them to.
Can someone give you a more reasonable rate? Does someone else have better communication skills than the first electrician? Do you trust them to do the right job?
These are questions that you are only going to get an answer to if you can compare multiple electricians with each other. Essentially, do not be afraid to walk away and seek out other options.
8. Go With Your Gut
Finally, when it comes to hiring an electrician, you want to make sure you feel good about the person you are hiring. This is important for a few key reasons.
The first reason is that you want to have transparent communication with your electrician. You want them to tell you all of the honest issues you have with your wiring and you do not want to hesitate to ask any questions.
Also, you have to remember that this is your home. This is where you live. You are going to want to have the right person in there to take care of part of your home.
So, make sure you feel comfortable with your electrician before moving forward.
Get the Best Electrical Repair Services
These are just some tips that you can use to find the best electrical repair services for you.
Start by narrowing it down to your location. Then, look for the right experience and credentials. However, do not be afraid to ask your social circles for any recommendations and to ask for a quote of how much an electrician would charge to work on your house.
Are you ready to fix your electrical issues? Message us today to get started.