Free Electrical Estimates? (Dallas, Fort Worth, Richardson: power lines, condo, house)

[ModernHomeNow]

It seems like you always hear "free estimate" from service related companies but I can't find a licensed electrician to give our 1200 sf house a bid. We need the following:

1) Update the old style outlets to new style with a ground. Lamens terms = 3 holes instead of 2. Roughly 15 outlets in the house.

2) Power lines coming in from the alley are hanging too low. We need a weatherhead installed to raise the cables from 7.5 to 10.

I'm looking for a free bid. A guy came out yesterday but it costs me $130.


His bid was just south of 5k.....


So, are there licensed electricians who give free bids and does the bid amount seem fair.

I understand it's tough to gauge a bid without actually looking at the property but any help would be great.


Thanks!

[LV702]

I never needed one out here, but back when I lived in Vegas, the estimate was only free is you actually used their service, otherwise they charged around $100.

[escanlan]

Originally Posted by ModernHomeNow

It seems like you always hear "free estimate" from service related companies but I can't find a licensed electrician to give our 1200 sf house a bid. We need the following:

1) Update the old style outlets to new style with a ground. Lamens terms = 3 holes instead of 2. Roughly 15 outlets in the house.

2) Power lines coming in from the alley are hanging too low. We need a weatherhead installed to raise the cables from 7.5 to 10.

I'm looking for a free bid. A guy came out yesterday but it costs me $130.


His bid was just south of 5k.....


So, are there licensed electricians who give free bids and does the bid amount seem fair.

I understand it's tough to gauge a bid without actually looking at the property but any help would be great.


Thanks!

Electricians in the Dallas area that claim to provide free estimates:

Free Estimate | bestelectriciansdallas.com (http://bestelectriciansdallas.com/free-estimate - broken link)
Electricman Quality Residential and Commerical Electricians
Jeff Electric LLC - Home
Richardson Ready Electric Inc. - Home
dallasairconditioningrepair.com
Electricians of Dallas - electrical services - carrollton tx
Residential Electrician Dallas TX - Electricians in Dallas and Fort Worth

There are more but these will keep you busy for awhile. Also make sure that you verify the license of any Electrician that will be working on your home. The Texas Department Of Licensing and Regulation license search function can be found at TDLR Active License Search. You should also know that Journeyman as well as Apprentice Electricians can not advertise their own services independently of a Master Electrician who oversees their duties. Generally only an Electrical Contractor can advertise services to the public and the Contractor must either be a Master Electrician or have a Master Electrician on staff.

It appears you are in the City of Dallas and they require all Electrical Contractors to also register with them (http://dallascityhall.com/pdf/Buildi...nForm-2008.pdf). An Electrician can not perform work in Dallas without registering. You can check with the Building Department to see if the person is registered with Dallas (Welcome to the City of Dallas, Texas - Building Inspection). The work you need will need to be permitted, and Dallas will not issue a proper permit to an unregistered Electrician.

Without more details of the quote it would be difficult to tell if the 5K is high or not. Did they provide a breakdown of the services? Properly upgrading from 2 wire ungrounded to 3 wire grounded could potentially require a panel upgrade as well depending on the manufacturers panel model in use. It is possible there are not sufficient terminal strips or spaces to add the equipment ground conductor (EGC) to and maybe the panel does not have provisions for adding one. That alone could potentially necessitate replacing the panel and hence the 5K price. If you did not receive at least a basic breakdown in the estimate I would pitch it in the trash and start over. Make sure they provide at least a basic breakdown of where the money is going.

Good luck!