You flip a switch and expect the lights to work. You plug in your phone and expect it to charge. But when you live in a home built in the 60s or 70s—and most of Johnston’s housing stock falls right in that window—your electrical system wasn’t designed for how you live now.
Back then, homes had maybe one TV, a refrigerator, and a few lamps. Now you’ve got computers, charging stations, smart thermostats, kitchen appliances that pull serious power, and an HVAC system running year-round. Your breaker panel is doing its best, but it’s overworked.
That’s where things start to go sideways. Breakers trip. Outlets stop working. Lights flicker when the AC kicks on. Or worse—you smell something burning and have no idea where it’s coming from.
A residential electrician in Johnston, RI who knows these homes can tell you exactly what’s happening and what it’ll take to fix it. Not a bandaid. Not a guess. A real plan that keeps your power on and your family safe.
We work in Johnston because we understand what you’re dealing with. Homes in Graniteville, Thornton, and Hughesdale weren’t built for modern electrical loads. A lot of them still have outdated wiring or panels that should’ve been replaced a decade ago.
We’re licensed, insured, and part of the Rhode Island Electrical Inspectors IAEI Roger Williams Chapter. That means we follow the NFPA code to the letter—not because we have to, but because your safety depends on it. We’ve handled everything from knob and tube wiring replacement in pre-war homes to full generator installation for families who can’t afford to lose power during a nor’easter.
You’re not getting a sales pitch. You’re getting someone who’ll walk your basement, look at your panel, and tell you what actually needs attention.
First, we show up on time. That sounds basic, but it matters when you’ve taken time off work or rearranged your day.
We’ll ask you what’s going on—what you’ve noticed, when it started, whether it’s getting worse. Then we’ll take a look. That might mean checking your breaker panel, testing outlets, inspecting your wiring, or tracing a circuit that’s acting up. If it’s an older home, we’re also looking for safety issues you might not know about yet.
Once we know what’s wrong, we’ll explain it in plain terms. No jargon. No upselling. Just what’s broken, what’s risky, and what it’ll cost to fix. If it’s something that can wait, we’ll tell you. If it’s something that shouldn’t, we’ll tell you that too.
Then we fix it. Clean up after ourselves. Test everything to make sure it works. And give you a clear invoice so you know exactly what you paid for.
Ready to get started?
We handle the full range of electrical work—residential and commercial. That includes electrical panel upgrades when your current setup can’t handle the load anymore. Generator installation and repair, which has become essential in Johnston after storms knocked out power for days at a time in recent years. Knob and tube wiring replacement, because a lot of older homes in neighborhoods like Winsor Hill and Manton still have it, and most insurance companies won’t cover you if it’s still active.
We also do outlet and switch replacement, circuit rewiring, LED lighting upgrades, EV charger installation, and emergency electrical repair when something goes wrong at 9 p.m. on a Sunday. If it’s got wires and a breaker, we’ve probably fixed it.
Johnston’s housing stock is old. The median build year here is 1971, and more than 12% of homes were built before 1940. That means a lot of electrical systems are running on borrowed time. We price every job individually because no two homes are the same, and we’re not interested in charging you for work you don’t need.
If your breakers trip regularly, your panel is warm to the touch, you see rust or corrosion inside the box, or your home was built before 1990 and still has the original panel—it’s time to upgrade. Panels are rated by amperage, and most older Johnston homes have 60- or 100-amp panels. That was fine when homes used less power, but modern households typically need at least 200 amps to run safely.
Another sign is if you’re adding new appliances or an EV charger and your electrician tells you the panel can’t support it. Upgrading your panel isn’t just about convenience. It’s about safety. Overloaded panels are a leading cause of electrical fires, especially in homes with aging wiring.
We’ll inspect your current setup, check the load requirements for your home, and let you know whether an upgrade makes sense now or if you can wait.
Knob and tube wiring was standard in homes built before the 1950s. It’s not inherently dangerous if it’s in good shape and hasn’t been modified—but that’s rare. Most knob and tube systems have been patched over the years, and they weren’t designed to handle the electrical load of a modern home.
The bigger issue is insurance. Many carriers in Rhode Island won’t insure a home with active knob and tube wiring, or they’ll charge you significantly more. Some will make an exception if a licensed electrician inspects it and certifies it’s safe, but that’s not a long-term solution.
Replacing it means pulling new wiring through your walls, which sounds invasive but is usually cleaner than people expect. We work carefully to minimize damage, and the result is a system that’s code-compliant, safer, and won’t disqualify you from coverage. If you’re buying or selling a home in Johnston and knob and tube comes up in the inspection, this is the fix.
If you’ve lived through a multi-day outage in Johnston, you already know the answer. Storms here can knock out power for 50,000+ customers at a time, and restoration can take days depending on how widespread the damage is. A generator keeps your heat running in winter, your fridge cold, your sump pump working, and your medical devices powered if you or a family member depends on them.
The size you need depends on what you want to run. A smaller portable generator might cover your essentials—fridge, a few lights, your furnace. A whole-home standby generator will power everything automatically when the grid goes down, including your AC, water heater, and outlets throughout the house.
We’ll calculate your home’s load requirements and recommend a generator that fits your needs and budget. Installation includes connecting it to your electrical panel, running a dedicated gas or propane line, and setting up the automatic transfer switch so it kicks on without you lifting a finger. We also handle ongoing maintenance and repairs to keep it running when you need it most.
It depends entirely on the job. Replacing a faulty outlet might run you $150 to $300. A full panel upgrade typically falls between $1,500 and $3,000 depending on the amperage and how much rewiring is involved. Generator installation can range from $3,000 for a smaller unit to $10,000+ for a whole-home system with all the hookups.
We price each job individually because your home’s age, layout, and existing electrical setup all factor in. A straightforward repair in a newer home is going to cost less than rewiring a section of a 1940s house with plaster walls and no attic access.
What we won’t do is give you a quote over the phone without seeing the job. We’ll come out, assess what’s needed, and give you a clear price before we start. No surprises. No hidden fees. If something changes once we open a wall or panel, we’ll talk to you before doing any extra work.
Yes. Electrical emergencies don’t wait for business hours, and some situations can’t wait until morning. If you’ve got sparking outlets, a burning smell coming from your panel, or you’ve lost power to part of your home and can’t figure out why—call us.
We’ll get someone out as quickly as possible to assess the situation and make it safe. That might mean shutting off power to a circuit, replacing a damaged breaker, or identifying a wiring fault that’s creating a fire hazard. Emergency calls do come with premium pricing because we’re pulling someone off-hours, but if it’s genuinely urgent, it’s worth it.
Not every after-hours call is a true emergency, though. If a breaker tripped and you just need help resetting it, or an outlet stopped working but nothing else is affected, that can usually wait until the next business day. We’ll help you figure out what’s what when you call.
Yes. We’re licensed to handle electrical work for both homes and businesses in Johnston, RI. Commercial jobs tend to be larger in scope—think rewiring a retail space, upgrading panels in an office building, or installing new lighting systems in a warehouse. But the principles are the same: safe, code-compliant work that solves the problem without cutting corners.
For commercial clients, we also handle things like three-phase power installations, dedicated circuits for equipment, and ongoing electrical maintenance contracts. If you’re opening a new business or renovating an existing space, we’ll work with you to make sure your electrical setup can handle your operational needs.
Residential or commercial, the process is similar. We assess the job, give you a clear estimate, complete the work, and make sure everything’s up to code. The main difference is scale and complexity, but we’ve handled both for years.
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