Worried no one will bother with one little fixture? Or that they'll show up and try to sell you a bigger job? Not here. A licensed Master Electrician swaps your light and talks it through with you before opening the box.
If we come out to swap a fixture and find the existing box can't safely hold the new one, we tell you the real cost to upgrade - and we tell you what the alternative is. We're not trying to maximize the ticket on one visit. We charge for what we do, we do it right, and we want you to call us in two years when something else needs fixing.
We've watched other electricians do that for twenty years. It's not how we run jobs.
A heavier fixture, a high ceiling, or a box that needs work takes more time, and you hear about it before we touch a thing.
Standard flush-mount and semi-flush-mount ceiling lights. Most bedroom, hallway, and closet fixtures fall here.
Kitchen pendants, dining chandeliers, foyer fixtures at standard ceiling height. Existing box rated for the weight.
Heavier chandeliers (over 25 lbs) often need a fan-rated box or new bracing. We upgrade the box at the same visit.
High-ceiling foyer work. We use proper scaffolding or lift, not a wobbly ladder over your stair landing. Heavier fixtures included.
Bathroom vanity lights, sconces over mirrors. GFCI considerations on bathroom circuits per NEC 210.8.
Hardwired smart fixtures (Lutron, Caseta, Philips Hue Sync) installed and paired with your existing app. Switch reprogramming included.
Simple answer: fixture work is charged by the hour.
A small job doesn't need a big production. You book a window. We show up on time. The light works before we leave. Three steps, and most of the time it's one visit.
Call to book a window. We confirm same day and go over the job with you. Most fixture work is scheduled within a week.
The same in-house crew that handles our panel work arrives in the booking window - no rotating subs, no dispatcher you have never spoken to. We look at the job, tell you what we see before we open the box, and do the work.
Fixture mounted, wired, tested. Old fixture removed. Boxes cleaned up. We test the switch and dimmer with you on a final walkthrough before we leave.
"A fixture swap is the same job, mentally, as wiring a new pool. Show up on time. Talk it through. Do the work right. Test it. Clean up.
You can swap a standard ceiling fixture yourself if you're comfortable working in a junction box, you know how to safely identify the hot/neutral/ground wires, and the existing box is rated for the new fixture's weight. For straightforward swaps, plenty of homeowners do it. We don't pretend otherwise.
Where we add real value: when the existing box isn't rated for the new fixture's weight (common with heavier chandeliers), when the wiring you find in the box is older than current code and shouldn't be reused as-is, when the fixture is in a hard-to-access location (two-story foyers, vaulted ceilings), or when you want it done right the first time with the warranty that comes from licensed work. For a small job like this, hiring it out is reasonable. For a fixture you'd struggle to install correctly, it's the safer call.
We'll tell you on site - before we open the box and definitely before we charge you for the install. If the fixture isn't a fit, we explain why, talk through your options (different fixture, box upgrade, wiring change), and you decide. No high-pressure push to do a bigger job.
Common reasons a fixture doesn't fit: existing box isn't fan-rated for a heavier piece, the new fixture is wired for a different switch configuration than what's in the wall (three-way vs single-pole, dimmer vs standard), or the existing wiring is degraded and shouldn't be reused. We're a Master Electrician practice - when we tell you a fixture needs a box upgrade, it's because it actually does, not because we want to add to the ticket.
We charge a diagnostic-visit fee when we come out to assess something without a confirmed scope of work. If you book the work after the visit, the visit fee is credited toward the job.
Diagnostic visits are for when something isn't working and you want a licensed electrician to look at it before deciding what to do. They're not for confirmed fixture replacements where you've already picked the new fixture. The diagnostic visit is a $275 flat fee, credited toward any repairs we do.
It depends on what we find. Knob-and-tube, ungrounded two-wire, or aluminum branch wiring all complicate fixture installs. We'll tell you on site what we see and whether a clean install is possible with the existing wiring or whether the wiring itself should be addressed first. We don't install fixtures on wiring we don't think is safe.
If the older wiring is the real issue, we tell you what it would take to fix it: sometimes a partial rewire of that one circuit, sometimes a bigger conversation (see our whole-house rewiring). Wiring repairs are charged by the hour, like the fixture swap. If the wiring work will take more than a day, we write it up and quote it before we start.
If you're booking a fixture swap, these are the little things people remember once we're standing there. Mention them when you book and we'll fold the time in - one trip, one visit, the same Master Electrician.
One call sets it up. We do it in one visit. No upsell, no runaround - just the light fixed. Small jobs like this are charged by the hour.