Tom's Electrical, Inc.

Q. Describe the most common types of jobs you do for your clients.

 

A. We do a lot of service calls fixing old wiring in peoples homes. Replacing switches, receptacles, fixtures and updating main panels.

 

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

 

A. My biggest thing that I ask my customers when they are looking at quotes from multiple contractors is to make sure that everyone is on the same page and that they compare apples to apples. Sometimes when a contractor gives you a low price they are leaving something out and at the end of the project the customer is left paying extra for things that they thought they were already getting.

 

Q. If you were a customer, what do you wish you knew about your trade? Any inside secrets to share?

 

A. The amount of time spent keeping up with all the changes in the industry. We are constantly educating ourselves to be better at what we do.

 

Q. What important information should buyers have thought through before seeking you out?

 

A. Don't always go for the lowest price. Sometimes contractors will leave things out of their quotes only to charge you extra at the end of the job even though they knew from the beginning that those "extra" things needed to be done.

 

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

 

A. We strive to be fair and honest with our customers. We treat our customers with respect because we know that they are the future of the success of our business.

 

Q. What do you like most about your job?

 

A. I enjoy interacting with people. We are always on the road going to different places and meeting new people.

 

Q. What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

 

A. How long have you been doing this? I started in the trade fresh out of high school in 1988. Went through trade school for 4 years and had my masters license by 1995 and soon after started my own business.What kind of experience do you have? I have worked in all areas of the electrical field. Residential work, from new home wiring, additions, service upgrades, changing fixtures, central vacuum systems and more. Commercial work, new construction, stores, offices, changing light bulbs, changing ballasts, lighting retrofits and more.Industrial work, electrical panels, wiring machines and equipment, boilers, A/C equipment, control wiring and more.

 

Q. How did you decide to get in your line of work?

 

A. My father was in the construction industry as a carpenter and I worked with him a lot growing up and I found an interest in electric.

 

Q. Do you do any sort of continuing education to stay up on the latest developments in your field?

 

A. We are required to take classes yearly to keep up with the changes in the National Electrical Code.

 

Q. What are the latest developments in your field? Are there any exciting things coming in the next few years or decade that will change your line of business?

 

A. A big thing is lighting retrofits. It is amazing to me when we go into a big building and update all of the lighting and see the difference it makes not only how much brighter everything is but the fact that you are using about half as much electric.

 

Q. Describe your most recent project, what it involved, how much it cost, and how long it took.

 

A. We recently did a control wiring job for a large 2 story office building. We had to install wiring for all of the heating and air conditioning systems in the building. There were over 50 units that were all linked together with the building control system so they could communicate with each other. We installed space temperature sensors, duct temperature and humidity sensors and air pressure sensors through out the building. We were there for a little over 60 days and when all was said and done the job cost was just over $30,000.00. Obviously this was one of our bigger projects.

 

Q. If you have a complicated pricing system for your service, please give all the details here.

 

A. We have a flat fee of $120.00 for service calls which includes the first hour that we are there and then it is $95.00 per hour for the remainder.For larger jobs we give estimates.

 

Q. If you were advising someone who wanted to get into your profession, what would you suggest?

 

A. Make sure that you are willing to keep up with the ever changing industry.

 

Q. What is your greatest strength?

 

A. I think that my greatest strength is that I am the person that you will be dealing with on every job. I am the one that gives you the estimate and the one that is doing the work.