I hired Kirk over the phone to install a modern chandelier/light fixture in my dining room & explained to him that the dinning room had an 11 ft ceiling. He arrived on time and was very pleasant to deal with. However did not bring a ladder and had to leave to bring one back to do the work. After about an hour into the work he informs me that he raised is hourly rate to 170 and hour. I was surprised, because I know the going rate for electrical work is between 100 and 180 an hour depending on the scope of work and the size of the crew. He then tells me he raised his rate because his friend, who is a plumber told him to...also that he
( Kirk)was confident in his abilities. I didn't comment and hoped for the best since he was already here working.
6 hours later ... he's ready to hang the light fixture from the existing j box. I will say that the fixture was complicated and the wiring was tedious. Kirk kept saying , I want to do this right the first time so I only have to install it once..the fixture weighs about 15 lbs... not heavy. But I had to assist him by holding the fixture on top of my own 10 ft ladder while he attached it to the J box.
After getting it wired and attached to the jbox we lowered the fixture and it was obvious that it was not level. Then, when I raised one side about an inch to the level position, the fixture came unattached from the box and fell from the ceiling. He was unable to finish the install and had the nerve to charge me 750.
Kirk is a likeable man however he cannot be counted on for complicated installations. Simple wiring, replace a light switch or dimmer fine, change out a simple ceiling mount fixture...fine.
I cannot recommend Kirk and Lamorinda electric because he arrived unprepared, is slow, did not have an assistant to help him with installation and came across as unscrupulous when he arbitrarily raised his hourly rate to 170 after being here a while.
I ended up reinstalling the fixture myself...and now it hangs LEVEL. read more