My brother and I had Meyer Electric replace all the knob and tubing wiring in our new home in Smithfield, as well as replace our fuse box and install a new panel and replace the outside wire. Three days' work.
Bottom Line: The most honest, through, & knowledgeable of the half dozen electricians we vetted. Greg Meyer did the most complete, precise exam of my existing set up when we met, the most detailed estimate, and was a detail-oriented perfectionist during the work phase. By FAR he was the least expensive, and when work time ran over his estimated time frame he honored his estimated price. Great work, great price, great personality.
The Details: My father spent years putting in handcrafted, intricate molding and wood work throughout the house. Each electrician warned me they would "need" to punch holes in the walls to "fish" the replacement wires in place. Greg reckoned he wouldn't need to. I can now see why: a perfectionist, he pushed and pulled, pulled and pushed and stuck with the hardest fishing until he got the wires in proper place, no matter how long it took. No holes in my walls thanks to his fierce patience. I couldn't believe he was so dedicated, and realized why everyone would punch holes in my wall to get finished faster. When this extra effort ate up time he never asked for a higher amount.
Of the six electricians we vetted four didn't even enter our attic to inspect what we had up there. One gave an estimate of $9,000 to "upgrade entire house to code" - ???. Another wanted $5,000 to just replace the easy-to-reach, visible wires and connect the new stuff to the existing live knob and tube wires inside the walls - these wires being entire reason we wanted the work done in the first place.
Another (who has his own fan club of glowing Angie's List reviews ) did check the attic, and - after shutting the first knob and tube circuit off and reentering the attic - "found" a "second, live" knob and tube line (Beep. "Hear that? This second line is live,too") but was generous enough to offer a discounted rate of $1,500 extra for taking care of this "second circuit." He bragged how good the plastering would be over all the holes he'd punch into my walls. This professional Great Guy also warned us of the mistake of pulling a town permit for the knob and tube work, because the local much-too-powerful town inspector would force us to upgrade everything in the whole house, costing us a fortune. Better to just have the knob and tube repair work between us. The state Electrical Investigator told me this is against state law and an insurance nightmare if an electrical fire ever happened. He called the town inspector & verified I would not be required to replace everything as warned by Mr. Between-Us.
The day I met Greg he hopped into the attic and spent a half hour tracing the knob and tube line he found in the basement. He shut off the circuit, then checked what in our house was affected. Strangely, unlike Guy Smiley, he did not find a second 'live' knob and tube circuit. Greg estimated a single knob and tube circuit and his three day estimate was $3,000 including the new fuse box for 200 amp service & outside new outside wire. This was the cheapest estimate of all of them, and the most thorough and complete examination.
I never knew Greg before, but he is my electrician for life. I've sent friends to him now and they are thrilled with his work, too. A lot of work going through so many other electricians, but I avoided two flim-flammers with excellent references, two Overprice Kings, and a guy with holes in the wall uppermost in his mind looking at my house and the work. read more