We live in a 100+ year old Victorian and wanted to install a Nest doorbell in a spot without a visible existing electrical source.
I had about 4 different electricians come in. The answers varied greatly, from very convoluted solutions (we'll plug in a power source in the living room, bring the wire across the floorboard, bring it up over the doorway, drill through the wall, bring it across the top of the front hall, over the front door, and down the wall), to "it cannot be done."
Powerhouse Electric offered the cleanest solution: they would use the power source from the basement, right beneath the front door, and use a drill with a very long attachment to go through the wall and reach that power source. They also had the least expensive quote at $154 per hour, with a minimum of one hour.
Of course there were many unknowns; there might be blockages in the wall, this being a very old house. I spoke to the electrician, Scott, on the phone and he was helpful and explained the worst and best cases. In the end, he said "I'm really good at what I do" and was confident it wouldn't end up being a crazy long job. And that if it was starting to look that way, he would let me know immediately, without running the clock crazy long without my knowledge.
In the end the job only took one hour! They tried one idea that didn't work (opening up part of the ceiling in the basement of what looked like a power source. It ended up being nothing, and they closed it up neatly) but then went with going down the wall with a drill with a long attachment. Our Nest camera is nicely installed!
However, I was surprised the 1-hour job cost $310. It was because there were two men. Maybe it's obvious to others that the "$154 per hour" was actually "$154 per hour per person", but I haven't worked much with contractors, and that was never clarified to me. $310 was a fair price, sure, but I was just a little surprised by it. I just wished they had clarified the quote was per person to set my expectations correctly.
Separately, I also want to note the receptionist at Powerhouse is incredibly friendly and sweet! A pleasure to talk to and work with. When Scott completely missed an appointment, she immediately apologized and admitted fault, as their calendars had had issues syncing recently. read more