I wish I could rate Jeff better but I would not recommend Jeff for big jobs that need to meet code. I needed a 200A residential power upgrade and a sub-panel re-wiring. In short it went well up to the point that Jeff was going to be contacting PG&E about job coordination. At this point, Jeff stopped all communication and I was left with a job that was incomplete and done wrong. It is really a shame because Jeff was a nice guy but this has now cost me thousands of dollars to get done correctly.
The sub-panel went well and the work was neat. Absolutely no complaints. However, the large part of the job was the service feed between the street box and the utility panel on the garage. What I know now from PG&E is that several things were done incorrectly. Number one is that PG&E should have been contacted first. New code required this to be located further from the gas main riser which Jeff understood. However the meter load center he planned to use was too wide. The distance requirement is to the side of the box, not the conduit entry center. Jeff and his friend did extensive trenching to meet the depth code in the main yard area but the entry into the street box came in at a shallow level under the sidewalk where it should have been at 36" deep and enter the bottom of the street box in a curved 24" radius entry. Both the sidewalk and the walkway areas were supposed to be cut to ensure dirt compaction after the job is complete. The conduit was supposed to use swedge fittings. It is now scrapped.
My biggest complaint is that Jeff ran out on me. His rates were affordable but I wish we could have perhaps come to an agreement on the cost to re-work the job. However, I could not leave messages or send texts once communications stopped. What would have cost me $4500 with Jeff ended up costing me over 10K with electricians who regularly coordinate such jobs with PG&E. Even had I paid him double, it would have saved me money. The coordination and planning with PG&E is extensive and requires 1500 payment, and three separate inspections for the trench, mandrel pull and wire pull. For this reason these jobs are ridiculously expensive. Little of the job could be salvaged and I got little credit for the trenching that Jeff had performed. It's unfortunate and I wish this had gone better. Otherwise it would have been a four or five star review. read more