Questions to Ask Before Hiring an Electrician

This Blog was posted for you By Your Electrician in San Antonio – Good Electric

Questions to Ask Before Hiring an Electrician

It is good to ask questions before hiring an electrician. Most electricians are honest and capable of doing excellent work, but there will be a few that are not. Not all electricians handle every electrical job – something you should keep in mind. Some are only involved in construction and remodeling work, and some electricians only are into doing minor jobs and repairs.

Electricians – Tools of the Trade

You must explain to the electrician beforehand what kind of work you need to do. Ask if they are capable of doing what you require.

Before hiring an electrician, you’ll also want to keep certain things in mind. For insurance purposes and when a permit is required, ensure the electrician you’re about to hire is properly licensed. Ask to see proof of their current license.

It is essential to know that an electrician is insured for the work they do on your home. You wouldn’t want to be sued if a worker is injured while working in your home. You may also want to consider asking for proof of workers’ compensation that the electrician should carry.

Most electrical contractors don’t mind giving you an estimate at your home. However, they can lose money driving to your home if it’s a minor job. Therefore, electricians may give you a minimum or a fixed price for the job you want to be done. On large jobs, you can ask for an hourly rate.

You should call around and get the best rates for the work you need. For larger jobs, have more than one contractor come out to your home for an estimate. That being said, don’t automatically go for the lowest price. Look into the company’s background and reputation and consider that. You know the saying – you get what you pay for. The same is true if you hire an electrician who seems way cheaper than the rest. It’s probably too good to be true, and you’ll have to hire an electrician who knows what he’s doing to fix the mistakes the cheaper electrician made.

Many think buying the electrical materials they need for the job will save money.

Don’t do it; here’s why:

The electrician knows precisely what he/she needs, and you do not.
Electricians buy wholesale and get discounts to which the general public isn’t entitled.
If the electrician buys the parts, he is responsible for replacing them if they break or something is missing.

Sometimes, the electrician will need to cut holes in your wall for their work. Ask who is responsible for fixing any damage incurred throughout the job. Will the electrician take care of the repairs? Before hiring an electrician, be safe and ask before the job has started whether they think the work they’ll be doing will incur any damage to your home.

With small jobs, the electrician may want to be paid as soon as the job is completed. On larger jobs, the electrician may ask for a down payment before he starts the job. Then, he will want the rest of the balance when the job is completed or in installments. If you don’t think you’ll be able to pay the electrician the total amount of the job upon completion – before hiring the electrician – make sure to mention this at the beginning and work out a payment plan that suits both parties. More on this website

If the electrician brings extra workers to help out on larger jobs, he’ll likely have to charge more. Therefore, if the job you need to be done is quite a big job, ask about extra staff before the job starts.

Before hiring an electrician, it’s good to sit down and think of every aspect of what you want to be done and anticipate any problems the electrician may encounter.

Some questions you may want to think about asking yourself might be:

Do you know of any faulty wiring in the house?
How old are the wiring/fixtures that the electrician will be working on?
Are any of the walls surrounding fixtures, plugs, electrical boxes, etc., rotting or damaged?
Has there been any water damage to the areas where the electrician will work?
Have you ever had circuit breakers go out?
Do any lights in your house flicker?

Considering the unexpected before it happens and discussing it with your electrician should reduce any surprises for you (extra costs) and the electrician (extra work). Hiring an electrician doesn’t have to be a nightmare. Follow the advice above and weed out the bad ones to find your dream electrician.

San Antonio Residential Pest Control – Bed Bugs

This Blog was posted for you By Your Pest Control San Antonio – Jenkins Pest and Lawn

San Antonio Residential Pest Control – Bed Bugs

We are specialists in removing bed bugs in your home or business. While we all have heard that nursery saying, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite, and giggled, finding bed bugs in your bed is no laughing matter. Regarding pests, bed bugs are usually the most challenging species to kill. Bed bugs are extremely tiny, elusive, and difficult to detect.

You’ll find bed bugs hiding within the folds of all types of fabrics, which include: mattresses, curtains, clothing, carpets, couches, etc.. Very quickly, bed bugs can lay hundreds of eggs in these areas, undetected, and cause infestations. Bed bugs survive by feeding on blood and can cause human reactions such as rashes ad skin discomfort.

Need bed bug pest control? Our exterminators pride themselves on connecting you to the best exterminators available to help you get rid of your bed bug infestations. Our specialists focus exclusively on your bed bug problem. Our bed bug exterminators use proven methods to eliminate your bed bug problems. Services provided include visual bed bug inspections, cyronite / freezing, dry vapor steam / HEPA vacuuming, bed bug chemical and pesticide treatments, bed bug monitoring systems, bed bug mattress and box spring encasements, as well as heat treatments when you need bed bug extermination.

Proper treatment of bed bugs takes a minimum of three visits from a professional, qualified pest control specialist.

All beds should be removed, and the linens laundered. (120 degrees Fahrenheit minimum)
Mattresses and box springs need to be removed from the bed frame.
All closets need to be empty, and clothing laundered or cleaned.
Clothes should be sealed in black plastic bags and placed in direct sunlight for approximately 4 hours to cook any bugs that may still be inside the clothing after being washed.
All furniture needs to be moved a minimum of 3 feet from the walls.
Furniture needs to be available for inspection and possible treatment.
Heavily-infested mattresses must be discarded.
Dresser drawers need to be emptied and removed.
The carpet may need to be pulled for treatment of cracks and crevices.

It is good practice, but not required, to perform the above preparation measures before contacting a bed bug exterminator. This will ensure that your problem is eliminated more quickly.

We provide bed bug extermination from single-family homes to five-star hotel rooms. No dwelling is exempt from the possibility of having bed bugs. Bed bugs are easily and unknowingly transported all over the place. They can be hiding in a piece of luggage, a shoe, or even a pant leg. Young bed bugs are nearly invisible to the naked eye, while full-grown bed bugs are 6mm long. If you find you have a case of bed bugs, contact us immediately, and we will help you eliminate them quickly and efficiently. Don’t suffer bed bugs. Call us today, your connection to bed bug exterminators.

What are bed bugs?

Bugs, bed-bugs, or bedbugs are parasitic insects of the cimicid family that feed exclusively on blood. Cimex lectularius, the common bed bug, is the best known, as it prefers to feed on human blood. The name bed bug derives from the preferred habitat of Cimex lectularius: warm houses, especially near or inside beds and bedding or other sleep areas. Bed bugs are mainly active at night but are not exclusively nocturnal. They usually feed on their hosts without being noticed. If you find an infestation of bed bugs in your home or business, contact our exterminators to get your bed bugs eliminated for good.

Not sure if you have bed bugs?

We also provided bed bug inspections. Bed bugs, as the name implies, are commonly associated with areas where we sleep. These insects lay dormant during daylight hours in small cracks and crevices, coming out at night to feed on our blood. Bedbugs often hide near bedding areas but can travel up to 100 feet to obtain a meal. Most activity occurs between midnight and 7:00 am. The bite of a bedbug is painless, but most people will develop an allergic reaction to the saliva transferred from the bugs as they feed. The reaction will result in red, swollen, and itchy skin. Rid your home of bed bugs. Contact us today! The average bed bug pest control cost is $1000 to $1,500.

Garbage Disposal Not Working: A Step By Step Checklist

When you discover your garbage disposal not working, this step-by-step checklist can serve as a troubleshooting guide. My definition of “garbage disposal not working” means that when you turn on the switch, the unit is not running (or operates) and there is no humming sound. We need to understand that even if you have the best garbage disposal on the market, you are bound to encounter some problems in usage.

For such cases when your home unit cannot be turned on and no humming sound coming from the motor, one of the obvious causes might be an electrical problem. Just follow the step by step checklist outline below to fix the problems.Plumbing services – garbage disposal service

Step 1: First, check to ensure that the power cord of your disposal is plugged in. Confirm that the disposal is not working again before you proceed to the next step.

Step 2: Locate the reset button which should be at the bottom or the side of the unit and press it to reset. (Note: When you see the reset button sticking out, it means the unit has tripped. You need to push the button inwards to reset the disposal.)

Step 3:I f the garbage disposal is still unable to start, the next step is to check whether the circuit breaker in the electrical service panel has tripped or turned off. When the circuit breaker trips again after resetting, it means that there is a current overload or a short circuit on the circuitry. If you are in this scenario and don’t have any electrical background or circuit breaker troubleshooting skills, it’s best to consult a technician to rectify the fault.

Step 4: When everything is in order and the garbage disposal not working, the next move is to check the power switch which is located on the wall or under the sink. Turn off the circuit breaker and unplug the power cord. Open the unit switch housing to check for any loose wiring or broken wire.

If the switch is faulty, replace it with a new one. Before turning back the power to the unit, we are going to do 1 more extra step by checking the wire termination to the unit. The connection to the motor is at the base of the unit.

Remove a small cover at the bottom of the garbage disposal to access the wire connection. Check for any loose connections or broken wires. If everything is in order, put back the cover.

Step 5: Turn on the circuit breaker and switch on power to the garbage disposal. By this stage, if the disposal still does not turn on, the final step is to use a voltage meter to measure the voltage across the switch box terminal. If you are unsure about this step, consult someone with electrical background or a technician.

Step 6: If the required voltage is present, we can conclude that you need to repair the unit or get a new replacement.

We hope that the above step by step checklist to troubleshoot garbage disposal is useful, especially when you find your garbage disposal not working.

This Blog was posted by Chambliss Plumbing in San Antonio, Texas