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April 15, 2008
Electrical Rewiring Account
I thought I'd share my experience rewiring a four unit four story brownstone. Two months ago I learned the tenants on the third floor of my four unit four story building would be moving out and I decided it was time I finally rewired it because the wiring was so old that there were still some pull chain type ceiling lights. I also decided as I would be rewiring the third floor I should consider adding power to the second and fourth floor apartments which desperately needed it, especially dedicated AC lines. The apartments are huge and each one had different needs.
I ended up calling 5 licensed electricians for quotes, all praised by previous brownstoner posts. One person never showed up so that was the end of him. Two showed up, we walked through the four units which took about an hour, and then they never even gave me an estimate. One electrician decided he could just give me a quote by listening to what I needed over the phone. The company I decided to go with was Detore. To make a long story short, Detore, perhaps deliberately, made a mistake in the contract and the price went up by $6,000 the day before the job was supposed to start. Now I was in a terrible bind because I didn't want the apartment to sit vacant for more than 30 days and I had to get new quotes because I obviously no longer trusted Detore.
I called 2 more electricians, one being M&N High Tech. Mohamed from M&N, showed up the day after I called him, we walked through the apartments and he had some excellent ideas on how to minimize the work in such a way that could not only bring down the cost of wiring but also the inevitable dstruction that rewiring causes. During our walk through he asked me how I got his number - Brownstoner of course I said.
The next day he gave me an estimate that was 30% lower than any other estimate and he told me he could start this massive job in just two days time and still get it done in time for me to rent it out. So far his team has been showing up every morning, six days a week, and he's been incredibly flexible about working out the inevitable kinks. I won't lie, the destruction required by rewiring is pretty massive, the dust is a real pain, but his crew makes a real effort to clean up. When the job is completed I'll give a final appraisal but so far I am very happy with M&N and I would definitely recommend them over any of the seven other places I called, especially Detore.
If anyone thinks I'm just a shill working for M&N check out my previous posts where I requested advice on this months ago.
Comments
Can you post his number?
Posted by: guest at April 15, 2008 3:38 PM
sure, 646 226 4575
Posted by: Brooklynnative at April 15, 2008 3:47 PM
What was the estimate for the entire job?
Did it include new breaker boxes as well for each unit?
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at April 15, 2008 3:56 PM
The estimae was $14,500, new panel boxes for three units and risers. I don't need one in mine as I live on the first floor and we just ran new power from the basement up.
Posted by: Brooklynnative at April 15, 2008 5:31 PM
Guest 7:13: We got an estimate to upgrade the electrical in 5 apartments for 21,600. This was the least expensive of two estimates. Is this out of whack? Other electricians did not show up or ones that showed up did not give estimates either! And we called people recommended on this board!
Posted by: guest at April 15, 2008 8:03 PM
i have a job for you 7:13 if you want to post your contact details
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at April 15, 2008 8:12 PM
brooklynnative, I totally appreciate your telling us how great M&N are, but couldn't you also name those didn't show up or deliver estimates they promised? If not, this post will leave us wondering how to judge all the other recs we read about electricians on this board.
Posted by: guest at April 16, 2008 1:04 AM
7:13 - how many outlets does your estimate include? How many ceiling lights are you hanging? How many pull chain lights are you replacing? Are you casing through brick - if so for how far? Are you including hardwiring smoke/carbon detectors if so, how many? If you knew what you were talking about, you wouldn't claim you could price a job without knowing the details which you obviously don't. You're a fucktard asshat.
1:04 - I actually cannot remember the names of the guys who didn't show up because I called them a few months ago and spoke to them only once when I made the appointment. I don't call back a contractor who falls to show up. I remember one of the guys who did the walk through but gave no estimate was a Carribean man who was on his cell phone the whole time. I tried Brooklyn/Queen Electric and he did a walk through and didn't give me an estimate. Although, in fairness to him, he got back to me the next morning and said the job was too big for him to complete on the timeframe I needed. I don't recall that man's name but I would have considered using him depending on the price he gave.
Supercharge was one of the two electricans I called after Detore screwed me. Vinny did a walkthrough, he appeared very competent but kept on warning me that the job was going to be massive and he needed about 10 days before he could start so I could not use him. He never called back with an estimate but I knew he wouldn't because it was clear he did not want the job. Alsi, I have a friend who had a small job and happened to use SuperCharge and was very happy with them.
You know what's really amazing, with every single company that showed up, it took well over an hour to walk through the apartments and discuss everything that needed to be done. They would then need another day or two to come up with an estimate and that bozo poster above "as an electrician of 22 years" claims he can price the job from a two paragraph post. I think the internet should be set up where some asshat tries to post something that asinine they get electrocuted when they hit enter.
Posted by: Brooklynnative at April 16, 2008 6:44 AM
I'm the 8:03 poster and Supercharged never showed up, even though he made an appt to give us an estimate. I guess he does not want to do big dirty jobs? I hate that-at least have the decency to call or say that you can't make it, or you can't do the job. How rude!
For our best estimate, Each apartment (5 apts) is getting 2 new air conditioner outlets, and a quad in the kitchen. All of the old wiring from the fuse box is going to be worked into the new panel in each apt. We had already upgraded the boxes in the basement, so its just upgrading the service to the apartments. The best estimate was $21,600. We got another estimate that I thought was outrageous for $33,000 after initially "ball parking" it over the phone for about 13,600.
Posted by: guest at April 16, 2008 7:25 PM
7:25, it sounds like your job is very similar to what I did, except I really only did three not five apartments. I'd definitely give Mohamed a call. I'd also say don't necessarily go with the cheapest estimate, competency and reliability are worth a lot.
Posted by: Brooklynnative at April 17, 2008 7:57 AM
ok -am going to say something that is a bit un-PC - and I hope no one goes crazy
but if Mohammed is from India or Pakistan - that is the reason behind his fair price,courteous and professional behaviour.
They are relatively "new" to the contracting game and I find they are willing to cut prices down big time all the while being doing a great skilled job!!
Posted by: guest at April 17, 2008 3:39 PM
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