Local team focusing on safe, code-compliant electrical solutions for East Bay homes, including older properties and remodels.
Homeowners cite careful diagnosis on older homes, clear written estimates for complex projects, and crews that stay on schedule and clean up thoroughly. Many mention code-compliant work and detailed explanations before and after service.
Oakland-based with regular service to nearby East Bay neighborhoods; call to verify coverage for your address.
Common requests include knob-and-tube replacement, electrical panel and subpanel upgrades, new circuit runs for kitchens and EVs, lighting and fixture installation, smoke and CO alarm upgrades, and troubleshooting older wiring.
Reviews highlight strong workmanship on older homes, including full rewires and panel upgrades. Customers often mention punctual arrivals, clear estimates, and thorough cleanup. A minority of feedback notes upsell concerns or estimates exceeding initial expectations. Overall sentiment trends very positive with many repeat customers.
i had a large electrical job done by damell and brandon. they were extremely professional, diligent, and thorough in their work. they were also very patient with us since our house is over 100 years old, and hence many tasks took longer than anticipated. the scheduling manager was easy to work with and understanding as well regarding the job going over time estimates. damell is extremely knowledgeable and experienced, he is very good at troubleshooting issues and talking you through the resolutions. in the end, the work speaks for itself and has been done to a very high standard. the price was also very reasonable, in my opinion. i would recommend five or free’s services to anyone in the area.
Five or Free rewired my 1907 house 8 years ago. They did a great job getting us from knob and tube to modern standards with many new circuits. This week we needed a few fixtures replaced and an upgrade to our fire alarms. They came out and fixed it all. Carlos is the charming dude who came to our place. He likes good coffee, so we were glad to share our Pete's.
I'm disappointed. Two neighbors recommended these guys and the reviews are good but I don't want to work with them! I wanted to have recessed lights and an oven fan added to my kitchen, plus I wanted a few outlets fixed. Instead of getting a quote for the work, Tommy measured the voltage drop on all the outlets in my 1948 home, found them to be around 114V instead of 120V, which isn't ideal, but isn't a big deal, and then basically said they would have to do an assessment to understand the voltage drop, which is close to $1000 for the whole house before they would even give me a quote for work. I said I'd have to think about it because that's a lot of money to pay for no work to get done. We sat in silence for a few minutes, and then he said the office said he could offer me the full house assessment for $200 but I had to let him know by 4:30pm today if I wanted to do that. The sudden insane price drop along with the time pressure seems scammy as hell. So basically you tried to upsell x5. Nope. I also have a furnace appointment with them scheduled for Thursday that I will be cancelling.
SOLAR PROJECT HEROESWe are trying to get Sunrun solar but we have to update our electric before Sunrun can proceed.We had Eric and Carlos come to our home today. They were one of 6 electricians that we had come look at our particular complex, 3 panel update. We knew is was a big job, and almost cancelled the appointment because everyone previous to them could not provide a written estimate, or could not properly identify the complete scope of the work.Eric pulled out a phone that had an application that allowed him to plug in all the parts and labor and we had an estimate for the work within 5 minutes. He then informed us that this estimate is their commitment to an accurate assessment, and should anything pop up along the way, they would take responsibility for that cost.The other piece to this project was that PG&E would need to be involved in approval and permitting. He said they handle all communication with PG&E and that the cost for permits was part of the estimate. This sweetened the deal because the estimate also came with zero interest financing.You can imagine the relief. Eric and Carlos were able to verbally paint a picture for us that they could handle the scope of the project from start to finish, with a dollar amount that wasn't going to get pushed, and the option for zero interest financing. We signed the contract on the spot. The contract gives us three days to pull out should our other parties decide they don't want to move forward.Conclusion, if you are trying to get solar before the end of the rebates and updating your system is required, Five or Free is fully prepared to make that project possible.
We had Five or Free electricians replacing an old subpanel and running some new circuits for our kitchen remodel. Everything is now up to current code :) - an unexpected expense that we're glad we took care of quickly. The service technicians (Evan and Matt) showed up on time and spent a long day completing all the work professionally. They cleaned up every work area and patched the walls nicely. We'll be calling back for our next remodeling project I'm sure.
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