Electrical work that starts by finding the fault

Probably, if you're still on 60 or 100 amp service and you're adding a heat pump, an EV charger, or a kitchen full of new appliances. The second tell is a panel with no empty slots, where tandem breakers have been doubled into spaces that were never designed for them. A few panel brands are their own reason to replace. Federal Pacific Stab-Lok and Zinsco panels have a long, documented history of breakers that don't trip when they should, and an inspector will call that out. We look at the whole service, not just the box on the wall, because the meter base, the service entrance cable and the grounding all age at the same rate.

• 100 amp service that can't carry a heat pump, an EV charger and an electric range at once
• 200 amp panel and meter base upgrade
• a full panel with nowhere to land another circuit
• Federal Pacific Stab-Lok or Zinsco panel replacement
• rust, corrosion or water staining inside the panel
• double-tapped breakers written up on a home inspection
• a subpanel for a garage, a workshop or an addition
• grounding and bonding brought up to current code
• storm damage to the meter base or service entrance

Nine times out of ten it's a tripped GFCI somewhere else on the same circuit, and the GFCI is hiding in a garage, a bathroom, or outside behind a shrub. After that, the usual causes are a back-stabbed connection that has worked itself loose, or one old circuit carrying far more than it was wired for in 1978. Warm outlets and loose plugs are worth fixing early. A receptacle that can no longer grip a plug arcs a little every time something is switched on, and that heat has to go somewhere.

• a dead outlet, a loose outlet, or one that's warm to the touch
• two-prong outlets replaced with properly grounded ones
• GFCI protection for kitchens, bathrooms, garages, crawl spaces and exterior walls
• AFCI breakers for bedroom circuits
• a dedicated circuit for a window unit, a chest freezer, a microwave or a home office
• new outlets where you've been running extension cords all year
• weatherproof exterior and garage receptacles
• USB outlets, smart switches and dimmers swapped in
• a circuit run for a hot tub, a well pump or a shed

A brief dip when a large motor starts is normal and not worth worrying about. Flickering that carries on, or that shows up in several rooms at once, is different. That pattern points at a loose neutral or a connection failing at the panel, and it's the kind of fault that gets worse quietly. If lights dim and brighten on their own with nothing switching on, get it looked at rather than living with it.

• recessed lighting in kitchens, living rooms and hallways
• ceiling fan installation where the box isn't rated to carry a fan
• a fixture that hums, buzzes or flickers on a dimmer
• under-cabinet, closet and pantry lighting
• outdoor, soffit and security lighting
• motion sensors and photocells that stopped switching
• three-way switches that only work from one end of the hall
• old fluorescent fixtures converted to LED
• a bathroom exhaust fan put on its own switch

A 240 volt circuit, a breaker slot the panel can actually spare, and a cable run from the panel to wherever the car parks. The charger itself is the simple part. The panel is where these jobs get interesting, so we check the service size and the existing load before quoting the charger. Backup power follows the same logic. A generator is only as useful as the transfer switch feeding it, and a proper inlet beats extension cords through a cracked window every hurricane season. Out in Suffolk that matters more than most places, because when the power goes the well pump goes with it.

• Level 2 EV charger on a dedicated 240V circuit
• hardwired charger or a 14-50 outlet, whichever suits the car
• generator inlet box and manual transfer switch
• standby generator wiring and connection
• whole-home surge protection at the panel
• a backup circuit for a well pump or a sump pump
• a pre-storm check of the generator connection before June

The aluminum itself isn't the hazard. The connections are. Aluminum expands and contracts more than copper, so terminations at outlets and switches loosen over the years and start to heat up. It shows up in houses wired from the mid-1960s through the 1970s, which covers a great deal of Norfolk, Portsmouth and Hampton. Knob-and-tube is older still and turns up in the oldest Norfolk blocks and across Delaware County. It has no ground, the cloth insulation goes brittle, and burying it under blown-in attic insulation is exactly how it overheats. Some insurers ask about both before they'll write a policy, so it's worth knowing which one you have.

• aluminum branch wiring pigtailed to copper with connectors listed for the job
• devices rated CO/ALR where aluminum conductors are being reused
• knob-and-tube identified, isolated and replaced circuit by circuit
• ungrounded two-wire and cloth-covered circuits
• attic insulation packed over live knob-and-tube
• open splices and junction boxes buried behind drywall
• a written scope you can hand to an insurer or a buyer

Most manufacturers put the replacement date at ten years from the date stamped on the back of the unit, and almost nobody checks it. Batteries are the annual job. A detector that chirps for no reason, or false-alarms every time the shower runs, is usually past its date rather than faulty. Carbon monoxide detectors have their own shorter lifespan and belong near sleeping areas and any gas appliance.

• interconnected alarms so one going off sounds them all
• hardwired alarms with battery backup replacing 9V-only units
• CO detectors placed near bedrooms and gas appliances
• alarms that chirp, false-alarm or won't reset
• whole-home surge protection added at the panel
• GFCI and AFCI protection brought current during a remodel

The same handful of items, over and over. Double-tapped breakers, missing GFCI protection in wet areas, open junction boxes, reversed polarity at outlets, and a panel with no clear working space in front of it. Most are cheap to correct and expensive to argue about three days before closing. Newport News has a lot of rental stock, so turnover work is a regular ask there: outlets, alarms, GFCIs and fixtures all handled in one visit rather than five.

• a pre-listing electrical checkover before the photos are taken
• repair-addendum items straight off the buyer's inspection report
• rental turnover: outlets, alarms, GFCIs, fixtures
• corrections written up by an appraiser or an insurer
• a punch list cleared in one visit instead of five
• a walkthrough before you buy an older house