What LED retrofits involves

A building owner wants the same answer every time. Is it safe, and when is it done. The work starts with finding out what is actually there. With LED retrofits, that means looking at the existing wiring, the panel capacity and whatever the last person left behind.

Honest answer first. If what you have is fine, we say it is fine. If it needs work, we tell you how much and why, with the urgent parts separated from the ones that can wait.

Where this comes up

Build-outs, tenant work, lighting and three-phase power for buildings that cannot go dark. Most of these calls come from Des Plaines and the surrounding suburbs, but we take them anywhere in our service area.

Older Illinois buildings rarely match the drawings, if there are drawings at all. Circuits wander between floors, junction boxes hide above ceilings, and a single breaker might feed a bedroom and half the kitchen. Tracing it properly is the first hour of a lot of jobs.

How we do it

We show up when we said we would and explain the work before we start. Permits get pulled where they are required, and the job is not finished until it passes inspection.

Why this is worth doing properly

Electrical work is the kind you only see when it goes wrong. A connection that was never tightened properly, a splice with no box around it, a breaker larger than the wire behind it: all of it looks fine for years. Doing it properly means it stays fine, and the inspection is the independent check that the work was done the way it should be.

The cost of doing it right the first time is almost always lower than the cost of doing it twice. We would rather tell you the job is bigger than you hoped than come back in two years.

Scheduling and how long it takes

Same day for anything unsafe, like no power or a burning smell. A service upgrade starts as soon as the permit and ComEd allow, and most other work fits in within a few days.

We will tell you at the quote which parts we control and which parts we do not. A service upgrade waiting on a utility appointment is a different timeline from a panel swap we can do tomorrow.

The inspection is the point

An inspection is an independent check that what went behind the drywall matches what was supposed to. Work that passes has been verified by somebody with no stake in the invoice.

That is also why we would rather you hire a licensed contractor than the cheapest number you can find. Unpermitted electrical work is a problem you inherit, and it usually surfaces at the worst moment.

Grounding and bonding

Grounding is the part nobody sees and the part that decides whether a fault clears safely. The ground path has to be continuous and low-impedance from every device back to the service, and the neutral and ground can only be bonded together in one place.

A neutral bonded to ground in a subpanel is one of the most common defects we find. It works right up until it does not, and then it puts current on metal that people touch.

What to do before we arrive

If water is anywhere near the panel or an outlet, do not touch either one. Stay out of the wet area, keep everyone back, and call us. A flooded basement with live circuits is a job for us, not for a pair of rubber boots.

Do not try to open the panel or take a device apart. Just tell us what you noticed and when, and we will take it from there.