Peter Mc Carthy Electric
About us
Thank you for your overwhelming response! As a result, we are unable to take new clients until 1/1/2016 We are an electrical contractor specializing in retrofitting older wiring. We have rewired many older homes from the 1870s- 1960s, and I am expert in redesigning electrical systems to meet modern power requirements and Chicago electrical code. My blog on my website chronicles various jobs we have done and issues I have encountered. I am a 4th generation electrician in Chicago and take great pride in my work.
Business highlights
Services we offer
Electrical repairs.
| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
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| 95% | ||
| 4% | ||
| 1% | ||
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I cannot more highly recommend Peter.
Vanessa Georg
PS Almost forgot, Peter is also a really down-to-earth nice guy! Great personality!
"S, Thank you so much for your kind words. I really appreciate them. I wish you a fabulous 2016! Pete"
Peter knows old buildings, he is enthusiastic about his job, and is just plain and simply great at it. I strongly recommend him for any job, big or small, specially if you live in an older building.
"Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Those words mean a lot to me. Have a great COOL summer! Peter"
"(Member name removed), I apologize most sincerely to you and your family. I try my very hardest to keep up with clients and with all the expectations out there. Family needs sometimes get the better of me and I simply blow it. Also, At times I get so backed up I feel overwhelmed and don't know which way to turn. Both of my employees I counted on for years left last fall, and I am trying my best to handle things on my own. I am not doing a very good job I see. I drop the ball sometimes but in your case it looks like I dropped it so severely. I am deeply embarrassed and ashamed. I did not intend to cause you such hassles. I will reach out this very morning (8AM, Sunday) and see if I can be of service. Again I offer my deepest apologies."
"Thank you [member name removed]! It has been such a pleasure knowing you and your family over all these years. I always enjoy working for you! Happy Halloween! Peter"
Fortunately for us, it turned out that the work wasn't as extensive as the other electrician had imagined, and Pete was able to complete the work for us in a week. Throughout the repairs, Pete tried very hard not to damage the walls more than necessary, and he took great care to keep our hardwood floors in good shape too. He made a few suggestions for other electrical upgrades, but he didn't put any pressure on us to add anything to the job. In the end, we did ask him to add a few new outlets, all of which have proved very handy. He seemed to know a lot about the older electrical systems that are common in vintage buildings.
In addition to the quality of the work, we were really impressed by Pete's professionalism. He takes a lot of pride in doing the job well. He is also incredibly friendly. Lastly, when one of the pull chains on a closet light fixture broke a few months after installation (we bought the fixture, so clearly not Pete's fault), he came out and fixed it without charging us for the visit. He even added loops to the other closets to make sure those pull chains would work better too.
Job: to replace original (1915) wiring in front half of vintage condo unit (entry hall, living room, sunroom, dining room, butler?s pantry). We decided to have this done at this time because we were preparing to have the old cracked ceilings taken down and replaced in the front rooms of the unit. It made sense to do this prior to redecorating, for peace of mind and safety. Peter came to review the situation and suggested a work plan that would be minimally disruptive to us (doing the front half of the apartment now and the back half later). We asked him to add additional outlets in the living room and dining room and to check to see if perhaps there were old sconce boxes behind the wall over the fireplace. He said they would look for evidence of those when they worked on the ceiling fixture box. If no boxes were found, we asked that new ones be installed, using switched fixtures if necessary though we preferred to have them controlled from the wall switch.
Scheduling: We were able to schedule the work within a short time, based on the availability of Peter?s crew. The job was done quickly (two days), with a plan to return after the ceiling replacement/painting was completed, in order to install new lighting fixtures.
Preparation/clean-up: Peter?s crew covered the wood floors with heavy paper in work areas to prevent damage and cleaned up at the end of the work-day.
Sconce boxes. Peter?s crew did not find evidence of sconce boxes over the fireplace so they installed new ones (braving an insecure, badly-cracked ceiling to run the wires), and wiring them so that they can be operated by a wall switch (added to the existing switch box for room?s ceiling light). We hadn?t thought to ask about sconce boxes in the dining room, but when they rewired two of the dining room outlets and the ceiling light, they found evidence of sconce-box wiring above the outlets, so they located the boxes and opened them up. After calling me to let me know about this discovery, they rewired them to operate via a wall switch (again, added to the existing switch box for the room?s chandelier). This was a happy surprise, and they included this in the original cost of the job.
All switches and outlets were replaced as part of the rewiring, and Peter pointed out where plaster repairs were needed to secure one outlet box more securely. The new outlets were taped over to remind painters to not paint over them, a nice touch. Peter?s crew returned soon after the other renovation work was completed, and installed our already-purchased light fixtures ? a semi-flush ceiling fixture in the living room and chandelier-style fixture in the dining room as well as a pair of sconces in each room and a semi-flush ceiling fixture in the butler?s pantry. The results are beautiful, and we?re very happy with the work done as well as the service we received from Peter McCarthy Electric.
Licensing
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