Lars S Fossel Licensed Electrician

Lars is a very competent electrician and the work was of high quality.  But the job ended up being completed much later than I had expected.

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Our first electrician only found some of the faulty wiring in our condo prior to our purchase.  We therefore had to look elsewhere to someone who would be more thorough.  Lars fit the bill perfectly.  He was extremely responsive by both email and phone.  We did have to push the project back a few weeks because of some delays at other jobs, but the fact that he is busy is testament to the great work he does.  Lars was very flexible in getting a new date and always showed up on time. 
Lars did a great job explaining what would need to be done in his estimate.  He also made some great recommendations such as upgrading some of the light switches to the Lutron Pico system.  This was a bit more expensive for materials, but saved us in labor, prevented more holes from being put in the plaster and looks/operates much better than traditional switches.  Our final cost came in about $200 less than expected.  His estimate and final bill were extremely transparent and accurate, which seems to be the exception in the home improvement industry.  We really appreciated that. 
Being responsive and honest are two qualities that Lars definitely exhibits.  Equally as important, the quality of his work is excellent.  Lars finished about a day earlier than expected because he works hard.  He completely removed the remaining K&T wiring and will be writing us a letter to confirm this so we can present that when we go to sell several years from now.  Lars was also very careful in only making small holes where needed.  He cleaned up all the dust every day and even put in temporary patches on the holes.  I have not met another electrician who provides this service.  I therefore do not have to rush to put permanent patches/repaint, which is great.  When Lars saw something unexpected and outside of the original plan, he always called to give his recommendation and make sure it was ok to proceed.  My wife and I greatly appreciated being kept in the loop throughout the project. 
All in all, we had a great experience with Lars and are happy that are condo now has a completely modern electrical system.  We will definitely hire him in the future and will recommend him to any friends and family in the area.

He showed up, did everything quickly, was friendly & helpful.

This is our second review of Lars in less than one month. We just moved into a new house and had Lars come to fix a few things before we moved in but within weeks we had a new list of electrical issues that needed to be addressed. Lars was fantastic. He is extremely professional, honest and friendly and handled all of the work without any problems. Lars took time to explain everything he did and was so helpful in showing me how I could even fix some minor problems myself. He also takes great care to trouble shoot and walk us through his work so that we are better informed. It is so good to know that if we ever have any electrical issues we can just call Lars. We would recommend him to anyone.

All the projects have  been handled in a professional manner.  I will use his services in the future and would recommend his services to anyone.

Lars is very professional, organized and knowledgeable. We were getting quotes to upgrade our 100 amp circuit breaker to 200 amps in our 125 year old home because that is what everyone told us we needed to do prior to updating further electrical needs.  Lars determined that to do so would require digging back out to the main, which would ultimately incur thousands more in costs (which none of the other electricians took the time to determine prior to offering their quotes). And most importantly, he helped us to realize that we didn't actually need 200 amps, just more individual circuits on our box (if appliances are all getting more energy efficient, the 200 amp box is overkill..) - which ultimately was another cost savings. I appreciated that he gave us the information we needed to make the best decision for our needs. We are pleased with our new box, and it has plenty of room for upgrades that we anticipate in the coming years.
Lars sets up a time to review the project and gives a written proposal of the job. He is prompt with communications, and he is very transparent in his process. He was neat and efficient with the work, and actually came in under his original estimate. Then when I thought there was an issue with the laundry outlet, he listened to my concerns, actually came out to check on the issue without a visit fee, and was so kind when we realized that it was just our overworked kitchen circuitry that blew a fuse, not his newly run laundry line. It is so nice to be able to do laundry AND run the microwave at the same time now!
I have years worth of work for Lars, starting next with our kitchen. I cannot wait to work with him again.

We have had problems with the electricity in our family room for months. I've had other electricians look at it and make temporary fixes but the root of the problem was never addressed. Lars figured out the source of the problem and fixed it! In addition, I found him very easy to talk to, friendly, professional, efficient, and priced appropriately.

I have been tripping a breaker for a while, and decided to call someone.  Lars answered his phone right away, and I explained my problem.  He told me he was in an attic and would call me back in about half hour. He called me back and asked me some questions, and said he would try to get to my house the same day. He called me once more to confirm a time. He had asked me the brand of my circuit box. He arrived on time with the part that he would need and was able to replace the bad breaker and then tested it in the room.  The job took about 1/2 hour. I was very impressed with his professionalism.  I plan to have more work done, now that I have found someone I can trust.

I was extremely satisfied with Lars's work. I found him trustworthy, fair, and personable. Highly recommended. 

Lars has been great to work with. The project ended up taking significantly longer than we anticipated, but this was due to having to coordinate with many different workers (plumbing, general contractor, flooring, plaster, etc), and because of significant amounts of strangeness in the construction of our house. Despite the bumps in the schedule, Lars was always thorough and professional. We initially began work on a Time and Materials quote. He anticipated it would take him 11 days to rewire whole house as described above. After two or three days of work, it was clear to him and to us that the house was not behaving and it would be longer than he had estimated. After some discussion, we changed to a fixed price for the initially quoted work. Any time we added something to the scope of the work, Lars was very upfront about what the new portion would cost. The initial T&M quote was $9,500. After he had a better sense of how the project was going to go, the fixed quote was $12,000, plus $200 for the permit. Throughout the project, we added $800 worth of additional work, for a grand total of $13,000. (This is a good time to step back and say we had gotten 4 quotes. Lars was about even with the next lowest quote. Two others quoted $20,000 and required all ceilings to come down, which would have added another $5-7000 in cost to have new ceilings put back up). After we switched to fixed quote, my wife could relax and stop stressing about what Lars was doing every second, which made it much more enjoyable. As so many other reviews have stated, Lars is friendly, personable, professional, and really good at his job. He helped us walk through all parts of the project, and even gave suggestions and advice on other aspects of the overall project. Lars was also very skilled at working with the oddities of bringing a 100-year old house up to code.  We were able to work together to find acceptable locations for sub-panels, switches and outlets that would meet electrical code, fit in the structure of the house, and match our wishes for functionality. He clearly takes great pride in his work, and was available to us by phone at all times. There were several occasions where we called in the later evening or weekends to discuss the project, and he was always available. 
The whole renovation project has finally wrapped up (took about 9 weeks from start to finish) and although it is not visible to anyone else, the updated electrical is one of the things we are enjoying the most. We know the house is safe, we have adequate light in all rooms, and there are no longer half falling out of the wall ungrounded plugs in some of the rooms.

Lars offered the lowest of the five bids we solicited for our semi-DIY kitchen renovation, AND I can not imagine finding a better electrician to work with. 
First, he was the only electrician we found who was really willing to brainstorm with us about the various options available for doing what we wanted to do. Given that we were on a strict budget, we really appreciated that! Even better, he did not hesitate to tell us when safety was an issue (for example, when he found some water damage in the service panel) and we should stop being such tightwads. He was prompt, professional, and pleasant on all his scheduled appearances, and put up with our extremely protracted construction schedule (hey, DIY with a couple of rugrats is hard!) with patience and good humor. He was flexible and accommodating when we threw him a few last-minute requests and when some unexpected structural work meant he had to relocate some switches. He always took the time to explain to us, in detail, what he was doing and why so that we didn't have any misunderstandings.  
Creative solutions to the challenges of older houses seems to be a specialty of his, and I would absolutely not hesitate to recommend Lars for anything. Our new kitchen is a bright and cheery place thanks to his wonderful lighting scheme.

It was really fine, professional, responsive and absolutely no complaints!

Lars was easy to contact and showed up on time for all scheduled appointments. The work was easy to schedule and when he arrived he worked efficiently while minimizing power disruption to the other tenants in the building. He gave an honest estimate for the cost of the work and came in under the estimated time, leaving everything clean in the end. Pleasure to deal with. Would definitely hire again.

Extremely satisfied with the work! Lars was professional, knowledgable, and did a terrific job.  He showed up when he said he would. I expect to hire Lars again to install another ceiling fan.

Lars arrived on-time to begin work, and didn’t mind me looking over his shoulder from time-to-time and answering my questions.  He was also at-ease working in the midst of our family’s daily routine.  His installation was neat and well thought-out and he did not leave a mess or any clutter when he left at the end of the day.  Despite significant up-front planning, he did encounter one problem related to the generator that I had purchased independent of his project quotation.  The fix required a small upgrade to a component that Lars installed as part of the project; however he only asked me to pay for the difference in materials costs between the originally installed component and the upgrade; he did not charge for his time and labor required to make the fix.  Importantly, Lars offered this arrangement without any input from me; this is a strong testament to his commitment to customer satisfaction.

We recently purchased a new home and quickly identified a number of electrical items to be addressed prior to moving in.We found Lars on Angie's list and called him. He came by to look at the job site that same day and scheduled the work to accomodate our schedule. On that day he arrived as scheduled and professionally addressed the various tasks. He did a quality job, including cleaning  up thoroughly after the work was complete.

Lars is professional, knowledgeable, and reliable. He is always very prompt whenever we schedule an appointment and gave clear, accurate estimates as to exactly how long each job would take (which was helpful in budgeting for various repairs). He was able to diagnose the issues we pointed out, as well as alert us to other potential electrical problems in our new house and make suggestions. He works efficiently and always makes sure to answer any questions we have. At our request, he was also happy to explain how various wiring worked and discuss various options for replacing existing fixtures and adding new ones. Once the work was completed, he cleaned up thoroughly and sent an itemized invoice. His expertise and professionalism are greatly appreciated, and we look forward to having him complete more work in our home. We highly recommend him.

very well

unknown

Our house was built in 1880. This was not a small job.   Lars spent two full business days working here with both efficiency and professionalism.  He took care of everything from actual work to the follow ups. He was clear about hourly rates and time spent on the job. we received running e-mails and phone calls regarding the work and changes or complications. He is approachable and communicative. We would recommend his services to anyone who is looking for a reliable electrician.

I had to call Lars because the motion detector was not working properly ever since the hurricane. He came out pretty immediately and said that there must have been a power surge that damaged this so it would need to be replaced.  The part was $70 but he had not told me about how much his hourly rate was $71.25 even though the whole process took less than half an hour.  I expressed surprise at the cost of his rate and he started saying how he had told me about this before. I explained that I had not seen him for over a year and there was no way that I could possibly remember his rate but he wouldn't hardly let me speak until I asked him to let me explain why I was surprised. I don't know why he got like that when he wasn't like this the other times I saw him but he should really have let me know his rate upfront and things do change after a year.  I would use his services again since I know he does good work.

Lars was absolutely amazing! I was hosting my brother's wedding that weekend and needed a set of lanterns installed on the outside of the house. The lanterns were back-ordered and arrived just days before the event. After reading all of the wonderful reviews on Angie's List about Lars' work, I contacted him. Despite the short notice, he was incredibly accommodating and arranged for an appointment. I simply can not rave more about Lars and his work -- he was prompt, affable, affordable, and willing to talk through the installation. I was also able to ask him questions about other work around the house. Lars patiently explained what was needed and how to best proceed. I will definitely be contacting him in the future and will be recommending him to family and friends. Thank you for a great experience -- the front of the house looked great for the wedding!

Lars made an appointment to look at the work that needed to be done. He gave us a rough estimate and returned as scheduled to do the work. He was very courteous, professional, and his charges were very reasonable. We will call him again.

We contacted Lars and he was out the same day to give an estimate for removing an old ceiling light fixture and installing a new one. We scheduled an 8 AM appointment for the next week, and he was there precisely on time, did the work quickly, neatly, and skillfully, and told us a number of helpful things in the process. We will definitely be calling him again.