The lights mysteriously went out in three of my rooms. I tried everything I could think of to fix it myself (turn the breakers on and off / change out the light bulbs / prey to the light gods) but the lights still would not come on and it kind of freaked me out honestly - why would the lights in three rooms stop working and everything else work fine?!
With electricians (and plumbers) it is such a mixed bag. You never know if you're going to get a rip off artist or someone that just doesn't know what they are doing at all. You don't know until it is done and you have a huge mess to fix.
I asked a couple of friends if they knew of anyone that did quality electrical work. A close friend of mine gave me Alex's name and number and vouched for him. She had gotten work done by him, her brother had gotten work done by him, and her mom had gotten work done by him. They were all fans of his work and happy with the service he provided.
I called Alex yesterday and let him know what my issues were and we set up a 9:00 am appointment for today for him to come out and have a look at the problem. He was here a few minutes early and got right to work. In less than 30 minutes he had figured out that whoever originally wired the electric had used the wrong kind of tape to connect two wires together. The wires weren't completely connected and were creating a surge of electric back and forth between the wires (that burnt through the tape) and a huge a fire hazard.
It was pretty awesome that he was able to locate the problem so quickly and even more awesome that he knew what to do to fix the problem once he found it. My lights were back on and working perfectly within an hour. Yay! His prices were fair and he seems like an honest guy that knows what he's doing. I will use him again if I have an electrical problem and I recommend his services.
Oh the joys of finding someone with experience that knows what they are doing!