the Cost of Electricians

I had a light fixture that didn't work; the electrician came to the house and fixed it. This included truck fee, labor, and minimal parts.

I'm very disappointed with the amount of money this cost me. I could have done what the electrician did - and my wife would have killed me! It took the electrician a couple of hours to find that one of the wires between the switch and the light fixture was broken; I could have found it in about the same time, and I'm a rank amateur. Then, I at least expected that he'd have special ability to repair it with good aesthetic results, but no: he ran an external conduit from the switch to the fixture, cracking the plaster around the switch and badly misfitting the fixture to the conduit. It looks really bad; my wife and I were both really angry about it. At least the light works.

Don't hire someone to do a job you can do. Don't be afraid of it, because the pros aren't magic - they can do what you can, just faster. Now, if you're not capable of it, don't mess around, because you'll end up getting a professional to clean up after you, and it'll cost more if you've ruined additional things. This is hardly a tip, but I asked several people about it, and not one had an electrician they felt comfortable recommending - they were all dissatisfied with the ones they'd tried. Maybe a final tip should be that if you have any success with it, go into business as an electrician near my house!