Small Devices, Big Consequences
Outlets and switches are where you touch your electrical system every day, and they're where trouble shows up first: a plug that falls out of a worn receptacle, a switch that crackles, a bathroom outlet with no GFCI protection three feet from a sink. These are small, affordable fixes — and they're also the fixes that prevent the expensive kind of service call. We handle them all over Granbury, usually same-day.
Outlet Services
- Dead outlet repair — tracing the failed connection upstream instead of just swapping the visible device.
- GFCI installation — kitchens, baths, garages, laundry, and every outdoor outlet; required by code in wet areas and cheap insurance everywhere else.
- Worn receptacle replacement — if plugs sag out of the outlet, the contacts are shot and it's running hot.
- USB & USB-C outlets — kitchen counters and nightstands, no wall warts.
- New outlet additions — behind mounted TVs, kitchen islands, workbenches, patios, holiday-light soffit outlets on a switch.
- 240V outlets — dryers, ranges, welders, and shop tools, wired on properly sized circuits.
- Childproof (tamper-resistant) receptacles — now standard under code, and worth retrofitting with little ones around.
Switch & Dimmer Services
- Failing switch replacement — crackling, warm, or loose-feeling switches replaced before they fail hot.
- Dimmers matched to LEDs — rated for your actual fixture load so lights dim smoothly instead of flickering.
- Smart switches — including solutions for older boxes with no neutral wire.
- Three-way & four-way circuits — control the hall light from both ends, wired correctly the first time.
The Backstab Problem in Local Homes
A huge share of the "half my room went dead" calls we run in Granbury trace to one thing: backstabbed outlets. For decades, builders wired receptacles by pushing wires into spring clips on the back of the device instead of terminating under the screws. It's fast on a job site and it works — for a while. Twenty or thirty summers of thermal cycling later, the spring loosens, the connection starts arcing, and everything downstream of that one outlet goes dark (or worse, gets warm). When we open a circuit like that, we don't just fix the one failure; we re-terminate the neighboring devices properly under screws while the circuit is already open, so you're not calling us back for the next clip in line.
Honest Scope, Honest Prices
Device work is priced flat, per the job, quoted before we touch a screwdriver. If we're already out fixing one outlet and you want three more replaced while the truck is parked, the add-on price reflects that we're already there. And if something you thought was broken turns out to be a tripped GFCI hiding in the garage — it happens weekly — we'd rather show you the reset button than invent a repair.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which rooms are required to have GFCI outlets?
Under current code: kitchens, bathrooms, garages, laundry areas, unfinished basements, crawlspaces, and all outdoor outlets. Older homes are grandfathered until work is done, but adding GFCI protection is one of the cheapest safety upgrades that exists.
Why did half a room go dead when nothing tripped?
Classic sign of a failed backstab connection — a spring-clip splice inside one outlet feeding everything downstream of it. We locate the failed device, re-terminate properly under screws, and check its neighbors while the circuit is open.
Can you add an outlet where I need one?
Almost always — behind a wall-mounted TV, on the kitchen island, in the garage, on the patio. Most single-outlet additions are done in one visit with minimal wall disturbance.
Are two-prong outlets safe to keep using?
They're legal to keep but leave anything with a three-prong plug ungrounded. Code-approved fixes range from GFCI-protecting the circuit (labeled "no equipment ground") to running new grounded circuits — see our wiring page. We'll price both honestly.