Alameda Electric

My company, Zenovation, is a general contractor that does work exclusively in inner SE and NE Portland metro. I’ve been working with Dave and Alameda Electric for the past three years, and use them exclusively for all of my remodel projects. Dave and Matt are thorough, experienced and communicative about options and potential problems. Highly recommended!

I called Alameda after getting three bids for the work on a brand new kitchen. They were the least expensive bid, and since I didn’t know any electricians at the time, that’s actually why I chose them, but I will choose them again!
David and his crew were thorough, professional, got the work done on time, and cleaned up afterwards. The work was kind of involved, as it required electrical work to be done before and after construction routines and city permits, so they had to be here a few times. I had several men working here and all men were super courteous and really pleasant to deal with.
I would highly recommend Alameda Electric. Thanks David and crew!

Everything has gone well. Work is continuing but I needed an HVAC guy to install an island mount hood. Paul from Alameda recommended Nick Quayle. He and Josh came today and have been great. I ordered the hood from Amazon and when the guys came to install it, all kinds of work had to be done, including cutting drywall and modifying the hood itself. Up in the attic, back down. Very respectful of my home and property, very detail oriented. Now Alameda will come back to hook up the electricity.

I have to say, Alameda came around! I was dissapointed at first that they didn’t help me get my outlets in before the holidays, but today they came out and did great work! Paul, the electrician, has a great personality and is super helpful in helping you assess what you really need so you don’t feel like you’re being jabbed. Dave, the owner, even called to make sure that everything went well. I’ll need some more electrical work in the future and I know I’m going to be giving Alameda electric a call again! :)

I had a potential electrical emergency arise on a major holiday at the start of a three-​day weekend. I called Alameda Electric not expecting a return call until Monday. The owner David called back within 15 minutes to talk with me about what had happened, because it mattered to him to know that my household was safe until an electrician could come. Paul (I hope I’m getting his name right!) arrived promptly at our appointment time on Monday. He was thorough, attentive to detail, and patient about answering all of my questions. He helped address several longstanding issues unrelated to my call, all as part of the standard service fee, and gave me helpful tips for prolonging the life of my home’s electrical system and avoiding future problems. I was very satisfied, felt their fees were reasonable, and will definitely call again if I need other electrical work.

I hired Matt and his crew to install a 50 amp circuit for our new hot tub. Matt was super professional and knowledgeable during the quote, and this service continued throughout the entire process. They started earlier than they said they could, finished quicker than they said they would, and it cost less than they said it would (and they were the cheapest quote already). I can’t say enough nice things about this company! Will definitely hire them for any additional electric needs.

Needed a 240V electric vehicle charger from Bosch installed in my garage. Received a fair estimate after describing over the phone. Electrician arrived as promised at 7am. In and out in about 60 minutes! Bid was ½ of what the Bosch «authorized installers» wanted. Thank you, Alameda Electric!

When my wife and I found out we needed some electrical work done to pass a city inspection, we were very hesitant about leaping into the world of ostensibly flaky electricians. After seeing the stellar Unilocal reviews for Alameda Electric, we thought we’d give them a try. I’m happy to say that we had an amazing experience working with them.
Matt was extremely honest, responsive and quick to answer any of our questions. Ray the electrician was thorough and arrived at the agreed upon appointment time. We really appreciated their flexibility and were surprised by how reasonable their rates were.
Though they don’t know it yet, we will be working with them again in the very near future.

I can’t say enough good things about these guys. I blew out a circuit and they were great to work with. David helped talk me through things to check to avoid a service call and then helped get me onto the schedule when I determined I still needed help. He was very transparent about their very fair pricing policy. And Erik, who came out to do the work, was great. Often electrical work can feel like you’re being nickel and dimed, and they were the opposite.

These guys –or I should say this guy, Matt– at Alameda Electric are great. I’ve had him come over a couple times now to fix some smaller electrical issues. Matt has always been super flexible with time, so generous about answering all kinds of questions, and was great about returning a defective part so I didn’t have to deal with it. I run an Airbnb and the work they did was in there. He was so cool about squeezing me in so I didn’t have to disrupt my guests. They will be in all my future remodel plans and electrical needs. With an old home I am so glad I have a great resource to call in Alameda electric. Thanks Matt!

I had a small residential project that Alameda electric completed for me today. I needed a dedicated 20amp outlet installed about 25 ft from my panel. David Thompson came out to bid and provided a quote very quickly. He identified options that eliminated the need for any additional holes in my drywall. David was able to get one of his electricians out the very same day which was extremely helpful to me. He provided detailed photos and video to his teammate to ensure that the plan was followed without complications. The work was performed quickly and cleanly with no surprises. I have not received the invoice yet but am happy with the quality of work performed.
I would contract with this company again. The service level exceeded my expectations.

I had a very small job I didn’t feel totally comfortable handling on my own, so I called around. Dave at Alameda was one of the few electricians to respond. While it took a little time to see him — he’s very busy — he walked me through what I needed to do, completely avoiding any charge. He entered my house like a whirling dervish, slapped down all the knowledge I needed, and swept out. It was pretty awesome. If I had any sort of larger job, which I expect I will, he will absolutely be the first person I would call.

So as a result of the 5 star rating I decided to give Alameda Electric a try. I am not a full timer in Portland and with that needed a company I could depend on to show up at a particular time and date. So I spoke with David and he set the date and time. Today I was sitting in the lobby and at «exactly» 7:00 a.m. the electrician showed up. He gave me a bid and when the job went easier than he anticipated lowered the quote. He was clean, and professional, and did exactly what we wanted.
I highly recommend them.

David, the owner, responded promptly and professionally to my call. An electrician (not estimator) was out the following day to look at some commercial work in my business. Eric (their commercial electrician) came up with a rough estimate on the spot, which was ¼ cheaper than another bid. I accepted, and he said how about 2 days from now to start. Wow, that was fast. We had a small change along the way, to which he tacked on a small amount for materials and labor, and got the job done in one day. Eric’s work is excellent, he was fun to have around the business for the day, and he tidied up and left things very clean. FANTASTIC experience.

Dave and Gus were great to work with. They were able to come out and inspect the prospective job the day after we called and had an estimate for us later that evening with several different options. Then, once we had decided which option would be best for us, Gus came out two days later and did the work. There was a little misunderstanding which, once we brought it to Dave’s attention, he immediately went out of his way to do everything he could to remedy the situation. In the end, we were thoroughly happy with the outcome and would gladly use them again.

Used Alameda again and they rocked it– thanks for all the great ideas. Knowing LED are expensive but the long term cost out weighted the expense– thanks Dave

I had to tell David things many times as he doesn’t write anything down. I didn’t want cabinet lights. When I got our estimate, cabinet lights were on it. I said again I didn’t want them. After we made some changes, the cabinet lights kept getting added back to the estimate. Each time I had to tell him. He installed a vanity light when I said I didn’t want one. He put electrical wires in a wall that I told him we were removing. He put a light switch in the bathroom where a door was going to be. I told David he put the light switch in the wrong place and he tried to charge us to move it where I originally told him to put it.
They were messy. New insulation was installed, surrounded by tyvek. They completely cut the tyvek in 2, pulled out big pieces of insulation and left it on the floor. Extra pieces of wire as long as 1ft and trash were littered around our house.
They cut a hole in the ceiling, getting gravel-​insulation everywhere and left it.
They drilled a hole through our hardwood floor. When asked they said they didn’t do it. One said «we wouldn’t drill a hole that large,» while the other said «we wouldn’t drill a hole that small.» They offered to pay for the repair.
They drilled through each joist upstairs to put a wire through and then put the wire over the joists instead. Every hole drilled had sawdust. Even after they came back to clean up other messes I complained about they didn’t vacuum up the sawdust.
Drywall had yet to be done in 1 room. They didn’t set any outlets to the correct depth for future drywall. They lined them up with the studs so we had to move them.
They left brown fingerprints on the fixtures and paint chips beneath; put bulbs in some fixtures but not others.
Fixtures weren’t screwed in all the way, outlets were crooked.
They hung kitchen light at 5ft high. I am 6ft tall and my husband is 6ft 1.
They didn’t leave the cover plates for the outlets.
They didn’t leave kitchen rough-​in wires long enough. For the hood wire, the (unrelated to Alameda Electric) installation guy told us that the wiring wasn’t done right, so he installed an outlet to fix the problem. For the dishwasher wire, it was barely 2ft long, when 6ft is both needed to reach the dishwasher and required per code. We asked David about it many times and he said it was fine.
I didn’t trust them in our home. My general contractor saw them get in our closet, open a new package of screws I had purchased and use them.
I’m 99% sure they used our shop vac after I asked them to clean up after themselves. When I came home, my shop vac was moved, had a vacuum tool jammed on that didn’t go to it, the hose was clogged, and the bag was removed before the shop vac was turned on, ruining the filter. They were the only ones at the house but say they didn’t do it.
A ladder went missing at our house. Again, the only people at our there were the electricians.
They called in the final inspection before being done. The inspector came to the house, was confused as to why the head electrician wasn’t there and said, «I’m not sure why you scheduled this inspection when clearly nothing is done. Call me when you are done.» He was irritated by this obvious waste of his time.
David was not good at communicating.
Weeks before our move-​in date, I reminded David that we would be moving into the house. David said the work would be done. That didn’t happen. If I hadn’t have gotten a bit upset on the phone with him on the day he said they’d be there and no one ever showed up, we wouldn’t have had electricity at our house when we moved in. We had to push back our move in date because of them.
David texted me at 7am tell me they would be over at 8am with no prior warning before that. Showed up knocking at our door at 7:25am.
I told David we’d like to finish the work. He said 2 — 3 weeks before he could do it. I said, «What day and time should I put on my calendar?» It was friday, and he said he would get back to me «Monday at the latest.» I didn’t hear from him by Tuesday so I emailed him. He said he didn’t know and would get back to me. He never got back to me. I told him about a light switch that was making a popping sound. He said he would send someone Friday at 8am to fix it. Apparently he can only look at the schedule for certain things.
8am Friday came and no one showed. I waited 45 minutes and sent David a message. 30 mins later he said «someone will be out in about 45 minutes.» No apology or explanation.
I emailed David to say the work was completed by another company, and to send the itemized invoice. I asked about a price adjustment since so much was done incorrectly/​never completed. I had to ask 3 times for him to send me an invoice, and it wasn’t updated. David also said he was going to cancel our permit. I called the permit office; canceling a permit after you’ve had an initial inspection is illegal. He took $ 600 off the bill and told me for the 6^th time that he has already lost such-​and-​such amount on this job.

Thanks to the power of Unilocal I found David the owner of Alameda Electric. Like many other reviews he talked me through a couple things to avoid the standard $ 250 service call. Taking the time to help me out makes me all warm and fuzzy in my heart and the money is meaningless if I feel that way.
We set up an appointment for the next day and it went off without a hitch. Rather than paying him directly I was invoiced by David via email and was able to use my person to person payment service through my bank rather than writing a check or send my credit card.
Thank you Alameda Electric!

Referred by a coworker.
Gave them a call, prompt return call and appointment set up.
Arrived on time, clean, friendly, personable. In and out. Couldn’t have been easier and I will call them for any further needs.
Can’t go wrong with this outfit

I picked them based on the Unilocal reviews and I was absolutely delighted and impressed with their service.
Talked to the owner Dave on Friday, he gave me a quote that day and if I had been available would have sent someone over that day.
Instead though they came over the following Monday during my lunch break at the exact time they said they were coming, finished everything within my lunch break and the bill was $ 50.00 LESS than what I was originally quoted.
Dave the owner came out himself as well and he and his technician (sorry I forgot the name !) were both very professional, courteous, informative and really pleasant to work with.
They were changing the breaker and the outlet and plug for our dryer and I feel safe now that it’s taken care of and knowing that they warrantee their work for life. I will absolutely call them again for any electrical work.