Repair & Troubleshooting
Electrical repair and troubleshooting in Spokane.
Tripping breakers, dead outlets, flickering lights, and circuits that fail intermittently, diagnosed properly and repaired, across Spokane, Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake and surrounding areas.
What we do
- Circuit tracing and fault finding
- Breaker and panel repairs
- Outlet and switch replacement
- GFCI and AFCI troubleshooting
- Loose neutral diagnosis
- Aluminum wiring terminations
- Knob-and-tube assessment
- Repairs to older wiring
Common jobs we handle
- Find the cause of a tripping breaker
- Restore a dead outlet or circuit
- Fix flickering lights
- Replace warm or discolored devices
- Track down an intermittent fault
- Repair damage found during a remodel
When to call an electrician
- A breaker trips repeatedly
- Outlets are dead with the breaker on
- Lights flicker in multiple rooms
- A switch or outlet is warm or discolored
- You smell something burning
- Your panel is buzzing
Common problems and what they usually mean
Most electrical symptoms have a small number of likely causes. Here's how we read them before we ever open a box.
Breaker trips immediately on reset
This usually means a short circuit or a ground fault somewhere on that circuit: a damaged cable, a failed device, or a pinched conductor. It won't clear itself, and repeatedly resetting it doesn't help. It needs the circuit traced.
Breaker trips under load
If it holds until the microwave, space heater, or vacuum comes on, the circuit is overloaded. The fix is usually redistributing loads or adding a dedicated circuit, not a bigger breaker, which would leave the wire unprotected.
Breaker trips randomly
Intermittent tripping is the hardest kind and the most commonly misdiagnosed. It points to a loose connection, a damaged cable, moisture intrusion, or a breaker that's simply worn out. Finding it means testing, not guessing.
Dead outlets
Very often a tripped GFCI upstream is controlling several receptacles, including ones in other rooms. Beyond that: loose backstab connections, failed devices, or a broken splice in a junction box.
Flickering or dimming lights
One fixture is usually the fixture, bulb, or dimmer. Multiple rooms flickering together can point to a loose neutral at the panel or service, or to a utility-side issue on Avista's equipment. That difference matters, and it's the first thing we check.
Warm or discolored switches and outlets
Heat means resistance, and resistance means a loose or degraded connection. Discoloration, a plastic smell, or buzzing at a device is a repair, not a cosmetic issue.
A burning smell
Stop and call. Shut off the breaker to the affected area if you can identify it safely. A burning or fishy plastic smell near a panel, outlet, or switch is not something to watch and wait on.
Buzzing panels
A humming or buzzing panel can mean a loose bus connection, a failing breaker, or a bad main. It should be diagnosed rather than lived with.
Why diagnosis matters more than parts
Swapping a breaker without finding out why it tripped usually just moves the problem. The new breaker trips too, or worse, it holds a little longer while the actual fault (a loose connection heating up in a box, a nicked conductor behind drywall) keeps getting worse out of sight.
Proper diagnosis means tracing the circuit: identifying everything on it, isolating sections, testing under load, checking terminations at the panel and at each device, and confirming the fault is actually gone before we call it fixed. That takes longer than a parts swap, and it's the difference between a repair and a postponement. When we're done, we tell you in plain English what was wrong and what we did about it.
The single most common thing we find in an old panel is a double tap: two wires landed under one lug. Most breakers don't allow it. Correcting it usually means adding a breaker or pigtailing the conductors properly, and it's a small job compared to what it prevents.
Older wiring problems in Spokane homes
Spokane has a genuinely old housing stock. According to Spokane County Assessor data published by the City of Spokane in 2020, about 19% of city housing units were built before 1940, roughly 42% before 1970, and the average single-family detached home is around 70 years old. That shapes the repairs we see.
Two-prong ungrounded receptacles
Grounded three-slot receptacles weren't required throughout a home until the 1962 code. Laundry areas came in 1947, and outdoors, garages, and basements were added in the 1956 NEC. Homes built before that commonly still have ungrounded two-prong outlets.
Knob-and-tube
Prevalent from the 1880s into the 1940s, so it shows up regularly in Spokane's pre-war neighborhoods. We assess what's live, what's abandoned, and what's actually a hazard.
Cloth-jacketed NM cable
In use from about 1926, common in mid-century homes. Modern plastic-jacketed NM took over gradually between roughly 1950 and 1970. Older cloth jacketing can become brittle where it's been heated.
Aluminum branch-circuit wiring
Used roughly 1965 to 1973. Terminations are the weak point, and they're a common source of warm devices and intermittent faults. There are accepted repair methods, and it does not automatically mean a rewire.
More on whole-home work on our residential services page, and neighborhood-specific notes for Browne's Addition, Peaceful Valley, and the South Hill.
When to shut the breaker off and call
- A burning smell near a panel, outlet, or switch
- Scorch marks or discoloration on a device
- Sparking when you plug something in
- A panel that is warm to the touch or buzzing
- Water contacting electrical equipment
- Repeated tripping on the same circuit
What to check before you call
Some of these fix the problem in two minutes and save you a service call. We'd rather tell you that than take the call.
- 1. Flip the breaker fully off, then back on. A partially tripped breaker often looks like it's still on.
- 2. Press test then reset on every GFCI you can find, including the garage, basement, bathrooms, and outdoor receptacles.
- 3. Check whether it's one outlet or the whole circuit: try a lamp in several nearby receptacles.
- 4. Check whether your neighbors have power. If the street is out, it's an Avista outage, not your wiring.
If none of that clears it, or if anything smells hot, looks scorched, or feels warm, stop there and call us.
Something electrical not working right?
Tell us what's happening and we'll find the actual cause. Serving Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake, and the greater Spokane area.
Service Areas
Local electrician across Spokane County & North Idaho
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my breaker keep tripping?+
It depends on when it trips. A breaker that trips the instant you reset it usually points to a short or a ground fault on the circuit. One that trips only once several things are running is typically an overloaded circuit. One that trips randomly often points to an intermittent fault: a loose connection, a damaged cable, or a failing breaker. Those are three different repairs, which is why we trace the circuit instead of just swapping the breaker.
Why is my outlet dead when the breaker is on?+
The most common cause by far is a tripped GFCI receptacle somewhere upstream. One GFCI can control several outlets, and the one that tripped is often in another room, the garage, the basement, or outdoors. Beyond that, a loose backstab connection, a failed receptacle, or a broken splice in a box can kill part of a circuit while the breaker stays on.
Are flickering lights dangerous?+
They can be. A single fixture flickering is usually the fixture, the bulb, or a dimmer. Lights flickering across multiple rooms at once is more concerning. That can indicate a loose neutral in the panel or at the service, which is a real hazard, or a utility-side problem on Avista's equipment. Multi-room flickering is worth a call.
Why is my switch warm?+
A switch or outlet that's warm to the touch, discolored, or buzzing usually means a loose connection generating heat, an overloaded device, or a device that's failing. Some dimmers run slightly warm by design, but discoloration and buzzing are not normal. Shut the circuit off and have it looked at.
Do you do emergency calls?+
If you have a burning smell, scorch marks, sparking, water contacting electrical equipment, or a warm or buzzing panel, shut the breaker off and call us at (509) 290-8572. Tell us what's happening and we'll tell you honestly how soon we can get to you.
Do I need a permit for an electrical repair?+
Straight repairs (replacing a failed device or a bad breaker) generally don't require a permit. Once the work becomes new circuits, a service change, or significant rewiring, it does. Outside the City of Spokane, that permit comes from Washington State Labor & Industries; inside city limits, the City of Spokane runs its own program. We'll tell you which side of the line your job falls on.
Can you work on knob-and-tube wiring?+
Yes. Knob-and-tube was prevalent from the 1880s into the 1940s and still turns up in Spokane's older housing. We assess what's actually energized, what's abandoned, and what's genuinely unsafe, and we give you options (from targeted replacement of problem runs to a planned rewire) instead of insisting everything comes out on day one.
What does a service call include?+
A service call covers coming out, diagnosing the problem properly, and explaining what we found and what it will take to fix it. Where the repair is straightforward, we'll usually handle it on the spot. Where it's larger, you get a clear scope and price before we start.
Ready to get electrical work handled the right way?
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