Electrician in Puyallup

The Census Bureau counts about 17,500 homes in Puyallup. Rounded, here is what that looks like:

• About 27% were built in 2000 or later.
• About a third (34%) were built in the 1980s and 1990s.
• About 15% were built in the 1970s.
• About a quarter (24%) were built before 1970, and around 1,200 homes (7%) were built before 1940.
• About 56% are single family homes, and about 37% are in buildings with three or more units.
• Nearly half of households (48%) rent.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 to 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates for Puyallup, via Census Reporter.

Compared to a newer area, Puyallup has a lot of homes old enough to have their original wiring, and a lot of buildings with more than one household. Both matter. Old wiring ages whether anyone is paying attention or not, and shared buildings mean more people depending on the same panel.

Nobody tracks electrical problems by city. This list comes from the age and type of homes above, and from problems that are well known in homes of each era.

Knob and tube and cloth wiring in the oldest homes

Homes from the 1930s and earlier can still have knob and tube or cloth covered wiring. It was never designed for modern loads, and it gets worse when insulation is packed around it. If your home is that old, we start with an electrical inspection and talk through wiring repair or new wiring from there.

Fuse boxes and small electrical service

About 2,900 Puyallup homes were built before 1960, and many of those started out with fuses or a small panel. A fuse box can't keep up with a modern kitchen, a dryer and a home office running at once. Fuse box replacement and an electric panel upgrade fix it.

Aluminum wiring and ungrounded outlets

Homes from the late 1960s and 1970s sometimes have aluminum branch wiring, and older homes can have two-prong outlets with no ground. There are close to 4,000 homes from the 1960s and 1970s in Puyallup. We can look at outlet repair and wiring repair and tell you what needs to change.

Panels at their limit in 1980s and 1990s homes

Close to 5,900 Puyallup homes were built in the 1980s and 1990s. Add a heat pump, an EV charger and a home office, and a panel from that era runs out of room. Look at a panel replacement or a subpanel.

Rentals and multi-unit buildings

With nearly half of households renting, landlords and property managers are a big part of Puyallup. If you own or manage a rental, electrical inspections, breaker replacement and quick repairs keep tenants safe and keep small problems from turning into big ones. Call us and we'll give you a price before we start.

Surges and storm outages

Windstorms knock down trees and power lines across Pierce County. A whole house surge protector protects your electronics, and a generator keeps the lights on.

In an older Puyallup home, a panel upgrade often starts with what's behind the panel. Here is how a job goes.

1. Free estimate. We look at the panel, the wiring we can see, and whether you still have a fuse box. We ask what you plan to add, then give you a price before any work starts.
2. Permit. We pull the electrical permit so the work gets inspected.
3. Plan the shutoff. We tell you how long the power will be off before we start, so you can plan your day.
4. New panel. We install the new panel and breakers, connect the grounding, and label each circuit so you can find it later.
5. Inspection and walkthrough. When the inspection passes, we show you your new panel and where the main shutoff is.

Need only part of this? See panel installation or subpanel installation.

When a windstorm takes down power lines, outages can last hours or days. A generator keeps the fridge cold and the heat on. Here is how it goes.

1. Free estimate and sizing. We talk about what you need to keep running and whether a whole home or standby setup makes sense.
2. Permits. We pull the permits and coordinate with Puget Sound Energy so the install passes inspection.
3. Install day. We set the pad, run the gas or propane line, wire in the transfer switch, and tie it into your panel.
4. Test. We test the full system before we leave.
5. Upkeep. Generator maintenance and repair keep it ready for the next outage.

Older Puyallup homes can run on undersized panels that struggle with the extra load an EV charger pulls, so we always start with the panel. Here is how an EV charger installation goes.

1. Free estimate and panel check. We look at your panel and tell you if it can take a charger as is.
2. Choose the spot. The garage wall or an exterior wall near your parking is the usual choice. We plan the wire run so it's clean and safe.
3. Permit. We pull the required electrical permit.
4. Install. We run a dedicated 240-volt circuit and mount the charger. We install Level 2 chargers and Tesla chargers.
5. Test. We test it with your car and walk you through how to use it.

Looking for a business charger? See commercial EV charger installation.

Electrical work in Puyallup needs a permit. L&I's list of cities that run their own electrical permits does not include Puyallup, so electrical permits and inspections here go through L&I.

We pull the permit, schedule the inspection, and walk you through the results.

Puyallup sits on the Puyallup River in Pierce County, about 10 miles southeast of Tacoma and 35 miles south of Seattle. It's named for the Puyallup people, and the name means "the generous people" in Lushootseed. Ezra Meeker's hop farm brought the town fast growth in the 1880s.

The Washington State Fair, which started out as the Puyallup Fair, is the state's largest annual fair. Downtown, the Ezra Meeker Mansion is a house museum built around 1890, and Pioneer Park has the public library and a bronze statue of Meeker. The Karshner Museum, run by the Puyallup School District, is a natural history museum in town.

We work all over this part of Pierce County. If you're in South Hill, Frederickson or Clover Creek, we've got a page for you. See all of our areas served, including Tacoma, Lakewood, University Place, Federal Way, Bonney Lake, Auburn and Fife.