All reviews for Berkeley Electric

We have used Berkeley Electric on several occasions in our home. Zalman Sher, the founder, always thinks through the electrical problem carefully before offering options for repair. We are very satisfied with his service. We have always had good and lasting results with the work done by this company.

When a General Contractor mistakenly cut a power line for our exterior lights Berkeley Electric was called in to fix the problem. They arrived shortly after called and fixed everything.

A kitchen renovation included updating existing power outlets to comply with current codes. Berkeley Electric did the work quickly and at a very reasonable cost.

Berkeley Electric did an expert upgrade of our old knob and tube to modern wiring, including a new main distribution panel and about 50 outlets, fixtures, switches. Broke thru old lath and plaster walls and ceilings in many spots, then restored the surfaces to the point that the intrusion couldn't be seen after repainting. (they don't do the repaint.) They carry everything on their trucks, no time wasted going out for materials. Not the cheapest, but everything was done first class.

Berkeley Electric replaced the original service on my 1922 house with a new 200 amp service. They were punctual, and their price was reasonable. They had good relations with the building inspectors. The quality of their work was Outstanding!

Wanted to replace a ceiling fan/light with a new one. Berkeley Electric was very communicative and efficient in coordinating the project. The assigned electrician was prompt, competent, courteous, and even cleaned up the area he had used afterwards. I was so happy with their service that I'd certainly hire/recommend them for another project.

I recently purchased a small Craftsman home for my mother. It had been well maintained and had several upgrades but had old knob-and-tube wiring in the unrenovated areas. I could not find home insurance that would cover the home until I replaced all the wiring.

Zalman and his teams are experts in this work and quickly guided me to understand what was involved. The other contractors I talked to were much less comprehensive. He was very clear in how the process would go and how everything would be when he was done.

He finished ahead of schedule and came back to redo a small mistake without any prompting on my part or asking for any additional fee.

Quality installation and good communication for a main panel upgrade.

I've been using Berkeley Electric since we moved to Berkeley and I can't say enough good things. The main office is helpful and responsive, the technicians are masters at their craft, and we've always been happy with their work. I recommended them to my brother who needed to replace his knob and tube system, and he similarly has great things to say.

We brought in Berkeley Electric to do a significant servic upgrade, new sub panels, and some attic fans. Zalman and his crew are probably the best contractor we have worked with. His crew was probably the most professional group we have had work in our home. By 9am the house was a full work site, and yet somehow every day at 5pm we had everything back in order for family dinner (with two toddlers). It was quite a feat. They went above and beyond on some of the work, including painting that was not in the original contract. Then after we discovered that the new 240V plug wouldn't accommodate the new induction oven, they came back out and moved it as part of the original quote. We had some minor disagreements about scope and expectations, but Zalman always listened and communicated with respect.

Zalman came by to do an assessment of a job (upgrading service to the main panel). It was pretty clear within the first few minutes that we wouldn't be moving forward at that time, but he still spent a good 20 minutes with me walking through the process, cost, potential complications, and timelines!

Berkeley Electric is a great company. They did a whole house rewire of my home. The entire process went smoothly. There was always clear communication, attention to detail, respect for the home, and quality work. I strongly recommend them.

Berkeley Electric replaced all my old screw-in fuses with new, updated electrical panels. It was a complicated job, given the realities of a very old three story house. They not only did an excellent job, every member of the team was great to work with: responsive, professional, clearly competent and personable. They left their workspaces neat and clean at the end of each day too. Just an all-around good company, and one I can enthusiastically recommend.

Berkeley Electric performed excellent work on our home. We truly appreciate their craftsmanship and professionalism throughout the process. They removed all knob and tube, rewired, installed a new light fixture, and moved and upgraded our panel - all while we were working from home with a toddler running around the house. Everyday they set up working areas, patched holes, and cleaned up after themselves. They also coordinated with PG&E and the City. We highly recommend them.

Berkeley Electric did an excellent job on a full knob and tube rewiring project. We appreciated their timeliness, expertise, and great work. Would highly recommend their team!

Berkeley Electric did an amazing job on a major rewiring, lighting, subpanel install, and main panel upgrade. We will definitely hire them the next time we have an electrical project!

Zalman was a pleasure during the initial assessment. After a poor experience with another bigger company, I particularly appreciated his honesty, evidenced by some things he *didn't* do: he didn't try to scare me or overuse industry jargon, and he didn't try to oversell (he actually talked me down from 6 cans to 4 for overhead lighting in one room).

The work itself took a team of ~6 about a week and a half to complete, working long days. They taped heavy duty paper to the floors and covered all furniture with painter's plastic every day, and removed it and vacuumed at the end of every day. When the work was completed, they also cleanly patched all the walls they opened at no additional expense.

Larry and Ben were both communicative about the decisions I needed to make, not making any assumptions without clearing it with me. They let me know whenever changes from the original plan cropped up (e.g. when knob and tube was unexpectedly found in a room we thought was a more recent addition). The team adjusted working hours to be longer so that they could deliver on their original ETA, even when we increased the scope of the work.

A few other things that make Berkeley Electric stand out:
- They were willing to do dirty work, such as running wire through an attic with blown-in cellulose, which another company we talked to wouldn't do unless we hired an insulation contractor to remove it first.
- Totally transparent pricing model, where each "unit" (light, switch, outlet, etc.) was a fixed price, so that when we inevitably decided to throw in additional work, we knew exactly how much our costs would increase by.
- They handled city permitting and scheduling of inspections.

We contacted Zalman Sher of Berkeley Electric to remove 100 year old knob-and-tube wiring from our attic. He guided to to a total rewiring of our home (much needed) as well as lighting suggestions and better wall plug placement. His crew was professional, efficient, neat and a joy to work with. Unlike other contractors they sealed up their "surgical" holes in the walls. Alll we needed to do was a little painting. We are very happy with the results.

These guys are the knob and tube wiring replacement experts. It's all they do. Excellent work, excellent price. It's a big job and kind of messy but they do a great job cleaning up, although my house cleaner took it from there.

Berkeley Electric did a total rewiring of my 98 year old home. The work was done quickly and correctly, the house was left clean- no problems at all. Everyone I spoke with at the company was patient, polite an helpful. Work was completed a little ahead of schedule, and there were no surprises on the final bill.

Berkeley Electric replaced the old/hazardous wiring in my 100 yr old house and installed an updated electrical panel. The team were efficient, thorough and worked together really well. They answered my questions and were friendly & courteous. They also cleaned up at the end of each work day. I highly recommend them!

thank you

Very unprofessional. Scheduled a service repair, was called a weeks later with a strange story about over scheduling. When I address the fact that I was actually coming from out of state to be there for this and another repair and had set it up weeks ago was basically told sorry and then hung up on. Was also told that the reason was the work would take 10+ hours(at $150/hr) and they had mis-scheduled it. I was shocked as I knew that would not be correct. (It was done by another licensed electrician and took 1.5hrs...not 10.

I then got a bizarre phone call from the owner explaining they had a warehouse fire (he seemed unaware my appointment had been canceled already.). I then got ANOTHER call from the actual electrician....who confirmed things were a bit off there.

Anyhow long story short not professional, not reliable, and clearly something is off with the company at the moment. Don't think I would trust them with electrical work.