24 hour call-out
Emergency
Electrician
Durham
Lost the supply, got a breaker that will not stay in, or something near the board smelling hot? Ring it through and we will tell you what to isolate before we have even set off.
When it cannot wait until Monday
There is a difference between an inconvenience and a hazard, and most people ringing us are not sure which one they have. A bedroom socket that has stopped working can wait. A socket that has gone brown round the pins, a breaker that snaps back down the instant you push it up, or the smell of hot plastic anywhere near the consumer unit cannot. Neither can a whole property with no supply, particularly in winter with a vulnerable person in the house.
So the first thing we do is listen to the description and tell you honestly which of those you are dealing with. If it is genuinely dangerous we will talk you through isolating the affected circuit, or the whole installation, before we leave the yard. That costs you nothing and it is the single most useful thing we can do in the first two minutes of the call.
What we get called out to most
Total loss of supply is the obvious one, though it is worth checking whether the street is out before you ring anybody — a quick look at the neighbours saves a call-out charge. After that it is RCDs that will not reset, which usually means a fault has developed somewhere on the circuits they protect, and tracing that is a testing job rather than a guessing job.
Then there is heat damage. Scorching round a socket, a plug that has melted, a browned faceplate or a burning smell with no obvious source. These are almost always a loose connection somewhere, and loose connections generate heat long before they generate a bang. They are worth treating as urgent even when everything still appears to be working.
Older installations in older housing
A lot of what we attend across Durham is not really a sudden failure at all. It is an installation that has been quietly deteriorating for thirty years and has finally reached the point of giving up. Rewireable fuse boards, henley blocks stacked round the meter, circuits added by four different people over four decades, and no RCD protection anywhere in it.
When we find that, we will make it safe and get you working again first. The conversation about what it really needs comes afterwards, when nobody is standing in the dark. We are not going to use an emergency to pressure you into a board change on the spot.
What an emergency call-out covers
- Making the installation safe on arrival
- Isolating affected circuits properly
- Tracing the fault rather than guessing at it
- Testing before anything is re-energised
- Temporary supply arrangements where sensible
- Replacement of failed accessories and fittings
- A written note of what was found
- An honest view on what still needs doing
How it runs
What actually happens
You ring
Describe what you can see and hear. We will tell you immediately whether to isolate something, and whether this needs us tonight or can safely wait until morning.
We arrive
Given a realistic time, not a four-hour window. If we are held up on the job before yours you get a call rather than silence.
Find and fix
The fault is traced with instruments. Once it is found and repaired, the circuit is tested before it goes anywhere near being switched back on.
You are told
What failed, why it failed, and whether anything else we noticed on the way needs attention. Written down, not just said at the door.
Recent projects
Work of this kind
Photographed on site as each one finished.
FAQs
Questions on this specifically
How quickly can you get here?
It depends where you are and what else is live at the time, but you will be given a real answer on the phone rather than a window. Durham City and the immediate villages are usually quickest. If we are further out or held up on another breakdown we will say so rather than leaving you waiting and guessing.
Is it more expensive out of hours?
Work outside normal hours costs more than the same work on a Tuesday afternoon, and anybody telling you otherwise is building it in somewhere else. What matters is that you are told before we come out, not after the job is done. If it can safely wait until morning for less money, we will say that too.
The whole street is dark — do I need an electrician?
Probably not. If neighbouring properties are out as well, that is a network fault and it belongs to the distribution operator rather than us. Their number is on your meter cabinet or you can reach them nationally on 105. Ring them first and save yourself the call-out.
Can you make it safe if I cannot afford the full repair now?
Usually, yes. There is often a sensible middle ground where the dangerous part is isolated and made safe, the rest of the property stays usable, and the full repair is booked for when it suits you. We will set out what that looks like and what it does and does not protect you from.
Something smells hot but everything still works. Is that urgent?
Treat it as urgent. A hot smell with no visible fault is nearly always a loose or deteriorating connection, and those heat up considerably before they fail outright. It is the classic case of something that looks fine right up until it is not. Isolate the circuit if you can identify it and ring us.
Also worth a look
Other things we do
Get in touch
Get a price for this
Phone if it is urgent. Otherwise fill this in with as much detail as you can and we will come back with a figure or a date.
Call the team0191 934 0118- CoveringDurham City and the county around it — Chester-le-Street, Consett, Stanley, Lanchester, Bowburn, Coxhoe, Peterlee, Easington, Seaham and the villages between.
- HomesCity terraces, colliery-village housing, inter-war semis and rural property. Nothing too small, nothing too big.
- Student letsEICRs, HMO certification and remedial work, scheduled around term dates and changeover weeks.
- UrgentUse the phone for anything that cannot wait. We can set off and talk you through isolating it at the same time.
Send the details
The more you put here, the tighter the figure we can come back with.
Electrician Done Right
Need somebody out today?
One call tells you how serious it is, what to switch off in the meantime and when we can be at the door.