Wiring and Outlets in Sacramento
New circuits, more outlets where you need them, and rewiring for older houses whose wiring has done its time.
Replacing worn wiring is part of the work Capitol Electric was started for, and Sacramento has plenty of it. Houses in older neighborhoods may still have knob-and-tube or cloth-covered cable, two-prong outlets with no ground, and bedrooms with a single outlet per wall. Newer homes have the opposite problem: modern wiring, but never enough outlets in the kitchen, the office or the garage. Either way, the work is done cleanly enough that the next electrician to open a box or the panel can follow what was done.
Signs Wiring May Be Due for Attention
- Two-prong outlets, or three-prong outlets you suspect have no ground behind them
- Discolored or scorched cover plates, or plugs that fall out of worn outlets
- Too few outlets, so every room has a power strip
- Extension cords running permanently to appliances, a TV or a space heater
- Cloth-covered or knob-and-tube wiring visible in the attic or crawlspace
- No GFCI protection in the kitchen, bathrooms, laundry, garage or outdoors
Types of Work and Typical Uses
| Work type | Typical use |
|---|---|
| Added outlets | Rooms with one outlet per wall, a home office, a kitchen island, a garage workbench, a TV wall |
| Dedicated circuits | A microwave, a window or mini-split air conditioner, a freezer, a workshop tool, restaurant or office equipment |
| GFCI and USB outlets | Kitchens, bathrooms, laundry areas, garages and outdoors for GFCI; bedsides, desks and counters for USB |
| Partial rewiring | Replacing a damaged or undersized run, extending circuits in a remodel, adding grounding to older outlets |
| Whole-home rewiring | Houses still on knob-and-tube or early cloth-covered cable, or with wiring damaged by heat, rodents or past remodels |
Outlets, Switches and Rentals
Rental owners and property managers often call between tenants, when a unit is empty: replacing worn outlets and switches, adding GFCI protection where the code calls for it, and wiring smoke alarms. It’s the best time to correct the small things a tenant has lived with, like a loose switch or a dead outlet behind the couch, before the next move-in. Business customers usually need dedicated circuits, so a new cooler, a register station or a piece of shop equipment doesn’t share power with the lights.
Wiring Questions
Can I just swap two-prong outlets for three-prong ones?
Not without a ground wire behind them. A three-prong outlet with no ground looks safe but isn’t. The options are to run a ground to the outlet, rewire the circuit, or, where the code allows it, install a GFCI outlet labeled “No Equipment Ground,” which protects people even without a ground wire.
Is it safe to rely on extension cords and power strips?
For a lamp or a phone charger, briefly, yes. Cords running under rugs, power strips plugged into power strips, and space heaters on extension cords are a common cause of the overheated outlets and melted plugs seen on repair calls. More outlets in the right places is the lasting fix.
Does rewiring mean opening every wall?
Usually not. Cable is fished through walls from the attic and crawlspace wherever possible, with small openings at outlets, switches and a few access points. Single-story Sacramento houses with an attic above and a crawlspace below are often easier to rewire than people expect.
What is AFCI protection, and do I need it?
An AFCI breaker or outlet detects the small sparks of a damaged or loose wire and shuts the circuit off before it can start a fire. The code requires it on most living-area circuits in new work, and when circuits are extended or modified, so it often comes up during wiring jobs in older homes.
More Outlets, or Wiring You’re Unsure About?
Tell us the age of the house and what you’re seeing, and we’ll set a time to look.