Electrician in Arden-Arcade, CA

Who signs off on electrical work in Arden-Arcade

With nearly 95,000 residents at the 2020 census, Arden-Arcade is bigger than many cities, but it isn't one. In November 2010, voters turned down Measure D, a cityhood measure, 76% to 24%. So the area stays unincorporated, and permits are issued by the Sacramento County Department of Community Development, Building Permits & Inspection Division. SMUD supplies the power.

Built 1945 to 1965: what's inside Arden-Arcade's walls

Before the houses, this was part of Rancho del Paso, where James Ben Ali Haggin bred thoroughbreds. A horse raised there won the 1886 Kentucky Derby. After 1905, land speculator Orlando Robertson sold it off in tracts, and the streets were named for inventors like Watt, Edison and Marconi. That's fitting, because electricity is where many of these homes now need help.

• A handful of prewar homes. Robertson sold tracts to farming families, many of them Scandinavian immigrants, and the first residential neighborhoods went up in the 1920s and 1930s. Houses that old have usually been rewired in pieces by several owners, and it's worth knowing which pieces.
• The postwar build-out. The real boom came at the end of World War II, and the area was completely built out between 1945 and 1965. Ungrounded two-prong outlets, a single kitchen circuit and a small main panel are common in houses from those years.
• Established neighborhoods up to the river. The American River forms Arden-Arcade's southern border, and the area takes in established neighborhoods such as Sierra Oaks and Sierra Oaks Vista. When a big kitchen or addition goes in, the panel should be part of the plan, not an afterthought.
• Many rentals. The 2000 census counted 22,740 renter-occupied homes out of about 43,000 occupied units, just over half. Owners who rent out a mid-century house need repairs done to code, with a permit trail to show for it.

Electrical services for Arden-Arcade homes and businesses

Adding modern loads to a 1950s house

A lot of mid-century work isn't a repair at all. It's a homeowner who wants a heat pump, an induction range or an EV charger in a house that was wired for a percolator and a window fan. Sometimes the existing service can handle it once we do the math. Sometimes it can't, and the right answer is a panel upgrade first. We'll show you the numbers either way.what a panel replacement costs.

Arden-Arcade electrician FAQ