FAQs
- How did you get started doing this type of work?
The founder of Family Electrical Services grew up watching and helping his grandfather with projects around their home. His grandfather was an industrial/commercial electrician. Dylan grew up and chose to take a different career path. He attended a local community college and obtained a certificate in drafting and design. After bouncing around a few jobs as a draftsman, Dylan was again putting in applications for another drafting job. This time at a modular home building company. The company needed an electrician, not a draftsman. And they were interested in hiring him for the position due to his knowledge of understanding blue prints. Dylan didn’t take the job immediately, but with expectations of starting a family with his newly wed wife, and the disappointments with long term employment drafting, Dylan took the job. Working at the modular home building company, there was never a lack of work to gain experience from. He would do one part of the electrical installation, such as install switches and outlets, over and over again for 40 hours a week. After about 4-6 months he would move to another part of the electrical install, such as hanging lights, 40 hours a week for 6 months. You get very good at something with that much repetition! After 2 years, Dylan decided to expand his knowledge and began applying to companies that offered electrical service work. He found a great local company and worked there for many years. This is where he fell in love with working with customers directly. The feeling of helping others was just as much of a reward for him as the pay itself. He would often find himself working long nights, 6 or 7 days a week. He built a network of people that trusted him with the safety of their home. This career was now providing opportunities for his family that were not possible before. And now there was a little girl crawling around their home! Harper, born in 2018, is a beautiful blue eyed girl with strawberry blonde hair. She was diagnosed with epilepsy at 4 months old and was found to have a rare stxbp1 gene that makes her an extra special little girl! At 3, she is still not walking independently and Dylan was needed at home more to help Harper and his wife get to all of her therapies and appointments. After putting all the work in, all the networking, all the long nights, all the tedious paper work, Family Electrical Services was born! We are so thankful for all of the support we have received from our community and we are so excited to return that favor in a meaningful way.
- What advice would you give a customer looking to hire a provider in your area of work?
Make sure you meet your contractor before committing to any work. Trust is the biggest asset to have with your contractor, no matter what the type of work you are having done. There are bad apples in every basket, but for the most part, your contractor is only trying to put his knowledge and skills to good use for his/her family. So have faith going into the meeting. Get a good understanding of how the work will be completed. What strategies or techniques will be used to accomplish the goal? Listening to your contractor explain him or herself will go a long way when it comes to developing trust with their work. It’s also good to know what has been done in your home. At Family Electrical Services, we do not charge by the hour, and we do not suggest hiring a contractor that charges this way. It can create an uncomfortable setting for both parties as the homeowner is watching the clock and the contractor has no time to build a relationship with their client. Also, this is not how the construction industry operates when it comes to paying contractors. This may be a sign that your contractor is still paid as an employee in another setting and isn’t typically responsible for managing teams or a job of scale. Don’t always bite on the lowest bid. Certainly we are not looking to throw unnecessary money out the door, but a very low bid could be a sign that the contractor isn’t used to being around the industry and doesn’t have a complete understanding of costs. This could also mean that there aren’t any insurance costs behind the price. Make sure this is someone you will be able to reach in the future if something were to ever fail with the work they have performed. This is especially important with free lancers or one man operations.