You’ll receive a clear, exact price before any work begins.
If your repair fails during the current season, we’ll come back and fix it at no additional cost.
We treat your home with care and ensure your property is fully protected while we work.
Ann Arbor's Electrician for Older Homes, Modern Demands, and Everything the Grid Throws at You
Ann Arbor's housing stock is one of the oldest in the Metro Detroit region, and that age creates a specific electrical reality for homeowners throughout the city. Neighborhoods like Burns Park, Kerrytown, the Old West Side, and Water Hill contain a significant inventory of homes built before 1960, many of which carry original or early-replacement wiring that was never designed to support the electrical load a modern household places on it. The University of Michigan's influence on the city also means a high rate of home renovation and conversion, which introduces electrical modifications of widely varying quality into the existing housing stock.
Mrs. Michael serves Ann Arbor homeowners with licensed electrical service and written pricing before any work begins. Property protection throughout every visit. A repair guarantee on every completed job.
Our Services:
- Ceiling Fan Installation
- Circuit Breaker Installation & Replacement
- Electrical Code Compliance
- Electrical Panel Upgrade & Replacement
- Electrical Repair
- Electrician
- EV Charger Installation
- GFCI Outlet Installation & Replacement
- Hot Tub & Pool Wiring
- Indoor Lighting Installation
- Outdoor & Landscape Lighting Installation
- Whole Home Generator Installation & Repair
Contact Us
Electrical Repair and Troubleshooting in Ann Arbor
Older Ann Arbor homes develop electrical symptoms that newer construction does not experience at the same rate. Knob-and-tube wiring still present in some pre-1940 homes cannot safely support modern electrical loads and is not insurable in its original form. Aluminum branch circuit wiring in homes from the 1965-1975 period requires specific attention at connection points where the material expands and contracts at a different rate than the devices it connects to. Beyond the wiring-specific issues, these are the repair calls we handle most often from Ann Arbor homeowners:
- Breakers that trip repeatedly on the same circuit
- Outlets with no power and no tripped GFCI to explain it
- Flickering or dimming lights tied to appliance startup
- Warm outlet covers or switch plates
- Burning or unusual smell from a panel or outlet
- Loss of power to a specific room or wing of the home
- GFCI and AFCI breaker trips that will not reset
Accurate diagnostic before any work. Written price before any repair. That sequence does not change regardless of what we find.
Electrical Installations and Upgrades for Ann Arbor Homes
Panel upgrades are the most transformative electrical project we complete in Ann Arbor, and the demand for them reflects the city's housing age. A 60-amp fused service in a 1930s craftsman, a 100-amp panel in a 1960s colonial that now supports central air, a home office, and two EV chargers, these are configurations where the existing service is simply no longer adequate for what the household is doing. Mrs. Michael handles panel upgrades, service entrance replacements, and the full range of installations that bring older Ann Arbor homes into alignment with modern electrical capacity and current code.
We also install dedicated circuits for high-demand appliances, EV chargers, whole-home surge protection, smart home wiring, outdoor lighting, and generator interlock connections. Ann Arbor's high renovation rate means we also frequently work in homes where electrical modifications from previous owners need to be assessed, corrected, or brought to code before new work can safely proceed.
Full Electrical Service Scope for Ann Arbor Homeowners
Mrs. Michael provides comprehensive residential electrical services throughout Ann Arbor for all home ages, wiring types, and project scales. Ann Arbor electrical services include:
- Panel upgrades and service entrance replacement
- Knob-and-tube and aluminum wiring assessment and remediation
- Circuit breaker repair and replacement
- Outlet, switch, and fixture installation
- Dedicated circuit installation
- EV charger installation
- Whole-home surge protection
- GFCI and AFCI outlet and breaker installation
- Outdoor and landscape lighting
- Generator interlock and transfer switch installation
- Electrical inspection and code compliance assessment
Written price before every job. Guarantee on every repair. Available 24/7 for electrical emergencies throughout Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County.
A Service Call in Ann Arbor's Burns Park Neighborhood
Earlier this year we received a call from a homeowner named Sandra in Ann Arbor’s Burns Park neighborhood. Her 1948 colonial had developed an intermittent burning smell near the kitchen that came and went without any visible cause. She had checked the outlets, the stove, and the toaster oven without finding anything obvious and called us after the smell returned a third time in the same week.
Our electrician traced the source to a double-tapped breaker in the panel that was carrying two circuits on a single breaker terminal, combined with a loose connection at the outlet feeding the kitchen counter. The loose connection had been arcing intermittently under load, which explained both the smell and why it only appeared when the kitchen was in active use. Sandra had a written price for the breaker correction and outlet replacement before any work began. Both were addressed the same afternoon. She told us she had been nervous the problem was in the walls somewhere that would require major work to reach. In this case the source was accessible and the repair was complete before dinner. She also mentioned she had not known double-tapping was a problem. It is a very common finding in older homes that have had circuits added over the years without a panel upgrade.
Why Ann Arbor Homeowners Choose Mrs. Michael as Their Electrician
Ann Arbor homeowners are informed, skeptical of vague answers, and expect to understand what they are paying for. We built our service process around exactly that expectation. Here is what every electrical call includes:
- Written exact price before any work starts
- Repair guarantee on every job
- Full property protection throughout the visit
- 24/7 emergency availability
- Licensed electricians who explain findings in plain language
Frequently Asked Questions
Is knob-and-tube wiring in an older Ann Arbor home dangerous?
Knob-and-tube wiring is not inherently dangerous in its original condition, but it is not rated for modern electrical loads, cannot be covered with insulation without creating heat buildup risk, and is typically uninsurable in its original form. A licensed assessment identifies what is present, what condition it is in, and what remediation approach fits the specific home.
What does a double-tapped breaker mean and is it a problem?
Double-tapping means two circuit wires are connected to a single breaker terminal that is rated for one. The connection can loosen under load cycling, creating arc risk and unreliable circuit protection. It is one of the most common findings in older homes where circuits were added over the years without a corresponding panel upgrade.
How do I know if my Ann Arbor home has aluminum branch circuit wiring?
Homes built between approximately 1965 and 1975 in Ann Arbor are most likely to have aluminum branch circuit wiring. It can often be identified at the panel where the wiring label and wire color differ from copper. A licensed electrician can confirm what is present and assess whether the connection points throughout the home are using compatible devices.
Can you install an EV charger in an older Ann Arbor home with a small panel?
It depends on available panel capacity. A Level 2 charger requires a dedicated 240-volt circuit and meaningful available amperage. We assess the panel before providing the written price so the full scope is clear from the start, including whether a panel upgrade is part of the project.
Do you offer 24/7 emergency electrical service in Ann Arbor?
Yes. We provide around-the-clock emergency electrical service throughout Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County. Call us directly for urgent situations including burning smells, sparking outlets, or complete loss of power.