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Aluminum Wiring Remediation
Older houses were wired for a different set of appliances and a different idea of safety. Aluminum branch wiring is a termination problem, not a wire problem, and the accepted remedy is far smaller than a full rewire.
Aluminum Wiring Remediation in O’Fallon and across St. Charles, St. Louis, Lincoln and Warren counties.
No dispatcher and no commissioned salesman. Seventeen years in the trade, four of them on his own.
5.0 from 94 Google reviews · BBB A+ since 2022
What this work actually involves
Every termination gets inspected, because that is where the failures are. Wire that tests sound stays in the wall.
First the reading, then the explanation, then the repair scoped to what was actually found. If that turns out smaller than the job you called about, that is what you are charged for.
Work needing a permit gets one and work needing an inspection is left ready for it. There is no handoff between whoever quotes and whoever fixes, because they are the same person.
When people call about this
- Aluminum branch wiring from the 60s or 70s
- Circuits that dim when anything starts
- Two-prong outlets throughout
- Cloth or rubber insulation at the panel
Why people choose Clint for it
A one-person shop cannot be in two places at once, so you get a real date instead of a window. What you also get is the same person every time.
Seventeen years in the trade, four of them on his own, 5.0 from 94 Google reviews and an A+ BBB accreditation since 2022.
Where this is done
A roughly fifty mile working radius from O’Fallon, covering thirty municipalities across five jurisdictions in the St. Louis metro.
See the full service area, or the rest of our wiring & rewiring work.
What is actually wrong with old wiring
Knob-and-tube was installed competently for the loads of its day, and plenty of it tests sound. Its weaknesses are specific: no equipment ground, brittle insulation at fixtures where heat collected, and a serious problem if someone has buried it in blown-in insulation.
Aluminum branch wiring from the 1960s and 70s is different again. The conductor is fine; the terminations creep and loosen. The accepted remedy treats those connections, which is a far smaller job than a rewire.
How a rewire is staged
A rewire is disruptive, so it gets staged. Circuits are replaced zone by zone with the panel reworked once, which keeps the house livable and means the family is never without the kitchen and the bathroom at the same time.
Fishing walls beats opening them wherever the framing allows. Where drywall has to come out, it comes out in planned places rather than wherever is convenient.
Why aluminum branch wiring is its own problem
Aluminum expands and contracts more than copper under the same load, so a connection that was tight when the house was built works itself loose over decades. The failure happens at the termination, inside a box, which is why it shows as a warm cover plate or an outlet that stops working intermittently rather than a breaker that trips. The wire in the wall is usually fine. The joints are the hazard.
The accepted correction is a listed repair at every termination rather than tearing the aluminum out: a short copper pigtail joined to the aluminum with a connector listed for the purpose, so the device itself sees copper. Done properly it is permanent and it satisfies inspectors and insurers who ask about aluminum before writing a policy.
Who actually does the work
Clint Ehman does the diagnosis and the repair himself. There is no salesman writing a scope for a technician to execute, and nobody paid on what the visit totals.
Seventeen years in the trade, four of them running his own shop out of O’Fallon, licensed, bonded and insured with workers compensation coverage, 5.0 from 94 Google reviews, and A+ BBB accreditation held since 2022.
Why the diagnosis comes before the quote
A symptom has several possible causes with very different prices, and the only thing that separates them is a measurement. Quoting the expensive one covers the risk; quoting the cheap one and finding the expensive one mid-job is worse.
So the reading happens first, you are told what it says, and then the work is scoped to it. Where the honest answer is the small repair, that is the answer you get, even when the larger job pays better.
“Clint came out installed me a large 200 amp panel put some new dedicated lines in my basement and garage he did great clean work all inspections passed he was thorough and knowledgeable. I will have him back out again.”
Jason Holtzman · Google review
How the visit goes
- The call
What is in the walls, how old the house is, and whether this is for safety, a sale or a remodel. The reason changes the scope.
- The measurement
Testing at accessible terminations and devices, checking for an equipment ground, and looking for the specific hazards: buried knob-and-tube, brittle insulation at fixtures, creeping aluminum connections.
- The finding
Honest scope. Wire that tests sound stays. Where a rewire is the answer it is staged, and you are told what order and how long the house is affected.
- The work
Zone by zone, fishing walls rather than opening them where the framing allows, grounding brought current, rough-in photographed before anything closes up.
What the job includes
- Inspection of every accessible termination, which is where failures live
- Testing before anything is removed, so sound wire stays in the wall
- Staged replacement room by room where a rewire is the honest answer
- Grounding brought to current requirements
- Permit and inspection where required
- Photographs of the rough-in before anything closes up
What it does not
- Plaster and drywall finishing beyond patching access holes
- Insulation replacement
- Removing wire that is safe to leave in place
Anything that is not an electrical problem gets identified as such and handed on. See finished work, or say what the house is doing.
Related wiring & rewiring work
Aluminum Wiring Remediation across the metro
Where the house is changes what the work involves. The housing stock changes as you cross this metro, and so does what the job involves.
Warren County
Newer builds beside older farm properties, with outbuildings and well pumps that town panels never see.
St. Charles County
The subdivisions here were wired correctly for what houses drew at the time. A charger, a heat pump and a finished lower level later, the arithmetic no longer works out.
St. Louis County
St. Louis County has the older housing stock, which is where knob-and-tube, cloth wire and fuse-box conversions come from. Inspection requirements vary by municipality, and that variation is half the job.
County by county coverage is on the service areas page.
Questions worth asking first.
Does old wiring mean the whole house has to be rewired?
Almost never. Aluminum branch wiring is a termination problem with an accepted remedy. Knob-and-tube that tests sound and is not buried in insulation can often stay. The measurement decides it, not the age.
Will an inspector pass it?
That depends on grounding and terminations more than on the conductors. Those are the items that get corrected, documented and re-inspected so a file closes.
Will you have to open my walls?
Wherever the framing allows, runs get fished instead. Where a wall genuinely has to be opened you are told before the work starts, and the patch is left ready for paint.
Are you licensed and insured?
Licensed, bonded and insured, with workers compensation coverage, and accredited A+ with the BBB since 2022.
Where do you work?
Out of O’Fallon across St. Charles County, St. Louis County, St. Louis City, and Lincoln and Warren counties, roughly a fifty mile radius.
Get the measurement first.
The reading comes before the number, so you know what you are deciding about. Aluminum Wiring Remediation in O’Fallon and across the metro.
Mon-Thu 8-5 · Fri 8-4 · Sat 10-3 · or ask online