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Historic Home Electrical Upgrades
What gets left in the wall matters as much as what comes out. Aluminum branch wiring is a termination problem, not a wire problem, and the accepted remedy is far smaller than a full rewire.
Historic Home Electrical Upgrades in O’Fallon and across St. Charles, St. Louis, Lincoln and Warren counties.
Owner-operated: the person who answers the phone is the person who measures it.
5.0 from 94 Google reviews · BBB A+ since 2022
What this work actually involves
Grounding is brought up to current requirements, which is usually what makes the difference for a buyer’s inspector.
Clint measures before he quotes. The reading comes first, then what it means, then the one repair that solves it. If the honest answer is smaller than what you called about, that is the answer you get, even when the bigger job pays better.
Work that needs a permit gets one, and work that needs an inspection is left ready for it. One person does the diagnosis and the repair, so nothing is lost between a salesman and a technician.
When people call about this
- An inspector’s note on an older home
- Aluminum branch wiring from the 60s or 70s
- Circuits that dim when anything starts
- Two-prong outlets throughout
Why people choose Clint for it
One person does the diagnosis and the repair, so nothing is lost between a salesman and a technician, and nobody is paid to sell past the finding.
Seventeen years in the trade, four of them running his own shop, 5.0 from 94 Google reviews, and an A+ BBB accreditation held since 2022.
Where this is done
Thirty towns across five jurisdictions, worked out of O’Fallon. The housing stock and the inspection process both change as you move across them.
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.
Where house calls usually land
Most calls start with a symptom rather than a diagnosis: a breaker that keeps tripping, a room that went dead, a warm cover plate, lights dimming when the furnace starts.
Each of those has a short list of causes and a measurement that separates them. You get the reading and what it means before any work is agreed.
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.
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.
“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
Plumbing, HVAC and structural work get a pointer to someone who does them properly. Recent jobs are worth a look before you call.
Related wiring & rewiring work
Historic Home Electrical Upgrades across the metro
Five jurisdictions, five different sets of conditions. The housing stock changes as you cross this metro, and so does what the job involves.
St. Louis County
Dozens of municipalities, each with its own occupancy inspection and its own thresholds. Knowing which authority has the address matters as much as knowing the house.
St. Louis City
Fishing a wall is harder here and sometimes not possible, so the honest answer about opening one comes before the work rather than during it.
Lincoln County
Rural properties where the panel is fine and the two hundred foot run to the barn is the actual job.
Thirty towns across five jurisdictions, all on the service areas page.
Questions worth asking first.
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.
Can a rewire be done in stages?
Yes, zone by zone with the house powered throughout and each stage inspected before the next. That is usually how an occupied house is done.
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.
Who actually shows up?
Clint Ehman. Infinity Electric is owner-operated, so the person who answers the phone is the person who measures your panel and pulls the permit. There is no dispatcher and no commissioned salesman.
Are you licensed and insured?
Licensed, bonded and insured, with workers compensation coverage, and accredited A+ with the BBB since 2022.
Ask what it actually reads.
You get the figure and what it means, before any work is agreed. Historic Home Electrical Upgrades in O’Fallon and across the metro.
Mon-Thu 8-5 · Fri 8-4 · Sat 10-3 · or ask online