A new circuit from the panel, or outlet installation where you need one — sized to what will plug in, across Portland, West Linn, Happy Valley, and surrounding communities.
A new circuit is a fresh run of cable from a breaker in the panel to the place it serves — a kitchen counter, a bathroom, a workshop, a 240-volt appliance. Outlet installation is smaller: a new receptacle tapped off a circuit that already exists nearby. Which one you need depends on what will plug in. Big or steady loads want their own dedicated circuit. A lamp, a phone charger or a television usually needs only an outlet installed on a nearby circuit.
Portland houses run the full range. Homes built before 1940 often have a handful of circuits for the whole house and rooms with one receptacle each. Houses built 1960 to 1989 have more circuits but were laid out for the appliances of that time. In either case we start at the panel: if it is full, a subpanel or a panel upgrade may come first. Every new circuit gets the protection the code calls for, which today means GFCI in kitchens, bathrooms, garages and outdoors, and AFCI in most living areas. Garage and outdoor receptacles also get weather-resistant or tamper-resistant devices where the code calls for them.
Adding a new circuit, or adding or moving an outlet, is new wiring, so we pull the permit and book the city inspection. If the new cable is buried in a wall, it is checked before the wall closes. Replacing a broken device with the same kind of device is a simpler repair, and we tell you which your job is before we start.
