Electrical Safety Checklist For Flemington Homeowners

Most electrical fires give warning first, and most of the warnings can be spotted without opening anything. In Flemington, where about a quarter of the homes were built before 1940 and the median home dates from 1959, a short walk through the house once or twice a year is time well spent. Our team put this checklist together for the borough's older houses and for the newer ones in Raritan Township. If anything on it worries you, call (908) 948-8664.

The ten-minute walk-through

1. Press the test and reset buttons on every GFCI outlet: kitchen, bathrooms, basement, garage and outdoors.
2. Feel outlet and switch plates with the back of your hand. Warm is a warning.
3. Look for scorch marks, cracked receptacles and plugs that fall out.
4. Count the extension cords and power strips in permanent use.
5. Open the panel door. Are the circuits labelled? Is there rust, or a smell of hot plastic?
6. Listen at the panel for buzzing or crackling.
7. Check cords for damage, and that none run under rugs.
8. Test every smoke alarm and carbon monoxide alarm.
9. Look at outdoor receptacle covers and the cable where it enters the house.
10. Note any light that flickers or dims when an appliance starts.

Our team is fully committed to reliable electrical safety inspections in Flemington.

What needs an electrician

Call a professional for warm or scorched outlets, a GFCI that will not reset, buzzing at the panel, breakers that trip repeatedly, flickering in several rooms, two-prong outlets you want grounded, aluminum or knob-and-tube wiring, a fuse box, and a Federal Pacific Stab-Lok panel. The same goes for anything that needs a new circuit: a room with too few outlets, a car charger, a generator connection or a hot tub. Those jobs need a permit from the municipal construction office and an inspection under the New Jersey Uniform Construction Code. We will ensure that your electrical repair in Flemington is handled by professionals.

Before you buy or sell

In a town with as much pre-war housing as Flemington, the electrical system deserves its own look before a sale. Buyers should ask the size of the service, the make and age of the panel, the type of wiring, and whether past work was permitted and inspected; the municipal construction office is the place to ask. Sellers do better finding a fuse box, ungrounded outlets or open splices before the home inspector does. Any New Jersey electrical contractor's licence can be checked through the Division of Consumer Affairs licence verification system. We are committed to making pre-sale electrical inspections in Flemington simple and reliable.

Storm season

Hunterdon County has sat through long outages after Hurricane Sandy and Tropical Storm Isaias. Before storm season, test the sump pump, check that the generator inlet and transfer switch work, and keep portable generators outdoors and well away from windows. Never feed a house through a cord plugged into an outlet. When you need generator or surge protection work in Flemington, our team is ready to help.

See also common electrical problems in Flemington.