Electrician in Granada Hills

Most of Granada Hills was built in the 1950s, when the orchards became tracts, and most of it is owner-occupied, so the usual job is a long-term owner bringing a sixty-year-old house up to date. Two areas set it apart. Balboa Highlands is the only Joseph Eichler tract in Los Angeles County: 108 mid-century modern houses from 1962 to 1964, protected since 2010 as a Historic Preservation Overlay Zone. North of Rinaldi Street, the Granada Hills Equinekeeping District allows horses on large lots that back onto the Santa Susana foothills.

Both change how the work is done. In Balboa Highlands the preservation plan says where electrical masts and panels should go; north of Rinaldi the lots are in the fire zone and carry barns and outbuildings. We come from the Reseda area, the estimate is on site, and the price is in writing before work starts.

What we do in Granada Hills

Everything we do in Granada Hills, with what each job usually involves here. The photos are from our own jobs.

Panel upgrades in Granada Hills

Service upgrades for 1950s houses, and in Balboa Highlands a panel placed at the rear to the preservation plan, with the HPOZ clearance in hand before the LADBS permit.

More on panel upgradesCall (844) 430-7681

EV charger installation in Granada Hills

Level 2 chargers in garages and carports, with the HPOZ review in mind for an Eichler and a load calculation first on any 1950s service.

More on EV charger installationCall (844) 430-7681

Electrical repair & troubleshooting in Granada Hills

Breakers tripping under summer air-conditioning loads, and faults in long feeders to barns and pumps north of Rinaldi.

More on electrical repair & troubleshootingCall (844) 430-7681

Rewiring in Granada Hills

Replacing original 1950s wiring and the patched work of decades of additions; in an Eichler, routed to respect the exposed structure.

More on rewiringCall (844) 430-7681

Lighting & ceiling fans in Granada Hills

Landscape and security lighting on hillside and horse lots, and in Balboa Highlands exterior lighting placed where the preservation plan exempts it from review.

More on lighting & ceiling fansCall (844) 430-7681

Outlets, GFCI & new circuits in Granada Hills

GFCI protection for pools, spas, barns and outdoor areas, and 240-volt circuits for spas, pumps and dryers.

More on outlets, GFCI & new circuitsCall (844) 430-7681

Commercial electrical in Granada Hills

Tenant improvements, lighting, meter banks, dedicated circuits and service upgrades for shops, offices, warehouses and multi-unit buildings.

More on commercial electricalCall (844) 430-7681

Also: subpanels, dedicated circuits, 240-volt outlets for dryers and ranges, exterior and security lighting, hard-wired smoke alarms, and small repairs of every kind.

What's common in Granada Hills homes

The oldest houses, from the 1910s to the 1930s, are in the southwest corner; most of the rest dates from the 1950s. Two neighborhoods add rules of their own.

• 1950s tracts. Original 100-amp services, two-prong outlets and panel brands that inspectors flag are common in these houses.
• Balboa Highlands Eichlers. Central atriums, floor-to-ceiling glass on the side and rear, steel sash, clerestory windows under exposed beams and rafters, and carports on many models. There's little wall space to hide a run and every exterior change is reviewed, so we route new circuits with the architecture rather than through it and keep equipment at the rear.
• North of Rinaldi. Large semi-rural lots with barns, corrals, pumps and gates on long feeders, inside the fire zone. Wiring that crosses those lots is planned around the brush clearance and the animals.
• Old Granada Hills and Knollwood. Lots of up to 20,000 square feet in Old Granada Hills and mid-century houses around the Knollwood golf course: pools, additions and second air-conditioning systems on services sized for none of them.

Permits and power in Granada Hills

Granada Hills (ZIP code 91344) runs from the Northridge line north to the county line in the Santa Susana Mountains, all of it City of Los Angeles. The local rule that matters is the Balboa Highlands Historic Preservation Overlay Zone. There, the city's rule of thumb is that every exterior alteration needs HPOZ approval, with the HPOZ planner consulted before applying at LADBS, and the district's preservation plan says electrical masts, headers and fuse boxes should be at the rear of the house, with mechanical equipment in the rear or side yard, out of view from the street. The plan also prefers utilities underground. Only houses inside the district boundary are covered, and we check the boundary before proposing anything.

That has to line up with LADWP, whose meter spot decides where a new service may go, so in Balboa Highlands we bring the preservation plan to the meter spot rather than finding out afterward. Lighting on facades not visible from the street is exempt from HPOZ review; a charger or a light on the street-facing wall is not.

North of Rinaldi Street, single-family lots in the Granada Hills Equinekeeping District carry barns that need their own building permit, and the hillside is in the Fire Department's Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, with brush cleared up to 200 feet from a structure.

Permits come from the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS). A new circuit, an EV charger, a sub-panel or a panel replacement is permitted work, and LADBS will not send an inspector until the permit is issued. We pull it under our license and meet the inspector at the end.

Power comes from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), not Southern California Edison. For repairs, lighting, new outlets and a charger that fits on the existing panel, LADWP is not involved. For a panel or service upgrade it is: the job starts with LADWP's free meter spot, where an Electric Service Representative visits within five to fifteen business days, confirms where the new equipment may go and leaves a sketch at the job (single-family services up to 320 amps can be requested online). When only the meter needs setting, LADWP says that generally happens within ten working days. If the existing LADWP service can carry the new load there are generally no LADWP charges; work in the street, on a transformer or on the lines can add cost and time, and we find that out before you commit.

The permits and utilities guide explains the whole picture for the three counties we serve.

Around Granada Hills

Porter Ranch to the west, Northridge to the south, and Mission Hills and Sylmar to the east are City of Los Angeles neighborhoods with LADBS permits and LADWP power, as is Chatsworth a few minutes west. Over the Newhall Pass, Santa Clarita is a separate city, with permits from its own Building and Safety Division and power from Southern California Edison.

• Porter Ranch
• Northridge
• Mission Hills
• Sylmar
• Chatsworth
• Santa Clarita

See the full list of areas we cover across Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties.