Electrician in Sun Valley

Sun Valley was Roscoe before residents picked the new name in 1950, and its houses span the whole century since. The city's historic survey found many single-family homes from the 1920s, more from the 1940s, when defense workers and returning servicemen arrived, and large post-war tracts after that. The most distinctive are in Stonehurst, a 92-home historic district where many houses were built of native river rock between 1923 and 1925, many of them by the stonemason Dan Montelongo.

The rest of Sun Valley is working land. Industry runs along San Fernando Road, Glenoaks Boulevard and the rail line, some residential streets are zoned for horses, and La Tuna Canyon Road climbs into the Verdugo Mountains. We come from the Reseda area, and every job starts with a site visit and a written price.

What we do in Sun Valley

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

Panel upgrades in Sun Valley

Service upgrades for 1920s to 1950s houses still on small original services, and for horse lots with long overhead drops, with LADWP asked up front whether line or transformer work will be charged for.

More on panel upgradesCall (844) 430-7681

EV charger installation in Sun Valley

Level 2 chargers in detached garages and carports behind older houses, with a load check on the existing service first.

More on EV charger installationCall (844) 430-7681

Electrical repair & troubleshooting in Sun Valley

Tripping breakers, dead outlets and flickering lights in houses rewired piecemeal over decades, and outdoor faults on barn and gate feeders.

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

Rewiring in Sun Valley

Rewiring 1920s and 1940s houses, and in Stonehurst's stone houses, routing new circuits through attics and floors wherever the walls are solid stone.

More on rewiringCall (844) 430-7681

Lighting & ceiling fans in Sun Valley

Recessed lighting for remodeled kitchens, barn and arena lighting on horse lots, and security lighting for yards and driveways.

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

Outlets, GFCI & new circuits in Sun Valley

Grounded and GFCI outlets in place of two-prong originals, weatherproof outdoor outlets, and 240-volt circuits for shops, pumps and dryers.

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

Commercial electrical in Sun Valley

Three-phase and single-phase circuits for compressors and shop tools, high-bay LED lighting, and panel and service upgrades for the shops, warehouses and yards along San Fernando Road and Glenoaks Boulevard, scheduled around working hours.

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 Sun Valley homes

Sun Valley's housing comes in layers: 1920s cottages around old Roscoe, river-rock houses in Stonehurst, 1940s houses for defense workers, then the post-war tracts. Each layer brings its own electrical work.

• Stonehurst's river-rock houses. Where a wall is solid stone it can't be opened like drywall, so new circuits run through attics, floors and existing chases, and any exterior equipment has to suit a protected street. Most of these houses are a century old, and the wiring has usually been extended many times.
• 1920s and 1940s houses. The city's survey recorded a cottage from 1895, and many streets carry 1920s homes and early 1940s tracts, such as the stretch of Cartwright Avenue between Sherman Way and Valerio Street, planted with Aleppo pines around 1945. Expect small original services, two-prong outlets and kitchens that now draw far more than the wiring was built for.
• Horse lots and the foothills. Some streets were laid out for horses, with bridle trails in the 1940s, and barns, pumps, gates and arena lights are still fed from the house on long runs. Up La Tuna Canyon, homes sit against the Verdugo Mountains, where the 2017 La Tuna Fire burned 7,194 acres, so damaged or improvised outdoor wiring on those lots is worth fixing properly.

Permits and power in Sun Valley

All of Sun Valley (ZIP code 91352) is City of Los Angeles, so permits come from LADBS and power from LADWP. The boundary that changes things is to the southeast: across it, Burbank has its own building division and its own utility, Burbank Water and Power, with a different service procedure. If your address sits near the line, we confirm which side it is on before the estimate.

Stonehurst adds a step of its own. It is a city Historic Preservation Overlay Zone, and the city's rule of thumb for HPOZs is that every exterior alteration needs HPOZ approval, with the HPOZ planner consulted before applying at LADBS. Interior rewiring is not an exterior alteration, but a new mast, meter or panel on a stone wall facing the street is, so on these houses we work out where equipment can go before anything is drawn up.

On the horse-keeping streets, a barn, stable or other equine structure needs a building permit of its own, with its electrical permitted alongside it. And with a long overhead drop to a large lot, it pays to ask LADWP early whether a service upgrade will need transformer or line work, which LADWP prices separately. Shops and yards along San Fernando Road go through LADWP's commercial process rather than the residential one, so if a business needs more power than its building has, that conversation with LADWP should start early.

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 Sun Valley

North Hollywood and Valley Glen to the south, Panorama City to the west, Pacoima to the northwest and Shadow Hills and Sunland-Tujunga to the northeast are all City of Los Angeles neighborhoods with LADBS permits and LADWP power. Burbank, to the southeast, is a separate city: permits come from its Building & Safety Division and power from Burbank Water and Power, which runs its own service-planning steps.

• Burbank
• North Hollywood
• Valley Glen
• Panorama City
• Pacoima
• Shadow Hills
• Sunland-Tujunga

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