JEFF HULSE ELECTRIC

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Seemingly personable and recommended by other contractors in Davis we hired Jeff in March to do the electric work in our kitchen remodel. He received a detailed list (incl. pictures of where new power outlets should go) from us for which he provided a quote. After we learned that our house has only a 100-amp panel we added a panel upgrade to 200-amp to the job list. His quote seemed fair at that time. The written quote we received was a one-pager consisting of a table that lists unidentifiable and non-descriptive items but after we received an explanation on what each item was we accepted since it is nearly impossible to find contractors in Davis and we were tired of searching around some more. One months later Jeff put one day of work in for which we paid him $3,250. During that day he put in two new wires in our kitchen for under cabinet lighting, power outlets and the new wall oven and 8 cans for recessed lighting which were run on the old line of the kitchen ceiling light. This work was done on two completely open kitchen walls. After he was done we finished the walls up with new drywall and waited to hear back from him on getting the electric panel upgrade scheduled with PG&E. While waiting we started digging a 4 feet deep trench in our front yard for the power line. This was the point when our patience and trust in Jeff started to fade. We asked Jeff for example on how deep the trench would have to be. All we got (as in many other cases) was a vague answer that somewhere between 3-6 feet would be fine to accommodate the 3 inch pipe. Later after we finished the trench he said that we dug too deep and that a depth of 2-3 feet would have been fine (thanks for the many hours that we spent on digging to 4 feet!). We then wrote repeated emails to ask whether PG&E had gotten back to him to put the new power line in. We did not hear from him until the end of May when we wrote him an angry email upon which the job seemingly started picking up speed again. He started working on the job again by sending us a revised quote which was $3,000 more than the original one. Installation of the new power line did not happen until mid-June all of which was blamed on the PG&E engineer that was assigned to the job being sick. In the meanwhile we installed our kitchen in the house. In the time between mid-April until mid-June Jeff did not once show up to put in power outlets, to install junction boxes behind cabinet or install the ceiling lights. Since we were tired of waiting we installed many of the power outlets ourselves in order to make progress on the kitchen installation. During the entire job Jeff has only communicated with us via text message. He never set an exact date or time for the job at our house. One morning we were awoken at 6:15 am by a text message that he "will be over in 15" needing access to the attic, which is in our master bedroom. He was at no point able or willing to explain the work he was doing. We asked for example for the manual of the electric panel, which he refused to provide. When we asked him why he is not finishing the power outlets he said that he doesn't do that until we have a back splash in the kitchen even though we told him at the first meeting that we were not planning to install a back splash. At the end of June he finally came back to do our panel upgrade, and this job is now our biggest headache. Our old panel was mounted inside the wall. The new, larger panel that he put in is mounted on the outside of the wall onto a cheap piece of untreated plywood that is directly screwed into the studs of our bedroom wall without a moisture barrier between the panel box and the plywood. He then also left large gaps left and right of the panel for any moisture, rodents or insects to enter freely. When asked how he was planning to waterproof the installation we received only dismissive answers. Unfortunately the city inspection does not require electricians to finish the work professionally such that the wall is waterproof again. We are now working with a stucco expert who is almost unwilling to take the job because the unprofessional installation of the electric panel makes it nearly impossible to waterproof the wall behind the panel. In addition, Jeff had the tendency to leave all of his equipment scattered over the work site, as we had to learn the hard way. During a recent inspection of the new duct work that was put into our attic before Jeff started his job, the city inspector got almost hit in the head by a heavy construction hammer that was left inside the attic on the edge of the attic hatch. On his last day of work he left several doors of our house unlocked and the patio door ajar. It was 85 degrees inside the house when we got home. When we confronted him about this he said that his family wanted to cool off which was the reason why he left the place in a hurry. We got the impression that Jeff is only interested in getting the job done quickly, with the least amount of effort. He seems to have a problem to focus at the job at hand. He does not listen to his customers needs and does not show any respect for the needs and property values of his customers. We would not recommend him to anyone.

The job was done piecemeal, i.e., too much time (maybe spent on other jobs) between getting different tasks started/completed. Had to hire someone else to correct problems, such as chandelier that slipped down from the ceiling and sporadically operating kitchen lights. The wash/dryer on same circuit as master bedroom electric service, very badly labeled service panel, and neglected to install one of the exterior outlets. I only hope there are other issues I have not found. Seemingly personable, but at this point, I question sincerity.