Older Stock, Honest Work
Arlandria — the neighborhood around Mount Vernon Avenue north of Four Mile Run — has some of Alexandria's most affordable older housing: early-to-mid-1900s single-family homes, duplexes, and garden apartment buildings. A lot of that housing still runs on its original electrical.
Cloth-insulated wiring, fuse boxes, ungrounded outlets — we see all of it here. Many of these homes have also been through decades of DIY fixes and rental turnovers, which means splices, jury-rigged circuits, and panels that tell a story nobody wrote down.
Safety First, Budget in Mind
We know Arlandria homeowners and landlords are watching the budget. Our job is to find the real safety hazards first — the things that could actually cause a fire — and fix those before anything cosmetic. Sometimes that is a full rewire. Sometimes it is a panel replacement and a handful of corrected circuits.
For landlords: we document everything, pull permits, and leave you with inspection records that protect you and your tenants.
What an Inspection Covers
Our inspection is not a five-minute glance. We open the panel and check every breaker. We test outlets for proper grounding. We look in the attic and basement for the wiring type and its condition. We check for the red flags: double-tapped breakers, scorched insulation, mystery splices, and circuits carrying more than they should.
You get a written list, prioritized by safety. Fix the fire hazards now, plan the rest on a timeline that fits your budget. No pressure, no upsell — just the facts about your building.
One thing we see a lot in Arlandria: window AC units on extension cords and overloaded power strips. If that is your setup, a couple of new dedicated circuits — one per bedroom — is one of the highest-value safety upgrades you can make, and it usually takes a single day.
Know What You Have
An inspection costs less than you think and tells you exactly where you stand. Call (301) 679-9193 — we will give you a prioritized list, most urgent first.