Outlets, Switches & Lighting Installation in Silver Spring, MD
The everyday side of your electrical system: where you plug in, how bright a room is and what hangs from the ceiling.
Outlets, switches and lighting, planned around how you live
This is the part of a home’s electrical system you touch every day, and the part that most often feels out of date. Not enough outlets, a switch in a place that makes no sense, a room that is gloomy even with every light on, a ceiling fan someone left in a box for two summers. These are small problems with a big effect on how a house feels to live in.
Many homes around Silver Spring were built when a room needed one or two outlets and a single ceiling fixture. A modern kitchen or home office is a different animal, with chargers, appliances and screens needing outlets exactly where the old plan left none. Adding them is a matter of tapping into circuits that have the capacity, running cable through walls and ceilings, and cutting clean boxes. It is also a chance to fix older issues while the wall is open, such as ungrounded outlets or a missing GFCI by the sink.
The five services below cover the common requests: outlet installation and repair, GFCI and AFCI protection, recessed lighting, ceiling fans and light fixtures. They are listed separately because each has its own details, but they often come together, for example when a kitchen refresh needs new outlets, recessed lights and a pendant over the island.
Outlet, switch and lighting services
Outlet Installation & Repair
Add outlets where you need them and replace the loose, dead or two-prong ones.
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GFCI & AFCI Outlet Installation
Shock and arc-fault protection where kitchens, baths and bedrooms need it.
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Recessed Lighting Installation
Clean, even ceiling light for kitchens, basements and living rooms.
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Ceiling Fan Installation
A fan hung on the right box, wired and balanced so it stays quiet.
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Light Fixture Installation
Pendants, chandeliers and vanity lights hung safely and wired correctly.
Learn more →Why Zavala Electric for outlets and lighting
These jobs look simple, and that is the trap. The visible part is easy and the part inside the wall is where the work is. We look at the box, the wire and the circuit before we quote, so the price matches the job.
And because the work is in your living space, we protect floors, keep the mess contained and clean up before we go.
Outlets, Switches & Lighting: common questions
Can you add outlets in a finished room without tearing out walls?
Often yes. Cable can be fished through walls and ceilings from the attic, basement or crawl space with small access holes, and outlets can be placed in existing studs. How easy it is depends on what is behind the wall, and we check before quoting.
Do I need GFCI outlets in an older house?
Older houses often predate the requirement, but adding GFCI protection in kitchens, baths, garages, basements, laundry areas and outdoors is a good safety upgrade, and it is usually required when those areas are renovated.
How much light does a room need?
It depends on the use. A kitchen working area needs bright, even light, a bedroom less. We plan layouts around what you do in the room, not just a standard number of fixtures.
Can I mix a ceiling fan, recessed lights and fixtures in one project?
Yes, and it is often cheaper to do them together because the cable runs, wall openings and ceiling access are shared. Tell us what you are planning and we will quote it as one job.
Do these jobs need permits?
Adding new outlets, circuits or lighting generally does, while swapping a fixture or outlet like-for-like usually does not. We tell you what applies at your address.
Plan the outlets and lighting your house is missing
Describe the rooms and what you want to change, and we will quote the work.