Residential Electrical in Naples, Maine

About two-thirds of Naples housing was built after 1980, so most homes have grounded wiring, but the town's lake cottages are a different story. Many were built as summer places, wired with a few circuits, ungrounded outlets and cable run wherever it was easiest, and extended over the decades with porches, bunk rooms and additions. When those cottages are winterized for year-round use, the wiring usually needs to be redone along with the insulation. The older houses in Naples village, Edes Falls and South Naples can still hold cloth-insulated cable or knob-and-tube in sections that were never updated. Anyone buying a lakeside fixer-upper should have an electrician open the panel and a few boxes before closing; the gap between swapping some outlets and rewiring an entire cottage is wide, and it usually shows quickly.

Goodnow Electric takes on full and partial rewiring, knob-and-tube and aluminum branch circuits included. Typical line items are grounded receptacles in place of two-prong ones, GFCI protection in kitchens, baths, laundry rooms and at exterior receptacles, AFCI breakers wherever code calls for them, tracking down circuits that are dead or keep tripping, and the wiring behind remodels and additions. Naples posts the state's AFCI and GFCI requirements on its code enforcement page for homeowners planning a project. The town also allows accessory dwelling units of 190 to 800 square feet on owner-occupied lots outside the shoreland zone; an ADU needs its own circuits and often a subpanel or a larger service.

The State of Maine, not the Naples town office, issues electrical permits, and any inspection is booked with the state inspector covering Cumberland County. For most single-family jobs, the licensed master electrician performing the work is the one who verifies it; multi-family and commercial projects need a state permit. Goodnow Electric takes care of that paperwork and puts a free written estimate in your hands before a single wall is cut open. On a lot in the shoreland zone, remember that an addition or a new outbuilding also needs the town's shoreland permit before the wiring can go in.