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Electrical Repair Etobicoke
Etobicoke · Electrical Repair
Service calls across Etobicoke — warm outlets, aluminum terminations and dead circuits in the post-war belt, fixed with the right devices.
Etobicoke’s repair calls follow its housing. Near the lake they look like old Toronto. Across the big 1960s and 70s subdivisions they look different — and a surprising number come back to how aluminum branch wiring was terminated half a century ago.
On a 1960s or 70s Etobicoke house, a warm switch plate is a termination problem until proven otherwise. We check it properly.
Circuits that work, stop, then work again usually mean a loose connection somewhere along the run.
Repairs on aluminum circuits use CO/ALR-rated devices, or copper pigtails with connectors made for the job.
Attached-garage and exterior outlets take the weather and tend to fail first.

Which kind of house you have changes what a repair involves.

A large share of Etobicoke was built when aluminum branch wiring was standard. It is permitted by the Code and is not dangerous in itself — it fails where it is terminated. A standard receptacle installed on aluminum is the classic cause of a warm, intermittent outlet.
Mimico, New Toronto and Long Branch have older stock where knob-and-tube and early two-wire circuits still turn up. Repairs there follow old-Toronto rules: find out what the circuit actually is before touching it.
Push-in terminations are prohibited with aluminum. When we find aluminum wired into the back of a modern receptacle — which happens after DIY swaps — it gets re-terminated properly, not just put back.

Copper or aluminum. It decides which devices and connectors we use.
On aluminum circuits the connection is the repair. We do it with rated hardware.
Where one termination has failed, others of the same age often follow. We tell you what we see.
We work right across Etobicoke. If your street is not listed it almost certainly still counts — see electrical repair in full, or our Etobicoke electricians page.
On a 1960s or 70s Etobicoke home, the most likely cause is an aluminum conductor terminated on a device not rated for it, or a connection that has loosened over decades of heating and cooling. Stop using it and have it looked at — a warm termination is how aluminum wiring problems start.
It is the most common way the problem is created. Ordinary receptacles are not rated for aluminum, and push-in terminations are prohibited with it. Devices must be marked CO/ALR, or the aluminum pigtailed to copper with connectors rated for the purpose.
Not inherently — the Ontario Electrical Safety Code permits it, and ESA calls the idea that it is recalled or inherently a fire hazard a myth. The risk is concentrated at terminations. Properly terminated aluminum circuits can serve safely for a long time.
Usually a loose connection somewhere on that circuit — at a switch, a fixture or a receptacle feeding the rest. On aluminum circuits it deserves prompt attention, because a loose aluminum connection tends to get worse rather than better.
Yes, regularly. The lakeside communities have Etobicoke's oldest homes, where repairs often run into knob-and-tube or early two-wire circuits. We establish what the circuit is before recommending anything.
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Read more →Nearby: TorontoMississaugaVaughan. Related services: Electrical Repair · Emergency Electrician · Electrical Inspections. Or see every area on our service areas page.
Warm outlet or dead circuit — we fix the termination, not just the device.