Selling a home, buying an older one, or just finished a remodel? We do a straight electrical inspection that tells you what you actually need — and what you don't. You get a written, photo-backed report you keep, from a licensed master electrician (TDLR EC #EECELE00037785, 27+ years) serving the Galveston Bay / South Houston corridor.
We lead with the assessment, not the sale. We're not always the cheapest electrician you'll call — but we won't put work on your list that you don't need.
A real photo of an actual TriCoast inspection report / checklist (the checklist praised in our Paul Belobrajdic review). This is the single most important unique asset on the page — it visually proves the written-report promise and is impossible for a doorway page to fake. Do not use stock imagery.
Most people who call us for an inspection are in one of three spots. Find yours.
You listed the house, the buyer's home inspector wrote up the electrical, and now a deal you thought was done has a question mark on it. You need a licensed electrician to tell you what's real, what's cosmetic, and what it'll actually take to clear it. This is the most time-sensitive lane, and we treat it that way. The goal is a clean, written read you can hand back to your agent or the buyer.
A mid-century or older Bay-area home can hide a lot: an outdated or dangerous panel (Federal Pacific / FPE, Zinsco, or Stab-Lok), a missing or weak ground, wiring that was never meant to carry today's loads. You don't want a surprise — you want to know the real condition before something forces the issue.
Worried about the panel itself? Read our guide to dangerous electrical panels — FPE, Zinsco & Stab-Lok, then get it inspected.
Inherited a remodel? Found junction boxes and added circuits nobody can explain? Unpermitted electrical work isn't just a code question — it can stall a sale or get cited by an insurer (more on that below). An inspection tells you what's actually there and whether it was done to code.
Planning more work on top of it? See remodel & addition wiring and our Texas electrical permit guide.
"We inspect your electrical" means nothing. Here's the real checklist we work through — the same kind of thorough, start-to-finish checklist our customers have called out by name.
You get the findings in writing, with photos — not a verbal "looks fine" on your doorstep.
The real checklist/report photo lives here, tied explicitly to the review verbatim ("he has a checklist that will ensure a thorough job from start to finish"). Confirm with owner the exact deliverable — written PDF? deficiency list? photos? — and make this copy match it precisely.
Here's the part most electricians won't put in writing.
When we inspect, we tell you honestly if something is fine. If your panel is older but safe and doesn't need replacing, we'll say so. If a cheaper fix solves the problem, we'll point you to it — before we ever quote you remediation. We do the read first; the work is a separate conversation you control.
We know why you're guarded. Half the people who call us have already gotten conflicting electrician advice — one says replace everything, the next says it's fine — and they don't know whom to believe. So we don't ask you to take our word for it. The written report shows you what we saw and why, so you can get a second opinion against something concrete instead of a sales pitch.
Sometimes the inspection does surface something real. If it does, here's the straight path — framed as a next step, not an upsell.
Why this matters in dollars and deals: unpermitted or failed work can stall a home sale, and an insurer can deny a claim or refuse to write a policy on it. Fixing it the right way — permitted and inspected — is almost always cheaper than fixing it twice or losing a buyer over it. We quote the fix straight, with the cost ranges above as honest anchors.
A real fact most homeowners don't know until it bites them: in Houston, electrical permits are only issued to a registered master electrician. You legally cannot pull one yourself. So if a previous "handyman" or unlicensed worker did electrical on your home, it almost certainly wasn't permitted — and that surfaces at exactly the wrong time: during a sale, or when an insurer takes a closer look.
The upside cuts the other way. When a licensed master electrician pulls the permit and the job passes inspection, that permit stays with the house. It's documentation a buyer, an agent, and an insurer can all see. That's the difference between "we think it's fine" and "here's the paper that proves it."
We're the registered master electrician who pulls the permit and handles the inspection on any work we do — so the fix is clean, on the record, and yours to point to.
More detail: Do I need an electrical permit in Texas?
Both techs were very knowledgeable and professional from start to finish. They left the job site clean and all work was tested and reviewed with us before they left. My wife and I were extremely impressed. I would recommend TriCoast to all my friends and family.
TriCoast did an amazing job. Donald was so polite and his wife was very quick to reply to emails and requests. We were so impressed that we will be using TriCoast Electrical Services to handle all of our electrical needs in the house we are purchasing!
Donald is the best. He is very knowledgeable in his field and listens and answers any and all questions. Thank you for getting us all fixed up!
An inspection-specific testimonial (a customer who got an honest "you don't actually need X," or a clean pre-sale report). The verified reviews above are real, named, and attributed truthfully. Run the SMS review ask to capture an inspection-specific one. Do NOT fabricate additional reviews, a star average, or a review count.
1–2 real job photos of findings from an actual local job (e.g., a flagged FPE/Zinsco panel, double-tapped breakers, a missing ground). Do NOT use stock photos.
We inspect homes across the Galveston Bay / South Houston corridor — including League City, Friendswood, Pearland, Texas City, Webster/Clear Lake, Galveston Island, La Marque, and Dickinson, plus surrounding communities like Santa Fe, Hitchcock, Kemah, Seabrook, Nassau Bay, El Lago, Taylor Lake Village, Bacliff, San Leon, Bayou Vista, Tiki Island, Clear Lake Shores, Jamaica Beach, Alvin, Manvel, and south Pasadena.
Selling or buying around Clear Lake? A pre-sale electrical inspection here works the same way it does anywhere in the corridor — an honest, written read you can hand to your agent.
Don't see your town? We likely cover it — see all areas served or just ask.
We work through a written checklist: service panel and brand ID (including FPE/Zinsco/Stab-Lok), breaker condition and double-taps, grounding and bonding, GFCI/AFCI presence and function testing, a load/capacity assessment, outlet and wiring spot-testing, visible aluminum or knob-and-tube wiring, smoke/CO interplay, and any evidence of unpermitted work. You receive the findings in writing, with photos.
Sometimes yes, sometimes no — and you deserve a straight, written answer. If your panel is a Federal Pacific (FPE), Zinsco, or Stab-Lok — families with documented breaker-failure histories — that's worth a close look, and it's a common reason an insurer asks for a replacement. We identify the panel, test what we can, and tell you honestly whether it needs to go or not. More on dangerous panels →
It isn't always required, but it's often smart. A pre-sale read lets you find and fix issues — or document that there aren't any — before a buyer's inspector turns them into a negotiation. The bigger risk is unpermitted prior work: it can stall a deal late, when it's most expensive to fix. Knowing in advance keeps you in control.
No — and that's the whole point of how we work. We do the assessment first, including a load check, and we tell you honestly if your panel is fine. If you've gotten conflicting advice from other electricians, our written, photo-backed report gives you something concrete to weigh, instead of one more "trust me."
In Houston, electrical permits are only issued to a registered master electrician; a homeowner can't pull one. So unpermitted prior work is common — and it can be cited by an insurer or stall a sale. The fix is to have a licensed master electrician do the work permitted and inspected, so the permit stays with the house as documentation. We handle that. Permit guide →
Request a quote and we'll tell you exactly how the assessment works. As honest anchors for any resulting work: a panel upgrade typically runs $1,183–$1,972, so you'll know the ballpark before anything is decided.
FAQ "What does an inspection include": confirm exact deliverable format with owner (written PDF? deficiency list? photos?).
FAQ "How much does an inspection cost": confirm assessment-cost policy with owner (is the inspection charged, or does it roll into quoted work?). Copy must be truthful and must NOT use "free estimate" framing.
One straight inspection. An honest report of what you need and what you don't, with photos you keep. No pressure, no upsell, and a workmanship warranty on anything we fix. Licensed master electrician · TDLR EC #EECELE00037785 · 27+ years · Galveston Bay / South Houston corridor.