Silverback Electric

I've used Aaron and Silverback electric 3 times now. The first time Aaron quoted on a job of adding a secondary panel to our garage with 100amps. He came in on our agreed budget and the guys were great doing the work. I thought I'd found my new electricians for all future updates and was excited to be able to depend on them.

The second time he sent one of the guys who had done the first job and I wasn't impressed - the bill came to a lot higher than it should have for the scope of work considering I provided all the lighting. Andrew answered 4 personal phone calls while on the job as well as chatting with us a great deal - which I didn't comment on during but in hindsight I should have said something since I clearly was charged for his personal time. I was also charged for a voltmeter he seemed to have gone off to buy (shouldn't he have one already? I shouldn't be paying for tools that an electrician is meant to have)

I figured I'd give them another shot so I called Aaron when we wanted our sump pump electrical moved. He said that he could send someone by in a few hours because he'd be in the area. Sean showed up and called Aaron because he hadn't done much work on sump pumps (odd that he sent him over). He was at our place for 15 minutes (of which a third of the time was spent on the phone to Aaron asking for advice), . He pushed the reset button. That was it. When I got the bill it was $157! For 15 minutes. When asked, I was told that this is their minimum callout charge and that Aaron needed to pay his electirican for drive time. At no point did Aaron mention this and I had never been charged this on the other 2 times he had come to do work for me or quote on work. He told me he had to pay his guy for drive time - but he had originally told me that sean was already in the area. If I had been told up front about this charge I would have used the minimum 2 hours to deal with other electrical issues.

This has left a pretty bitter taste and I won't be giving his company any more of my business. We have a lot of renovating we're doing and wanted a good electrician we could trust but to be nickeled and dimed when we've worked with them several time before is disappointing. I strongly recommend establishing costs up front if you're going to use Silverback Electric, otherwise you might get a surprise bill like I did, twice.

We called Silverback Electric after we had an issue with our bathroom sconces, and needed to replace 3 of them. Aaron got back to us right away and was able to book us in quickly for the replacement. After replacing them we noticed one of our light switches was no longer working properly, and Aaron was able to help with that on the spot as well which was great! Everything went very smooth and we're very pleased.

Aaron from Silverback electric assessed my existing 50 year old fuse panel and quoted accordingly (four fuses only). With the added required City permitting I was really happy with with the invoiced cost. The work took less than four hours and I did not have any issues with my appliances, internet, phone or computer once done. Aaron was a pleasure to deal with, responded to all my emails and phone calls in a timely manner. I would not hesitate to recommend Aaron for any electrical needs, big or small.

We have used Silverback Electric to replace a faulty breaker and meter box. Aaron was quick to reply to our requests and performed the work efficiently and in a timely manner.

We would highly recommend Silverback Electric and plan on using their services for future projects.

We renovated the downstairs of our house to make it a rental suite.
It was a gutted space, and is now a lovely apartment. Aaron and Silverback did the electrical work. They are reliable, efficient and paid close attention to detail. Their work is meticulous. Aaron is also very friendly to deal with.

This is my second review for Aaron and Silverback Electric. Aaron has been my trusted go-to guy for any electrical work I've needed over the past 5 years. He completely rewired my 1970s townhouse previously, and recently helped me with a very challenging installation and wiring of a heavy chandelier 20ft above ground at my new home. Besides the great work Aaron and his team does, what I value the most is his honesty. He always goes the extra mile to make sure you're satisfied with the work. Thanks again Aaron!

Aaron was awesome! Very friendly, professional, knowledgeable and upbeat before, during, and after the job. Replaced and installed a half-dozen switches, smart and otherwise, some of which had been previously wired strangely. Their rates were reasonable, the work was high quality, and he was very fast. I'd highly recommend using their services and am already planning the next job.

I hired Silverback for some rough wiring work as part of a kitchen renovation in July 2019. I think the owner is a qualified electrician, but I can't say the same about the 2 guys he sent to actually do the work. Here are some highlights of their work:

1. snapped PERMANENT chalk lines on a finished ceiling without asking permission (I was around in another part of the house). Just because it's a renovation, don't assume you can just trash someone's ceiling. I wasn't planning on repainting the ceiling, but had no choice after that.

2. cut drywall with a recipricating saw. What the hell? Look at the picture if you don't believe me!

3. convinced me that the wires from 2 adjacent underfloor heating mats couldn't be spliced together to be powered from a single wire (and single thermostat). I was skeptical and asked if he was absolutely sure, and he said yes. I was told later (too late) by a licensed electrician that he was absolutely wrong. I now have 2 thermostats in the same kitchen because of his ineptitude.

4. screwed retaining clips straight into drywall despite the fact all the studs were clearly marked in the whole garage. Those white spots on the unpainted walls are to cover drywall screws... which are screwed into the studs! Maybe your screws should also go into the studs?

5. had to borrow my ladder to get into the attic. what kind of electrician doesn't have a ladder?

6. I left other things out because this review is getting too long.

To Aaron's credit, he came and personally addressed the most glaring deficiencies with the work his guys did. So at least there's that. He seems qualified, but he's not the one actually doing the work.

I had originally planned for them to do finishing work after the renovation was further along, but after seeing the kind of work his guys did I didn't want them anywhere near my house. I hired another electrician to do the finishing work which was unfortunate because he had to finish a job he didn't start. He looked over the work the first guys did and couldn't believe the poor workmanship. He had to fix a few things before starting his own work, and as he was doing it he was explaining all the things the first guys did wrong. Some were minor, and some were blatant code violations.

----------------
Dec 2020: I just noticed that the owner is trying to save face by accusing me of harassing his employees. That never happened - I was polite to him and his employees and I paid him in full. I didn't interact that much with his guys anyway (I spoke with Keith a few times on day 1, and I was not there at all on day 2. There was another guy onsite which I never spoke to). He didn't pull his employees out, in fact after the 2 days of rough-in work were done he expected me to call him back to do finishing work a few weeks later. It was solely my decision to not hire them back.

A wall outlet in our house was not working and Aaron from Silverback came and diagnosed the problem quickly. He replaced 2 defective breakers. This is the second time we have dealt with Silverback and both times have had an excellent experience. Aaron is prompt, honest, knowledgeable and efficient at his work. I highly recommend Silverback and will not hesitate to have any future electrical work done by them.

I had a few light fixtures to change in an old house. First time I needed to call an electrician in Vancouver.
The silverback team was very fast in giving me a quote .
And their rate per hour was definitely the most interesting one.
They did the job in 2 hours . Fast and efficient .
Will highly recommend