If your house was built or substantially rewired between roughly 1965 and 1973, there is a reasonable chance the branch circuits behind the walls are aluminium rather than copper. It was used widely during those years because copper prices spiked, and it is the single most common reason an insurer asks a question that stalls a renewal. The Electric Guys identify aluminium branch wiring and remediate it properly across Pittsburgh and about thirty-three miles around.
The problem is not the aluminium itself. It is the connections. Aluminium expands and contracts more than copper as a circuit heats and cools, it creeps under the pressure of a terminal screw, and its oxide layer does not conduct. Over years, a connection that was perfectly sound on the day it was made works loose, heats and eventually fails — and the failures happen at outlets, switches and splices rather than in the middle of a run.
Why choose The Electric Guys
- We identify it properly. Aluminium branch wiring is confirmed at the device boxes and the panel, not guessed at from the build year. Plenty of houses from those years have copper, and some have both.
- Remediation, not replacement, where that is the right answer. A full rewire is not the only option and is rarely the first one. Pigtailing every connection with an approved connector addresses the actual failure point at a fraction of the cost.
- We use connectors rated for the job. Standard wire nuts are not an approved fix for copper-to-aluminium, whatever the previous owner did. AlumiConn-type connectors are, and that distinction is exactly what an inspector or insurer looks for.
- Documentation you can hand to the insurer. What was found, what was done, and where — because that is the paperwork that ends the conversation.
Our aluminium wiring process
- Confirm what you have. Panel and a sample of device boxes, checking conductor markings and the extent across circuits.
- Assess the connections. Discoloured terminals, warm plates, brittle insulation and previous amateur repairs — the last of these is very common.
- Quote the remediation. Usually pigtailing at every device and splice, with any failed sections replaced outright.
- Do the work. Every accessible connection treated, with approved connectors, and devices replaced where they are damaged.
- Document and inspect. A written record of the scope, and permit and inspection where the municipality requires it.
Where this turns up around Pittsburgh
Geographically it is the opposite of the knob-and-tube map. The city's pre-war neighbourhoods largely predate the aluminium years; the houses that have it are the ones built in the late-sixties and early-seventies suburban push. That means the split-levels and ranches along the Northern Pike corridor in Monroeville, parts of Penn Hills, the Bethel Park and Mt. Lebanon subdivisions from that window, the North Hills developments around McCandless, and the Moon Township and Robinson housing that went up with the airport corridor.
It matters here for a practical reason beyond safety. This is a region with a very active market in houses of exactly that age, and aluminium branch wiring is one of the standard findings on a home inspection. It will come up when you sell. Remediating it before the inspection, with documentation, is considerably cheaper than negotiating it at closing.
The other thing worth knowing: large-gauge aluminium service entrance conductors and range or dryer feeders are a separate matter and generally not a concern. The issue is specifically aluminium in the 15- and 20-amp branch circuits feeding ordinary outlets and switches. Being told your house "has aluminium" without that distinction is not useful information.
Serving Pittsburgh, PA and nearby
We cover the city and the surrounding communities where this housing is concentrated — Monroeville, Penn Hills, Bethel Park, Mt. Lebanon, McCandless, Moon Township, Robinson, Murrysville and Cranberry — as well as the city neighbourhoods where individual houses were rewired during those years.
A service call on a repair is $99; an assessment and quote for aluminium remediation is free, Monday through Saturday. Call or text (412) 501-7391, and a photo inside the panel cover will usually answer the question straight away.