Does anyone have any idea (ballpark) how much it would cost me to have someone put out an outside motion detector floodlight in the back of my house? I don't have any kind of wiring there currenly, so I don't know how much work the job would consist of. And if anyone has a recommendation of an electrician who would do the work, I would greatly appreciate it.

We would like a flood light and an electrical outlet for a pond or some such thing.

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"Love many. Trust few. Always paddle your own canoe.".....Grandma Mc

I'm not in the biz, so this is just a shot in the dark (no pun intended) but I'm guessing somewhere between $100 and $200 parts & labor, depending on what parts you choose & how much labor your particular job imposes.

The only real solid suggestion I can give you is to look into getting one of the newer "smart" fixtures that are somewhat programmable. The one we have can be switched from "always on" (for backyard parties and late night BBQ projects ) to "motion sensor" (security mode) by flipping the wall switch inside the house a few times in a row. In security mode you also don't need to worry about wasting electricity during the daytime since it's only active after dark. IIRC it was about $30-35 plus the cost of two 90 watt floodlight bulbs.

You may think that you don't have any wiring "back there", but you probably do. A floodlight doesn't take much current and can very likely be added to an existing circuit. When we had one installed in our back yard a few years ago, we had it tied to a receptacle under the window in our bedroom. They just added a switch on the inside and a light on the outside. (Makes it easy to change the bulb too since it's right under the window!)

$150 - $200 is about the right price and any electrician should be able to do it.

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Call Sean Kearns at 215 906 5620; he has done quite a few of these for me. The photocell one with a motion sensor is nice as you only need to change the bulbs every so often; they take care of themselves otherwise.

Thanks for your input, guys.. In the mean time I did get a hold of an electrician, who didnt come out, but gave me a ballpark of between $300-500!! (depending how much fishing and drilling he'd have to do) That just seemed really high to me. I have someone else who is coming over tonight, but he's a handyman, jack of all trades guy. He come highly recommended, but peopel keep telling me that I should definetly have a licensed, insured electrician. If the job isn't that major, I thnk this guy should be fine and much more reasonable.

The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of good price has been forgotten. The converse of this is also true.

I hear ya. This guy apparently guts and rehabs entire houses, so I'll at least see what he has to say.

I have met plenty of people in that line of business who don't know their ass from a hole in the ground, and they do just fine because they talk a big game to laymen. Just because someone does something for a living doesn't mean they are an expert in that field--some "tradesmen" are actually better at being "salesmen", and unless you have some inside knowledge in the industry, you might not know the difference. Your qualifier "apparently" doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

I'm not trying to talk down on you or your guy--he could know, based on what he's seen, that the job is more difficult than most--but don't assume that just because he supposedly takes on big projects that he's not ripping you off.

There are rip-off artists and honest people, there are excellent mechanics and slobs, and this is true in any field, including medicine. The way that I avoid dealing with the bad apples is I ask for the advice / recommendation of people whose judgment I trust, who have used the services of the person before, and who have knowledge in the field. Calling someone out of the phone book or even off of an advertisement stuck in someone's lawn is dangerous.