Lost Power Outside? We'll Find the Fault and Fix It in Dorridge
A systematic fault-find on your external power supply, from the consumer unit to the last socket, so everything outside works again.
Booking fee plus hourly labour — the price is confirmed before any work starts.
What this costs
| Booked 14+ days ahead | £25 booking fee £85 per hour |
|---|---|
| Booked within 48 hours | £100 booking fee £65 per hour |
| Same-day call-out | £220 booking fee £45 per hour |
The booking fee secures the visit. Labour is then charged by the hour, so you only pay for the time the job actually takes.
Booking fee £25–£220
£25 + £85/hr booked 14+ days ahead, £100 + £65/hr inside 48 hours, £220 + £45/hr same day. Agreed before we arrive.
Covered under Outdoor Electrical
Electrical › Outdoor Electrical — one of 23 documented jobs in this section.
Same-day external power failure
Urgent jobs can often be booked for today. Ask when you book and we will confirm the slot before you pay anything.
15 service areas
Birmingham, Coventry, Dorridge and 12 more across the West Midlands.
What External Power Failure Means
External power covers anything fed from your consumer unit that lives outside the house: garage and shed supplies, garden sockets, lighting, and feeds to outbuildings. When it fails, one of three broad things has happened:
- The protective device has tripped. RCDs and breakers cut the supply when they detect a fault. A one-off trip may be nothing, but a device that will not reset, or trips again immediately, means a genuine fault on the circuit.
- The cable has failed. Supply cables to outbuildings are buried, run through walls, or clipped along fences. They can be damaged by digging, rodents, frost movement, or simple age, and the fault may be anywhere along the run.
- The end equipment has failed. Sometimes the supply is fine and the fault is in the shed's consumer unit, a socket, or an appliance — but that still needs confirming, not assuming.
Why You Should Not Just Keep Resetting It
A protective device that keeps tripping is doing its job. Resetting it again and again, especially on a damp or damaged circuit, risks the fault getting worse and can mask a problem that would have been a small repair today. If the device will not reset at all, stop trying and get it looked at properly.
How We Diagnose the Failure
We work from the known to the unknown. First the consumer unit: is the device tripped, and will it hold? Then we test the circuit itself with insulation and earth-fault instruments to establish whether the fault is a dead short, moisture in the system, or a break in a conductor. If the supply reaches an outbuilding, we check its board and sockets too. Buried cable faults are located rather than hunted — we narrow down the fault position so that any digging is one small hole, not a trench.
How We Restore the Supply
The repair depends on what we find. A tripped device caused by damp in one fitting is resolved by drying out and replacing that fitting. Damaged cable is repaired or replaced, routed and protected properly so the same thing does not happen again. A failed outbuilding board or socket is replaced with weatherproof (IP-rated) equipment where it is exposed. If the original installation was never up to the job — an undersized cable, no RCD protection, an overloaded circuit — we will explain the options, from a like-for-like repair to a proper upgrade, and quote for whatever you choose.
Aftercare and Prevention
After the repair we will show you where the supply's protective devices are and what a healthy reset looks like, so you can tell a one-off trip from a recurring fault. We label things clearly and point out anything you should keep an eye on. If the supply feeds equipment you rely on — freezers in the garage, for example — ask us about how to spot early warning signs of trouble.
When to Call Us
Call us when external power has failed and will not come back, when the breaker trips every time you switch the outside supply on, or when you notice burning smells, scorch marks or anything damp where it should be dry. The last group should be booked urgently: switch the circuit off at the consumer unit first if you can do so safely.
Book Your External Power Repair Today
We cover the West Midlands and diagnose external power failures as a routine part of our work. Call or use the booking form, and mention whether the problem affects one socket, one building, or everything outside — that detail alone speeds up the diagnosis. Same-day visits are often available for faults that have left you without power.
How the price works
We charge a booking fee to hold your slot, then an hourly rate for the work itself. The fee changes with how soon you need us; the hourly rate changes with the slot you choose. You approve the price before we start, so there is no surprise on the invoice.
Booked 14+ days ahead
£25 booking fee
then £85 per hour of labour
Best value. Book the slot now, pay the smallest booking fee.
Booked within 48 hours
£100 booking fee
then £65 per hour of labour
For jobs that can wait a day or two but not a fortnight.
Same-day call-out
£220 booking fee
then £45 per hour of labour
Urgent problems: standing water, no heat, no power, leaks.
Book the slot
Choose the window that suits you and pay the booking fee. That holds your place in the diary.
We diagnose on site
The engineer confirms the cause and tells you what the job involves and how long it should take.
You approve, we work
Nothing goes ahead until you agree the price. Labour is then charged per hour at your slot rate.
When power fails outside — to a shed, garage, greenhouse or the whole garden — it feels like a bigger problem than a single dead socket, because you don't know where the break is. It could be a tripped device, damaged cable, or a fault somewhere you cannot see. We diagnose the whole external supply methodically, repair the fault at its source, and leave the outside of your property powered and protected.
What our customers say about our electrical service
4.6 out of 5 from 11 reviews
Does what it says on the tin
No complaints about the work itself — clear explanation, sensible advice, fair price. Booking online was easy enough once I found the right job page.
Job: Smoke Alarm Replacement
Fixed it, but took longer than expected
Work itself was fine and tidy. Communication beforehand was patchy — I did not get the confirmation message and had to ring to check the slot. Would still use again.
Job: Flickering Outdoor Lights
Turned up when they said
Third time we have used Maintenance Men, and the same experience each time: agreed price, proper explanation, job done in one visit. The hourly rate is fair for the standard of work.
Job: Appliance Causing Power Trip
Book External Power Failure
Tell us what is happening and choose a slot. If you are not sure this is the right job, use the diagnosis panel — it narrows the problem down before you book.
- Booking fee confirmed up front
- Hourly labour, agreed before work starts
- Same-day slots for urgent problems
Questions people ask about external power failure
Straight answers to the things customers ask most often before booking.
The breaker keeps tripping — can I just reset it?
Reset it once to see if it was a one-off, but if it trips again immediately, stop. Repeated tripping means a real fault on the circuit, and continuing to reset a damp or damaged supply makes things worse. We find the cause rather than fighting the symptom.
What will the engineer do first?
We start at the consumer unit to see what has tripped and whether it will hold, then test the external circuit with proper instruments to narrow the fault down. From there we check fittings, outbuilding boards and the cable run, locating any buried fault precisely before any ground is disturbed.
Is it safe to have no power outside?
Having no power is safe — the danger is what caused it. Until we have looked, avoid using anything on the affected circuit, keep people away from sockets or fittings that are wet, scorched or damaged, and switch the circuit off at the consumer unit if you suspect water or heat is involved.
What will the repair cost?
You pay a booking fee when you book, and labour is charged hourly at a rate that depends on how quickly you need us. The full cost of the work is quoted before we start, so you approve it before any tools come out.
Could the fault be in my shed or garage rather than the supply?
Quite possibly, which is why we test rather than assume. Outbuildings often have their own boards, sockets and wiring that can fail just like anything indoors. If the fault turns out to be at the far end of the supply rather than the cable run, the repair is usually quicker and simpler than you might fear.
Need external power failure sorted in Dorridge?
Book a slot in the diary and pay only the booking fee up front. We confirm the rest before we start.