BRAND SERVICE LAKE CHARLES · SWLA

OVERVIEW

Lake Charles electrical services, residential and commercial

Diagnosis, repair, installation, and upgrades. One crew, one standard, every job.

Call (337) 570-2327 See how this works

WE COVER THIS

Electrical Services

Hayes Electrical Lake Charles · (337) 570-2327

Louisiana licensed · Lifetime Craftsmanship Guarantee

LA-licensed master electrician leading every job. Family-owned, owner-led out of Lake Charles.

Lifetime Craftsmanship Guarantee on every install. If our work fails because of how we put it in, we come back and fix it.

After-hours dispatch line answered by a person in Calcasieu Parish, not a phone tree. Hurricane season we run extended hours.

Straight answer

Hayes Electrical handles the full range of electrical work for homes and businesses in Lake Charles and Southwest Louisiana, from troubleshooting and repairs to panel upgrades, generators, EV chargers, lighting, and code corrections. Every job comes with our Lifetime Craftsmanship Guarantee.

01 / WHICH JOB IS YOURS

Which electrical services service fits your situation.

On the electrical services side, there are a handful of distinct jobs that look interchangeable until you are pricing them. This page sorts them so the call goes faster. We will confirm or correct it on the phone.

Commercial Electrician Services

For commercial work involving the kind of work this covers, Hayes Electrical wires and maintains commercial properties across Lake Charles and Southwest Louisiana. Restaurants, retail, offices, warehouses, and light-industrial. Tenant fit-outs, service upgrades, lighting retrofits, panel work, and low-voltage data runs all under one licensed contractor. Read the full commercial electrician services page.

Electrical Layout and Design

If you are planning the kind of work this covers, Hayes Electrical produces electrical layouts and load calculations for new construction, additions, and major remodels in Lake Charles. We walk the prints with you, ask what you actually plan to do in each room, then place the circuits, switches, outlets, and fixtures to match. Read the full electrical layout and design page.

Electrical Panels and Circuit Breakers

If you are planning the kind of work this covers, Hayes Electrical upgrades electrical panels and replaces breakers across Lake Charles. Typical work: 100A to 200A service upgrades, dual-200A or 320A meter-main combos for larger homes, and full replacements of Federal Pacific Stab-Lok, Zinsco, and Challenger panels with documented breaker failure histories. Read the full electrical panels and circuit breakers page.

Emergency Electrical Services

If you are seeing or dealing with the kind of work this covers, Hayes Electrical responds to electrical emergencies 24/7 in Lake Charles and Southwest Louisiana. Power loss in half the house, burning smell at the panel, a breaker that will not reset, sparks at an outlet, or hot wiring after a storm all warrant an immediate call. Read the full emergency electrical services page.

Generator and Backup Power

If you are planning the kind of work this covers, Hayes Electrical installs whole-home and portable generators across Lake Charles and Southwest Louisiana. Generac certified. Sizing from 9kW for partial-load coverage to 26kW for full-home backup, with automatic transfer switches, gas line connection, and concrete pad. Read the full generator and backup power page.

Lighting Installation

If you are planning the kind of work this covers, Hayes Electrical installs and upgrades lighting across Lake Charles homes and businesses. Recessed and can-light retrofits, pendant and chandelier hangs, landscape lighting, security floods, and full layouts for kitchens, baths, and outdoor entertaining spaces. Read the full lighting installation page.

Low-Voltage Network Wiring

If you are planning the kind of work this covers, Hayes Electrical runs structured cabling for data, voice, security, and AV across Lake Charles homes and businesses. Cat5e for legacy phone runs, Cat6 for gigabit and POE, Cat6a for 10G runs, coax for cable and antenna, fiber for backbones over 100 meters. Read the full low-voltage network wiring page.

Residential Electrician Services

If you are planning the kind of work this covers, Hayes Electrical handles residential electrical for homes across Lake Charles and Southwest Louisiana, including new construction rough-in and trim, remodel and addition work, service upgrades, generator and EV installs, and code corrections to bring older homes up to current NEC. Read the full residential electrician services page.

When two or more of these apply

Older Lake Charles homes and a lot of the commercial buildings around the lake show one root issue popping up in several places at once. When that is the picture, we bundle the work under one scope and one permit, usually faster and cheaper than running each piece as a separate truck-roll. Not sure which page on this site matches what you have? Pick the closest, or call us at (337) 570-2327 and we will sort it out.

02 / SPECIFIC ELECTRICAL SERVICES SERVICES

The electrical services jobs Hayes runs across SWLA.

Find the job that matches your situation. Each is a licensed Hayes install with the same written warranty as anything else we put in.

Commercial Electrician Services

Hayes Electrical wires and maintains commercial properties across Lake Charles and Southwest Louisiana. Restaurants, retail, offices,...

Electrical Layout and Design

Hayes Electrical produces electrical layouts and load calculations for new construction, additions, and major remodels in...

Electrical Panels and Circuit Breakers

Hayes Electrical upgrades electrical panels and replaces breakers across Lake Charles. Typical work: 100A to 200A...

Emergency Electrical Services

Hayes Electrical responds to electrical emergencies 24/7 in Lake Charles and Southwest Louisiana. Power loss in...

Generator and Backup Power

Hayes Electrical installs whole-home and portable generators across Lake Charles and Southwest Louisiana. Generac certified. Sizing...

Lighting Installation

Hayes Electrical installs and upgrades lighting across Lake Charles homes and businesses. Recessed and can-light retrofits,...

Low-Voltage Network Wiring

Hayes Electrical runs structured cabling for data, voice, security, and AV across Lake Charles homes and...

Residential Electrician Services

Hayes Electrical handles residential electrical for homes across Lake Charles and Southwest Louisiana, including new construction...

03 / COST & TIMELINE

What this work usually runs.

Typical cost $150-$6,500 Most jobs fall in this range. Written quote before we start.

Warranty Lifetime Craftsmanship Guarantee on the install. If our work fails because of how we put it in, we come back and fix it. Stays with the home.

04 / HOW THIS WORKS

How electrical services works.

Residential electrical work

We cover everything a house needs from the meter base in to the last receptacle. That includes service upgrades (100A to 200A or 400A), panel changes, sub-panel installs for additions or garages, branch circuit rewires, AFCI and GFCI retrofits per NEC 210.8 and 210.12, fixture changes, ceiling fans, exterior lighting, attic and crawl space work, and pool or spa bonding per NEC 680.26. Older homes in Charpentier, Margaret Place, and the downtown blocks often have knob-and-tube buried in blown-in insulation, two-prong receptacles with no ground, or 1965-1973 aluminum branch wiring that needs CO/ALR receptacles or COPALUM crimps at every termination. We document what we find before we open a wall.

Commercial and light industrial

Tenant build-outs, retail and restaurant fit-outs, office wiring, 3-phase service equipment, sign circuits, exterior wall packs, parking lot poles, and transfer equipment for standby generators. We carry the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors (LSLBC) electrical license for commercial work above the parish threshold. We coordinate with the GC, the fire marshal for any monitored systems, and the inspector of record. Restaurant work in particular needs careful load calc per NEC 220 because hood exhaust, walk-in compressors, and large griddles stack quickly. We track every circuit on a typed panel schedule before close-out.

Safety, code correction, and inspections

Real estate transactions and insurance carriers are flagging more electrical issues than they used to, especially after Laura and Delta. We do inspection-driven repair lists: Federal Pacific Stab-Lok panel replacement (the breakers have a documented failure-to-trip history on overload), Zinsco panel replacement (internal bus arcing), Challenger panel evaluation, grounding system rebuilds to NEC 250, MBJ correction, GFCI retrofits at kitchen, bath, garage, outdoor, and within 6ft of any sink per NEC 210.8, and AFCI retrofits on bedroom and living-area circuits per NEC 210.12 where the AHJ requires it on repairs.

Storm prep, generators, and backup power

This is hurricane country. Hurricane Laura in 2020 was the strongest storm to hit Louisiana since 1856 by wind, and Delta came through six weeks later on essentially the same track. We install permanent standby generators (Generac, Kohler, Briggs, Cummins) from 9kW through 26kW residential and larger for commercial. NFPA 37 requires 5ft clearance from the unit to combustible walls and openings, which controls placement on tight lots. We pull a separate gas permit for LP or natural gas connections per NFPA 54 / NFPA 58 and install a service-entrance-rated automatic transfer switch wired per NEC 702.5.

EV charging, low voltage, and structured wiring

Level 2 EV chargers on a dedicated 40A or 50A circuit per NEC 625, NEMA 14-50 outlets in garages, and hardwired wall-mount units when a homeowner does not want a cord-and-plug install. Network and structured wiring includes Cat6 to the 100m maximum run length, fiber runs for longer pulls per NEC 770, POE / POE+ / POE++ drops for cameras and access points, and low-voltage rough-in on new builds. We label every jack and hand over a printed map.

05 / IN THE FIELD

06 / PROCESS

Our process

Call or request a quote

Tell us what you need. For urgent work we dispatch the same day when we can. For project work we schedule a walk-through.

Site visit and scope

We look at the panel, the meter, the existing wiring, and the work area. We tell you what we find and what it will take to do the job right.

Written estimate

You get a line-item estimate with materials, labor, permit cost, and any sub-trade coordination required.

Permit and schedule

We pull the permit in our name with the City of Lake Charles or the parish, depending on jurisdiction. We schedule the work around your week.

Install and test

We do the work, megger or insulation-test where it matters, torque to the breaker manufacturer spec, and label the panel.

Inspection and close-out

The AHJ inspector signs the permit. We walk the work with you and leave you the inspection card and the warranty paperwork.

READY TO PUT THIS ON THE CALENDAR?

That is how we run electrical services. Call the Lake Charles shop or get a written quote.

Call (337) 570-2327 Get a quote

Permits

Permits and inspections

Some jobs need a permit in Calcasieu, some do not. When the parish or city wants one, we pull it under LA Lic #73821, set the rough-in and final inspection, and stay on the job until the inspector signs off. You do not touch the paperwork.

Warranty

What's covered

Lifetime Craftsmanship Guarantee on every install. If our work fails because of how we put it in, we come back and fix it at no charge. Documented in writing at handoff and stays with the home.

WANT THIS WARRANTY ON YOUR INSTALL?

Every job we deliver, including electrical services, ships with the Lifetime Craftsmanship Guarantee in writing. Parts and labor.

Call (337) 570-2327 Get a quote

Safety

What we check before recommending a fix

A licensed electrician inspects every job. We work under current NEC and the Louisiana State Uniform Construction Code. If we open a panel and find a Federal Pacific Stab-Lok, Zinsco, or Challenger, we stop and walk you through replacement options before doing further work.

07 / RECENT WORK

Hayes work across Southwest Louisiana.

Real jobs, real crew, real Lake Charles installs. Pulled from across our service area.

Surge Protection and Grounding

08 / THE OWNER

Founder · Master Electrician · LA Contractor Lic #73821

Dorian Hayes

Dorian Hayes started Hayes Electrical because he believed homeowners deserved better than what most contractors give them. A licensed master electrician with seven years of experience, he and his wife Juliet built the ...

Talk to Dorian More about the team

09 / WHO TO HIRE

Why hiring a licensed electrician matters.

Here is the no-spin cut on electrical services. Same answer we would give a friend in Westlake or Carlyss, whether or not we end up winning the job.

Hayes Electrical

A licensed electrician

LA-licensed master electrician walks every call. Family-owned, owner-led, based in Lake Charles.

Permits pulled under LA Lic #73821 and inspections coordinated with the Calcasieu, Jeff Davis, Allen, or Cameron Parish AHJ when the work calls for it.

Lifetime Craftsmanship Guarantee in writing. If our work fails, we come back and fix it. Stays with the home.

Insured and carrying workers' comp on every truck that rolls.

Quote on paper before we cut the first wire. The signed number is the number you pay.

A handyman

Unlicensed for electrical

No LA state electrical license. Can swap a fixture, cannot legally touch a panel, a service entrance, or a rewire.

No permits. When the parish or city audits the work later, it does not pass.

No real warranty. "Call me if it breaks" falls apart the day you actually need it.

If unlicensed work starts a fire, your homeowner policy can flat-out deny the claim.

Cash discount sometimes shows up on the invoice. So does the next problem.

DIY

Doing it yourself

Cheap right up until something goes sideways. Most jobs need a load calc, NEC compliance, and a permit.

A failed inspection sends you back to redo it. Selling the house later, the buyer's inspector flags it the same way.

No warranty. The replacement is on you.

Hot wiring is no joke. Most fatal home electrical accidents in this country are DIY.

If you genuinely know what you are doing, fine. If you do not, call us first.

Electrical work across Lake Charles and Southwest Louisiana

We are a working electrical contractor based in Lake Charles. We wire houses, service panels, light commercial buildings, dock and waterfront equipment, generators, EV chargers, and everything in between. This page is the index. Each service below has its own page with scope, process, and answers to the questions we hear most often.

Our service area covers Calcasieu, Jeff Davis, Cameron, and Allen parishes. We work on homes in older parts of town (Charpentier Historic District, Margaret Place, the downtown grid) where knob-and-tube, two-prong receptacles, and aluminum branch wiring are still in walls. We also do new construction, panel changes, and additions out in the newer subdivisions north and west of town.

What we cover

Residential

Whole-house rewires, service upgrades from 100A to 200A or 400A, panel replacements, AFCI and GFCI compliance work, kitchen and bath remodels, ceiling fans, recessed cans, can-light retrofits, exterior lighting, pool and spa bonding per NEC 680, and storm damage repair after named hurricanes.

Commercial

Tenant build-outs, restaurant and retail wiring, 3-phase service work, sign circuits, parking lot lighting, generator transfer equipment, and code-correction work flagged by a fire marshal or AHJ inspection. We carry the LSLBC commercial electrical license required for jobs over the parish threshold.

Safety and code work

Panel evaluations on Federal Pacific Stab-Lok, Zinsco, and Challenger panels (the three brands with documented field failure history). Grounding and bonding upgrades to meet NEC 250. Surge protective device installs at the service per NEC 285. Code correction lists from real estate inspections.

Storm and backup power

Standby generator installs (Generac, Kohler, Briggs, Cummins) sized from 9kW through 26kW for residential and larger for light commercial. Manual transfer switches for portable units. Whole-house surge protection, especially relevant after the Laura and Delta back-to-back hits in 2020 left the grid stressed for months.

EV and low-voltage

Level 2 EV charger installs, NEMA 14-50 garage outlets, Cat6 and fiber runs, POE camera and access point drops, and structured wiring for new builds.

How to hire us

For urgent work (no power to part of the house, burning smell at a panel, sparking outlet, flickering after a storm) call. For installation work where you want a quote (generator, EV charger, panel upgrade, whole-house rewire) email or use the quote form. For commercial, ask for the named project lead.

Permits, licensing, and inspections

We pull permits in our name. The Calcasieu Parish AHJ or the City of Lake Charles building department handles inspections depending on jurisdiction. Pulling the permit means our work gets inspected by a third party, which protects you at resale and on insurance claims after a storm.

Pick the service that matches your problem

Use the links to the individual service pages above. Each page has the scope of work, the process we follow, real failure modes we see in the field, and a final answer section for the questions homeowners and business owners actually ask.

10 / GOOGLE REVIEWS

★★★★★ from 224 Google reviews

What Southwest Louisiana says about our work

Real reviews from real customers across Lake Charles, Sulphur, Moss Bluff, and the surrounding parishes.

★★★★★ Electrical panel replacement or upgrading, Service not listed

Great price | $1 - 200 Mr. Dorian Hayes is extremely professional and very accommodating. Hayes Electrical takes care of the maintenance on my 22kW Guardian Generac generator often times I am unable to be present at the appointment and he would be communicate very clearly about arrival work done and departure. All around lovely company that does excellent work!

★★★★★ Electrical panel replacement or upgrading, Outdoor lighting installation, Electrical fixture installation

My experience with Hayse Electrical was a very possitive one. At my first meeting with Dorian and I explaining my situation with my problem I was having, he explained what the company was going to do in very precise detail, was able to quote me a price right away and set up an appointment in the meeting. On the day of my appointment McKenzie and Hayden called me ahead of time to say they were on their way and arrived when said time. They both worked continually all day til all the work was done. Both men were very nice and worked well together and alone. I would recommend Hayes Electrical, Dorian, Mckenzie and Hayden and I would use this company again.

★★★★★

Hayes electrical did a great job with my attic wiring issue. They were efficient; figured out the problem, described it to me in laymen's details and the plan to correct it, they cleaned up the area after. The problem was solved. Great personable interaction and will use them again.

★★★★★

They added my 50amp generator receptacle box outside my house, they also added an interlock and the generator breaker. I also had them add a 2nd 50amp receptacle, just below my panel, for a future vehicle lift and had them drop a CAT6 behind my tv, so I can play Xbox online without lagging. I would hire them again without thinking twice. They're extremely professional and reasonably priced.

Read all 224 reviews on Google

Common questions about electrical services

Are you licensed in Louisiana?

Yes. We hold the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors (LSLBC) electrical license for commercial work, plus the parish or city registration where required for residential. We pull permits in our name on every job that requires one.

Do you work on Saturdays or after hours?

For emergencies, yes. For scheduled installs we hold to weekdays so the inspector can see the work without rescheduling. After a named storm we run extended hours until the backlog clears.

How fast can you get to me?

For active emergencies (no power, burning smell at a panel, sparking) we dispatch the same day. For scheduled work it depends on the queue and on permit timing. We tell you the realistic window when we book.

What's the difference between calling you and using a handyman?

A handyman cannot pull an electrical permit in Louisiana. Anything beyond a like-for-like fixture swap needs a licensed electrician, and any work hidden in a wall needs to be inspected to protect you at resale and on insurance claims. We do the work to NEC and we get it signed off.

Do you give free estimates?

For installation work (generator, EV charger, panel upgrade, rewire, new circuit) yes. For service calls where we are diagnosing a problem, we charge for the diagnostic time because diagnosis is the work. If we end up doing the repair the diagnostic gets credited.

Will you work with my insurance after a storm?

Yes. We document damage with photos, write the scope in language an adjuster understands, and provide itemized estimates. Insurance carriers in this region are familiar with the post-Laura claim patterns and we keep our paperwork in that format.

Where we run electrical services across SWLA.

Pick the city closest to your address. Same Lake Charles crew, same Lifetime Craftsmanship Guarantee.

11 / REQUEST

Pick the service that matches your problem.

For urgent issues, call. For installation work, request a quote. We work across Calcasieu, Jeff Davis, Cameron, and Allen parishes.

Or call us direct

(337) 570-2327

Get a quote.

We send out a Louisiana licensed electrician, walk the job in person, point out what needs to happen (and what does not), and put the number on paper before any work starts.

Full name

Phone

City or ZIP

How can we help?

Submit and we will reach back out about your project. Your details stay with the Hayes team here in Lake Charles, we do not sell or share them.

[ WHENEVER YOU'RE READY ]

Ready when you are.
A real person on the local team will reply.

Call (337) 570-2327 Use the form

Lake Charles electrical services, residential and commercial

Which electrical services service fits your situation.

When two or more of these apply

The electrical services jobs Hayes runs across SWLA.

What this work usually runs.

How electrical services works.

Residential electrical work

Commercial and light industrial

Safety, code correction, and inspections

Storm prep, generators, and backup power

EV charging, low voltage, and structured wiring

Our process

Call or request a quote

Site visit and scope

Written estimate

Permit and schedule

Install and test

Inspection and close-out

Permits and inspections

What's covered

What we check before recommending a fix

Dorian Hayes

Why hiring a licensed electrician matters.

A licensed electrician

Unlicensed for electrical

Doing it yourself

Electrical work across Lake Charles and Southwest Louisiana

What we cover

Residential

Commercial

Safety and code work

Storm and backup power

EV and low-voltage

How to hire us

Permits, licensing, and inspections

Pick the service that matches your problem

Common questions about electrical services

Where we run electrical services across SWLA.

Pick the service that matches your problem.

Get a quote.

Ready when you are.A real person on the local team will reply.

Ready when you are.
A real person on the local team will reply.