When I saw sparks coming from my light sockets, I knew there was a problem. I called my husband, and he told me to search for an electrician near me. He said I should have three local electricians and ask them to inspect the house and give us an estimate of what needed to be done. We didn’t want faulty electric wiring to cause a house fire. My parents’ house burnt down right after Christmas about three years earlier. Even though the house had recently been remodeled, the contractor hadn’t looked in the attic or basement. It was their fault they had not completely replaced the wiring, but that was up to the insurance company to handle the contractor who hired the electrician. Thinking about that house, I called the three electricians near me and asked them to look at my wiring. I explained what was happening with the sparks when I plugged something into the wall. I was also upfront about asking other electricians for estimates. The first electrician thought I had a faulty outlet, but I didn’t want his thoughts. I wanted the opinion of a licensed electrician. The second electrician looked at the wiring, and he took the light switches and plugs out of the wall and inspected them all. He thought it could have been the appliance. The third electrician told me he couldn’t possibly do a good inspection in an hour or two. He was going to come to the house and bring some meters that would measure electrical flow, and he could better pinpoint the reason for the sparks. We hired him because he was thorough.