Updated October 2026
Straight answer
Yes. Dorchester triple-decker work is most of what we do there: separating or replacing unit meters, swapping worn unit panels, fixing the house meter that feeds hallway lights and the basement, and adding circuits for kitchens and heat pumps. We answer any hour, look at the whole building before touching one unit, and file the city permit on work that needs one.
Why a triple-decker has more electrical parts than it looks
A triple-decker is three homes stacked on one foundation, and electrically it behaves that way. Each flat usually has its own meter and its own panel, and there is often a fourth meter, the house meter, for the hallway lights, the basement and sometimes a shared laundry. Over a century, owners added circuits one unit at a time, so it is common to find a first-floor panel that is newer than the third-floor one, or a hallway light fed by accident from a tenant's unit.
That last one matters more than it sounds. When a common area runs off a unit meter, one household pays for power everyone uses, and whoever lives there can switch it off. When we work in a Dorchester triple-decker, we trace what each meter actually feeds before we touch anything, label every panel directory, and write down the findings so the owner ends up with a map of the building and not just a repair.
What a century of owners leaves inside Dorchester walls
Block after block of Dorchester is three-decker housing, the stacked-flat buildings that went up around Boston from the 1880s into the 1920s. That age shows up in the electrical system: original circuits stretched floor by floor, meters added as units were split off, and panels replaced at different times by different owners. We sort out which unit is fed from where before we touch anything. Permitted work here is filed with Boston's Inspectional Services, and we handle the filing and the inspection visit.
Meter banks, feeders and the unit panels upstairs
The meter bank is usually on the side of the building or in the basement, and on older buildings the sockets corrode where water gets in behind them. Loose or rusted jaws make heat at the meter, and that shows up upstairs as flickering lights or a unit losing half its outlets. Replacing a meter bank means coordinating a disconnect and reconnect with Eversource, so we plan it for a single day and tell every household when the power goes off.
Upstairs, each unit panel carries its own history. We see fuse panels on one floor and breakers on the next, double-tapped breakers where someone ran out of spaces, and feeders sized for a time when a flat had a few lights and a refrigerator. Before a unit adds a heat pump or an induction range, we run a load calculation for that unit's feeder, because a panel can look roomy while the wire feeding it cannot carry much more.
Working in occupied flats without shutting the whole building down
Most triple-deckers we work in are occupied, sometimes by the owner on one floor and tenants on the other two. We schedule shutdowns by unit where we can, so the second floor keeps its refrigerator running while we work on the first. When the job is the meter bank or the service entrance, everyone loses power together, so we give a clear window, book the utility reconnect before we start, and keep the outage as short as the work allows.
Fishing new wire through a triple-decker is easier than it looks in one way: the floors stack, so a single chase from basement to attic can serve all three units. It is harder in another, because plaster and lath, back stairways and porches change from floor to floor. We look for existing paths first, like stacked closet corners, and open walls only where we must, keeping each patch small and clean.
Triple-decker jobs we take on in Dorchester
Triple-Decker & Multi-Family Electrical
Separating unit meters and moving common lighting onto the house meter where it belongs.
Meter Socket & Service Mast Repair
Corroded meter banks on older buildings cause flicker and heat that show up on every floor.
Subpanel Installation
Unit panels with no spare spaces often need a subpanel or a replacement before a remodel.
Electrical Panel Upgrade
Fuse panels and early breaker panels still turn up on upper floors.
Heat Pump Electrical Wiring
Each unit that adds a heat pump needs its own feeder checked first.
Smoke & CO Detector Installation
Stacked flats need working alarms on every level before a sale or a new lease.
Own a Dorchester triple-decker? Tell us which floor and what is happening.
Call (617) 843-6591Dorchester owner and landlord questions
Usually, yes. Separating units means a meter socket per unit, a feeder to each panel and a house meter for common areas. It needs utility coordination and a permit, and we lay out the scope after seeing the meter location and the basement.
Because the hallway is probably fed from that tenant's panel instead of the house meter. We trace the circuit and move common-area lighting to the house panel, so it stays on and is billed to the right account.
Yes, for that part of the job. We book the disconnect and reconnect with Eversource, tell every household the window in advance, and keep the outage as short as the work allows.
Often, but the answer is per unit. We check that unit's feeder and panel, run a load calculation, and tell you whether it fits as is, needs load management or needs a panel upgrade first.
Yes. Most of our triple-decker jobs are in occupied buildings. We plan unit-by-unit shutdowns, give notice windows you can pass on to tenants and clean up at the end of each day.