Tank wrote:
I've always felt comfortable with carpentry and modest levels of
plumbing, but electrical work always seemed beyond my abilities. Over the
past year, I have bought books, tools, wire, wire nuts,
drill bits, circuit testers, etc. and have been rewiring parts of my
1960's era ranch house. I am amazed at how easy it really is. I
hired professionals to upgrade my main service box and install a
subpanel (and I watched what they did), but the wiring to each room
and outlet is being replaced by me and my 'hole hawg'. I have
removed the drywall from the ceiling of my basement, so the projects
are much easier. I will replace it with a drop ceiling so that I
will always have good access to the wires and plumbing.
A healthy respect for the deadly power in the wires is a good thing
to keep. Having the subpanel is great because I can remove power from
the entire box with the flick of a switch, before I do any work. That
would require removing the electric meter to do that in the main
box. With each new circuit, the last thing I do is to connect it to
the power box in the basement, so the majority of my work is quite
danger-free.
Bottom line... don't be afraid to do your own electrical wiring. It
is often easy and safe and you end up with good quality, reliable
circuits that you are familiar with. Try it. After the first circuit
is done, you won't pay dearly for electical work again.

^ ^

As long as you have done your homework and you are careful and you stop
whenever you have a question and are not sure of the answer, I believe most
people can do a lot of their own electrical work.

Of course if you feel those codes don't apply to you, then don't try.


--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit