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.

^ ^

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

"Joseph Meehan" wrote in message
. ..

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.

Exactly. I'll add to that, assume there's code for EVERYTHING including
things you might not consider, like staple spacing in a romex run, etc.
Always do things to code -- it's there for your safety. Just because it
SEEMS like it will work (but violates code) is not a good reason to do it.

-Tim

I've done my own wiring too, and according to the Code as far as I
understand it.

The trouble is that the Code is so complicated that people can charge
big buck$$$$ for seminars that explain it to the people who have to
follow it -- and especially after each new triennial revision.

Much esoteric stuff concerning the Code can be learned from Mike Holt's
Code Forum at http://www.mikeholt.com/cgi-bin/code...ultimatebb.cgi
-- but don't dare ask a question, because they deign not to converse
with mere mortals (such as homeowners) but only with "professionals"
(such as electricians and inspectors).

Perce


On 07/13/05 12:24 pm Tank tossed the following ingredients into the
ever-growing pot of cybersoup:

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.

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.

^ ^



First call me. We can make an appointment with a life insurance dealer

This kind of stuff should be learned by reading and watching. If you
got no one there to give you tips, you will learn the hard way, and
sometimes there is no 2nd chance.

And yes, be afraid. You can do anything if you have the right teacher.


--
Respectfully,


CL Gilbert