Remodel - Electrical

I'm not going to go into too much detail on the electrical. If you're capable then you don't need my input. If you're not this is one area to take extreme care. Get some knowledge and education. Get some advice and help. Or maybe just bite the bullet and hire it out. I have some experience and knowledge and I have a good source of advice. Car Guy is Mike Holmes with better hair. He's my go to when I run into something I'm not familiar with. On this project Lu wanted three hot wall outlets, one switched ceiling box for a fan and one switched wall outlet in each room. The combination of switched ceiling box and outlet was at the limit of what I know so I didn't hesitate to call up Car Guy and pester him for some learning. Other than that I rely on a good resource manual.

Take your time and do the work correctly. Do be careful. Household current can kill and even if it doesn't it still hurts really, really bad. As long as you're working with live wires make sure you keep the current cut at the breaker.

Speaking of "Oh crap, that hurts".

This is a power drill running a 3/4 inch wood bit to drill holes in the walls to run the wires. Romex 12-2 with ground if you're interested. That bit is sharp and the drill powerful. The bit seems to have been engineered specifically to catch stray bits of clothing and wrap it around it until either the motor stops or something gives. How do I know?

A moment of inattention. I had just drilled a hole and while the drill was still spooling down let it hang next to my leg while I was checking my work. Bad idea. Many bad words were said whilst I untangled myself and checked for missing chunks. Thankfully only my pride was badly hurt. Really, I only do things like this to entertain you. I swear. Would I lie to you?

I do have one other tip. There are places in your wiring where wire nuts are absolutely essential. there will also be others where these will work just as well or even better.

Those are push in wire connecters and they are wonderful. They're only for solid wire, cable type wires just don't seem to stay put but with stuff like Romex they work great and are way easier that wire nuts. You just skin the sheathing off and push the wire end in until it seats. They come in 2, 3, 4 and 6 wire configurations. I still tape the connections up but that's just common sense and something I do even with wire nuts. They make doing long runs of outlets a snap.


There's not much to see but here's the final wiring. It's all in and working fine. All the little electrons are flowing and the smoke is contained. I am so happy. So is Lu.

I still have one window to install then it'll be time for insulation and drywall. More to come.

Six