How to Properly Wire Your Home

When it comes to wiring or re-wiring your home there are many different factors that you should be aware of. First and foremost we suggest that unless you are a licensed electrician, you should not try to take on this task.

Many people are under the impression that just because they know how to handle some simpler tasks such as changing a light bulb, replacing an outlet or maybe even installing a light fixture that they can take on the task on wiring their own home.

What they are not aware of however is that rewiring a home is much more difficult than they probably imagine. While it’s true that if everything were done in a cookie-cutter type of way that they should be able to figure it out by looking in a book or possibly looking up the answer online, rarely is this ever the case.

There are also a number of electrical code violations that one should be aware of before taking on a project like this, the following article talks about some of these in detail:

Electrical Wiring Code Violations at Home

Some owners take it upon themselves to rewire their house to either save money or are just too stubborn to call a professional electrician. It has to be stressed that doing a project that is for an electrician (without any know-how or correct tools) can lead to code violations. But more than that, you can compromise the safety of your house and the people in it every time you do it. Read more…

So, if you have a good concept of both how to do the basics when it comes to electrical work and you understand the different electrical codes and what is required for your home both for safety reasons and to be “up to snuff” as far as code goes, then you should also make sure that you know a bit more about electricity and how it runs in your house before you actually decide once and for all if you are going to do your project yourself.

In the following article by Max Alexander of this old house, he goes into detail about how electricity works and runs in your house from the ground up:

From the Ground Up: Electrical Wiring

Whenever we flip a switch, plug in an appliance, or adjust a reading light, we interact with the electrical system in a house. A good electrician can make those interactions easier in a hundred little ways, so it’s best to communicate your needs early—ideally after the house is framed and before the drywall or insulation goes up. Read more…

As you can see the above article is pretty detailed and lengthy and for good reason. It is not a light task your are attempting when rewiring your house and there are a great many things that could potentially go wrong. Please, keep in mind your safety and your families safety and do not think about how you can save a few bucks.

Do you know if the previous electrician that wired your house safed off all the wires? Do you know if he sent the ‘hots’ over on the white wire which is most commonly thought of as a neutral here in the U.S.A? Do you know if he used lots of junction boxes all over the place to connect different circuits together?

Well, let me tell you, if you start opening things up and don’t know what you’re doing, you can find yourself spending even more money to pay a professional to fix the new problems you’ve created!

The following a great video by home depot detailing the basics of a home wiring system:

So there you have it. As your local Sacramento electrical contractors we would hope that you would hire a professional to handle your home wiring and let a licensed electrician do it. But if not we hope that you’ve gained some valuable information from this article.