Rachel H. and I have installed new outlets in the walls, since the old ones were gross. Neither of us have done it before, so before we turn the power back on and electrocute ourselves or burn the house down…Could some electricity savvy knitter tell me if we have it right? (I have an idea that electricity is not like knitting and there is no room for “close enough”)
This is the right side. I attached two black wires to two gold screws.
This is the left side. I attached two white wires to two silver screws, and attached a bare copper wire (that I am pretty sure is the ground) to a green screw at the bottom.
Everything is nice and tight. There was one outlet where there were only three wires…but I just attached them like the others, only…you know. Less.
So? What say you? Power back on? Change some wires? Get Rachel to stand behind me with a wooden broom handle?
Ps. How do you get the whole thing back in the box? Do you have to be careful about what touches what?
my fingers are crossed for you both.
I have no words of wisdom but I sincerely hope that everything works out ok and you’ll have electricity (and life signs) to continue to blog about the bedroom saga.
Im not shure personally but i hope the rest of the eenovation goes well.
Good Grief! I hope you have a circuit breaker installed. You are very brave.
It looks right from my own experience, and both wikihow and about.com also say it’s right. I say you can turn it back on (I’ll keep my fingers crossed, too).
OMG In the top 10! Stephanie & Co. I can’t be any help electrically, my hubby is out of town too. It looks right to me. We’ve done this a few times. Love the blog & commenters – this remodeling deal ia a huge knitting time waster. It will be so worth it in the end.
I brought my husband over to the office to see your pictures. He’s not an electrician but a design draftsman who has done some–quite a bit–of renovation in our 39 years of marriage (anniversary was yesterday). He said it looks good to him, when he saw your pictures. Regarding getting the stuff into the box, he chuckled and said, It’s a struggle. Especially if the box isn’t big enough. I guess there’s a code for size of box. Good luck.
That looks right to me. We replaced all our outlets recently. As for putting it back in the box, just shove it in there and use the screw provided to attach the outlet to the box. No need to be gentle here, just shove it in. Make sure the screws are tight, or the wires might come loose when shoving. In that case, the outlet won’t work. Good luck!
Looks ok, not perfect but ok. Make sure to keep the bare ground wire away from the white and black wires and screws on the sides of the outlet as you push it back into the box. Sometimes a little careful folding of the wires, and a nudge with a smooth blunt object will help you fold the wires back into the box as you are seating the outlet into place.
(My wife made me look at your pictures and post this. I am a building inspector.)
Well, I hope it’s right, because that’s the way I wired up the electrical boxes in my bathroom. 🙂 (And for what it’s worth, they’ve been on now since September with no problems!)
I’m very impressed with how much you’re managing to get done in such a short amount of time!
You’ve got it right. The trick I use to remember is “B&B” – Black wire to Brass screws. And push away! If it all fit in there before you replaced the outlets, you know there’s room to make it fit again!
Exactly right. Pop them back in, don’t worry about anything touching anything else (the power’s shut off, so no worries there), and replace the screws. That’s absolutely it. Scary, but easy as pie once you’ve swapped out a few of them. Flip the power back on, then stand back and marvel at just how much nicer the room looks with brandy new electrical outlets. It’s rather surprising.
Oh, and then have some alcohol in celebration. It’s the least you can do.
I love the post from the dude whose wife made him. Very nice. No words of wisdom here, but having Rachel H at the ready sounds really good!
Unless Canadian electricity is different from Yankee electricity, yep, you got it.
Sorry, I shouldn’t make jokes about electricity after your recent delightful experiences with the Oh! So! Professional! floor finishers.
Yes. It’s right. Double check that there are no stray wisps of wire floating around, wrap the exposed wires in electrician’s tape, and you’re golden. You are an amazing woman!
I just showed it to my husband and he says it looks correct. Good luck!!
It’s funny how something small like North American outlets can make you homesick when you’re out of the country…
Congrats on some awesome house renovating!
Man you’re good. Stand back for a moment and feel the power sista!
As someone who knows exactly this much–> [] about wiring, it sounds to me like it’s right. I’m out of my element here. Ask me about insects and I’m good, ask me about textiles and I’m alright. Electricity? Not so much. I might could sing the School House Rock song, but I don’t think that would help.
Looks right to me too…but i am US side. And nothing should touch nothing or it will be worse than the sawdust in the yard!!!! trust me on this one! You only live once, throw the switch…last picture i saw of you your hair was curly…right??
Female power at its best. 🙂 My rule of thumb when doing electrical work: either take very good pictures and notes of the original before dismantling it or keep one original intact for reference. Obviously, it’s too late for that this time, but maybe it will help next time.
Oh, and I like the wall color.
Thank anything you like for Jeff the building inspector !
You really, really love Joe, don’t you ? And Rachel is a good friend !
Sweet Goddess, you are brave. I always considered my self fairly handy and pretty fearless — I can frame walls, hang drywall, do basic finish carpentry, change my own oil/brakes, etc, but I would never in a million years mess with my own electrical. The risks of serious badness if I messed it up is just way to scary for me.
Looks right to me, & we run an electrical business here, I’m surprised there are ground wires at all in a house that age, somebody has upgraded the wiring at some point.
Please, Please let us know how it turned out!!
Sorry I’m so late on this one but as the resident knitting contractor, the old addage of “green screw to ground(or green wire), white goes to steel(shiney silver screw), and black goes to brass (brass colored screw). Hope it helps….
At what point should we start to worry? Do you plan to post tomorrow, and if so, at what time exactly?
wow, you are amazing and very inspiring!!
Looks great to me. The big thing to watch out for is loose wires that might short out. We wired in a thermostat and recently had to have an electrician round because there was smoke coming out from behind it. Basically, one of the connections was loose. So check that your wires are all screwed in their tightly.
please don’t use electrical tape, it can be more of a hazard.
Maybe you could open up another outlet and see how the wires are done on it.
You are a brave woman. If we never hear from you again, I guess we’ll know what happened. Do be careful.
Geeze. I’m looking at all you’ve done and it makes me tired. We just moved into a huge old (1920s) farmhouse and are constantly being surprised by those little things that turn out to be major major problems… You know, that leaky faucet in the bathtub that can’t be replaced since they haven’t made anything nearly like it in, well, forever. Luckily, the plumber knows a guy who can re-machine the parts (um, why does this make me scared just because there’s only one bathroom?). One great little feature is the toilet in the office (a 10×15 room off the kitchen with a working toilet in the corner). Guess I can pay bills or whatever and never have to leave the room… Hope our renovations turn out as good as yours seem to be going.
i’m going with jeff on this one. he sounds like he knows what he’s doing. hopefully. but ya…what time should we alert the authorities if you don’t post again….. ?
Prime rule: make careful notes on how something is wired up before you try to replace it. “Before” pictures are worth 1,000,000 Google searches after you’ve disconnected something.
But that’s for next time. You look fine here. Ideally the loops of bare wire wrapping around the screws would be tighter to minimize the risk of the wire coming loose, and the insulation would extend all the way to the screws to minimize the amount of bare wire, but you’re good enough. When putting it back in the box, your goal is just to make sure that the white/black bare wires aren’t touching anything. Good luck, and don’t hurt Rachel H… we’re not done with her yet.
My husband is an electrical engineer and he said to tell you that the “Yarn Strumpet” did just fine (he fancies himself a humorist). Joe is going to be blown away by the work you’ve done. I think the white paint guy is lucky he’s still alive.
🙂
Karen
My husband is an electrician and he said you did it correctly.
Yeah, I would check it against another one in another room. Plus I’d worry about that one that only has three wires. You might want to avoid using that one until you can have an electrician look at it. Maybe the other wires slipped down into the wall or something. And no kneepads either, wow!
Wow, I was concentrating so hard on the saga of the wires that I forgot to check out the paint. *Nice* color. I think my response as to which shade of brown/beige got sent to Outer Darkness. Looks like you got the psychic transmission, however. Because those walls are 7-11 Hot Cocoa Brown 🙂
Having changed a few outlets before, yes they are correct. You just push them back in the boxes sort of tucking the wires back in behind, as long as no bare stuff is touching you are good. If they are wrong they won’t work. It shouldn’t burn down your house. I like to wire off one plug on one side, then on to the new plug, then doing the same on the other side. No mess up then. The plain copper is our ground. If no ground, then you should get one of the ground fault ones that has the botton that trips. But it looks good to me. 🙂
I know nothing about electrical wiring, but I did notice the great paint. Wow…you’ve accomplished a lot this week! My labors pale in comparison. Best of luck with all the “finishing” work…that always seems easy but takes so much time.
“BUILDING INSPECTOR POSTS TO KNITTING BLOG.
Film at eleven.”
How lucky you are that you have a whole population of people who really CARE if you are doing OK. The advice was right on. You have done an awesome job!
One thing – if the outlet looks a little crooked in the box? DO NOT try to straighten it by reaching in and firmly grasping it on either side, THUS COMPLETING AN ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT WITH YOUR BODY. Guess how I know.
Oh, it is right as rain my hubby says. Love the fact that a building inspector has even weighed in on the topic. Cool!
The wall colour looks fantabulous!
Considering that the satellite photos of Toronto still show the city to be lit up, all must’ve gone well, yes?
Whew! 😉
~Suz~
Yup. Looks good. Just shove it.
At the risk of encouraging a would-be humorist, I found “Yarn Strumpet” hilarious. Don’t worry too much dear Harlot – my husband renovates old houses as a hobby and rewiring outlets is one of the few jobs he’ll trust me with. If I can do it, anybody can! 🙂
To quote FlyLady: Stephanie, “I’m so proud of you!”
Good luck and wear rubber soled shoes.
my darling wonderful husband who is excellent with such things says that it looks like you did it right.
HOLY CRAP!!!Now you have really done it to me . Just about fell off the chair when I looked at what you did now. Electricity and I do not get along at all so I don’t even change a light bulb in the house unless the circuit breaker is in the off position and even then I break out in a cold sweat. Last time i went to turn the breaker off my hand shook so badly I gave up. Don’t you give up — full steam ahead and GOOD LUCK. Please post as soon as you can and let us know that all is well
Please post an ETA so we know your hair isn’t on fire like sawdust, or that you’re in hospital being treated for electrocution? In the not fun way?
The wall color looks great with the perfectly chosen white color of the trim. I think you’ve got the wiring right but I’d have Rachel H. stand by with the broom just in case. By the way, will Rachel be my friend?
I know the other readers have already said it looks good to them but if I were you, I’d get the booze ready before you proceed.
Ok, I have actually done this before. I vote you crank it up. You got your silver to white, black to brass, ground on the extra one. What’s the worst that can happen? A few years of memories and hard labor goes up in a puff of smoke? You’re insured, right??
Wow, this whole thing is such a labor of love!
N.B., I am not an electrician.
I notice that there are a pair wires for each outlet. I believe that is typically indicative of each outlet being powered separately (e.g., one always on and the other controlled by a wall switch). If so, I believe the two outlets should be electrically separated; I can’t tell for sure from the photos if that was done or not but I think it wasn’t. Between each pair of screws is a tab that (I think) should be broken off — that separates them.
You would then also want to make sure that the B&W wires for each socket are from the same section of Romex.
I’m sure things will “work” as you have it but I’m not sure they’re right — unless the tabs are broken off and the B&W wires are paired properly.
I notice that you said that other outlets only had three wires — that’s typically more common and you would *NOT* break off the tabs in those cases.
As I said first, I’m not an electrician — but I suggest you ask an electrician about this. My wife would be very sad to hear about an end to Yarn Temptress Web Logs due to a Lemony Snicket-esque event.
Steph: looks good to me and I don’t think the US and Canada have that weird problem like in Europe where a North American hair dryer can burn down the youth hostel.
You may, however, have a surplus “U” lurking in the outlet somewhere.
DO be sure the screws are on tight and DO shove firmly to get the whole shebang back where it belongs. As you shove, be careful to keep the grounding wire from touching ANY other wires or screws. Use a non-conducting object to guide the ground wire. The best object for this purpose is a cylindrical, narrow wooden object, like a chopstick. Perhaps you have some similar long, pointy, slender wooden objects in your home which could be put to this use.
Good luck!
Treva … you can get old salvaged plumbing online, do a search! My mom has a century-old Craftsman bungalow in New Orleans. You can find all sorts of weird stuff refurbished.
Dez
Looks right to me. I’ve replaced lots of outlets and even lights and ceiling fans. The worst thing that will happen is, it won’t work.
Wow! You just inspired me to replace the (creepy, scary, broken — as in, “the plastic face-bit that you plug into actually falls out, leaving the bare metal prong-holder thingies just sort of out there saying Hiya) outlet in my living room (that I’m so lerry of not only will I not use it but I put a little barricade of things around there so nothing actually comes near it). Well, maybe. We’ll see if I am brave enough to fight the crowds at Home Depot to buy a new one… weekends are scary!
my husband suggests putting electrical tape around the screws to keep dirt out and for safety reasons.
He’s an electrician. He said you work is beautiful.
Been there – hopefully done that! Great job – very empowering for those of us who do it ourselves!
I think the one with three wires on it is the last receptacle that was wired in the room, usually, receptacles are daisy chained to one another so multiple receptacles in a room are on one breaker. Great job on the remodel, I’ve done quite a bit of remodeling and it can be really rough, have yourself a cold beer, they taste so much better after all that labor 🙂
For anyone with a problem like Sabrina has, until you get your receptacle replaced you can plug one of those child-proofing caps into the metal prong holder thingies and rearrange your barricade.
The caps are just two prongs with a plastic cap and are entirely safe. They’re big enough to cover the hole in the face plate, so there’s no way to reach the bare metal bits.
You can probably get the caps at the supermarket or Toys R Us. That’s usually easier than going to HD or Lowe’s (I like Lowe’s better than I like HD).
My brother-in-law is an electrician. He said the first thing they told him was to put one hand behind his back.
That’s something to remember if you’re working with live wires.
The idea is that you can get a shock, but if you use both hands and get a shock, the current will run right through your heart, whith usually unfortunate consequenses.
Just a thought for the future.
There is this show on Discovery Home-Tool Diva- something like that showing women how to DIY their houses. I have a not so secret affinity for HGTV and DIY. Bought my second home last June (too new built in 1994) that I want to put a cross between craftman house, Japanese garden and African palace. Although I am an engineer by training (also a physician), I have a deep respect for electricity. Be very careful or you could burn down your house or shock yourself senseless.
Anyway the Knitting Divas of Petaluma (the new name of the Knitting Circle at the Aqus Cafe) have decided you will need a reception sometime on June 7th. About 12 of us got together today, starting to plot a major party.
Be there or be square!
Mimi aka the Snap Diva
So I’m thinking to myself that Joe has probably been cheating, and taking a peek at your blog now and then during all this excitement. Do you think he’s passed out yet? (smile)
It looks like you’ve done a fabulous job to me!
Rock on girl!
Um… on the two prong protector things… you might wanna think twice. They’re great for short term but if you leave ’em in for too long (read years as some do) they deteriorate and can actually cause a circuit connection.
Great job! Steph. You’re making me tired though.
Just a little rhyme we learned in school for theatrical lighting. When re-wiring anything always keep in mind green to green, white to white, black to brass or you burn your ass. I’ve been wiring things for years and I still have to say it when it’s been a while.
As Paris Hilton would say, “That’s hot.” And hopefully not in an electrocution kind of way. I love your knitting, but your home renovation is awe inspiring.
I’d like to see more KNITTING info. Lots of other bloggy stuff lately and have been disappointed. Thanks for the former knitting stuff, LOVE IT>
Not sure what is up with the previous comment, however I thought you could knit with wires, not that I would recommend to knit with it when you are wired up….
Great job Steph, more courant ( courage) than I have in any case.
Now there should be a proviso…don’t try this at home without the blogging community right behind you.
Great job and awesome that you feel you can share this with us, it does not always have to be knitting….it is your living room we are in and you can talk about what you like.
One thing my dad taught me: green is the ground. But I think by now you know that you have it right.
Had I seen this yesterday I would have had hubby take a look, he’s an electrician.
Here’s a resounding HOORAY for your courage and electro-skill.
It’s not a big deal for this one, but ideally you want the wire wrap to come up to the edge of the screw to keep the bare wire from touching anything. Your white side has a little too much bare wire showing, but your black side looks great. All you have to do it snip a little bit of bare wire off the end of the white wire, bend the remaining bare wire into another circle (with needle nosed plyers) and wrap it around that screw again. Easy peasy.
The joys of an old home, huh? I’m impressed (and a little bit jealous) that you have copper and ground wires.
Congrats on a job well done!!
I love, love, love your beautiful pine floor – it GLOWS. Nothing prettier than a lovely pine floor. The walls look great too. Ignore Krankie – it’s your blog & you write about your life which, at the moment, has more to do with renovations than knitting.
By the way… what was the plan anyway for the wooden broom handle?
Many,many years ago I wired our entire home under the directions of our contractor who was also an electrician. One thing I remember is that he was very picky about having the wires completey encircle the screw tightly; that way he said that the wire would never work itself loose. The wire had to form more of a circle around the screw rather than a question mark shape. After that experience I know that I did not miss my calling in life, I have never done any electrical work since that time!
Everybody says you did it right – go for it. Plug things in and turn them on. BUT – I’d suggest you go round about half an hour later and feel the walls beside the boxes. I once rewired some lightswitches and got all confused with one of those 3-way switches. Thought I had it right, turned on the light, worked fine, but 20 minutes later I happened to touch the metal fingerplate and it was 120 deg F. and getting hotter. Turns out things seemed right, looked right, ought to have been right, but weren’t. Just a thought.
okay, now i’m in trouble because my husband is looking at me as if to say “why can’t you do something like that?” so far so good, though, but can we see the inside of the box please 😉
My husband is an electrician. He says that things looks pretty good, but it might be a good idea to wrap electrical tape around the outlet covering the screws because the screws cannot come in contact with the box. Hope this helps. I always let him take care of these things so I made him come over and read your blog to get the answer!
Good heavens! Is there no end to your talents? I bow to the other people who have told you that it’s okay and hope they’re right. By now, you probably have found out by turning on the electricity and I don’t see a glow in the sky in the direction of Canada, so I’m hoping for the best. The room looks so nice and I love the white – whatever color white it is.
Lill
I hate to be a party pooper — but really, for anyone out there who ever does this — be more careful than this!
The wires MUST be bare and firmly screwed down under the screws. If you screw this up and the wires are loose, there could be a fire.
And you want the minimum exposed bare wire away for the screws. The white wires show a little too much bare wire. The black wires in the picture seem to show a long bare tail — NO NO!
It looks like the electrical box in the wall is metal. This makes it much more important to worry about stray wires and shorts, compared to a plastic box in the wall.
The key to stuffing it back in the wall when you are done is take your time, pay attention, be careful. Arrange graceful loops, instead of sharp bends in the wires. Because the ground wire is bare, you must make sure it does not get bent around to touch where the other screws are.
Even after you are all done and everything seems to be working — that does not mean things are fine! If you get the black and white wires mixed up (or there are wiring problems somewhere else) everything will SEEM to work, but there may be potential safety hazards. Only someone who understands electricity can test for this — or you can get a test gadget with lights.
Looks perfect to me…. but my husband wants to know where the outlet cozy is.
Oh I so feel for you. We are going through something similar here, we’ve completely gutted our kitchen! All the drywall is gone and everything, it is so stressful there aren’t even words to describe the mayhem. My father-in-law is doing the electrical and makes it seem easy but I’ve stayed out of the way on this one. I’m looking forward to having drywall again and starting the “pretty” part of the renovation.
Joe is going to be so thrilled. And the floor looks amazing by the way!
Well ladies, I agree that there is too much exposed copper wire on your connections. Here’s the SAFEST way to wire an outlet:
Purchase the ones that allow you to strip the wires to a specific length, then “Push” them into holes in the back of the outlet. They go in, are “crimped” inside to hold them, and voila, no exposed wires! Most outlets have this feature.
Nice job.
Everything looks great! Nice job:)
Congrats,
Ang
Yarn Harlot meets This Old House! What a deal. I have no clue…it looks like you got lots of actual advice earlier. so…have a glass of wine. Done good. Now i’m going to have to rip the carpet out of my bathroom and refloor it. You’ve inspired me. AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Damn it, less spinning and knitting time. By the way, who the hell carpets bathrooms anyway?
My sister directed me to your site. I’m an electrical engineer, so you can trust me! It looks very good to me, with one exception… there is probably too much bare wire exposed on the white (neutral). The insulation should go right up to the screw. Otherwise – Great Job!
You inspire me. I finished painting my living room yesterday, and now maybe I’ll hang that ceiling fan myself instead of recruiting a family member. (If I can persuade my knees to climb that ladder again!)
“the business of happy adults is nothing to be ashamed of” Wow … you and Joe had a NAP!
well it seems you have enough advice on the electrical outlet.
The floor is beautiful.The whole room seems different.Very nice.
Your electrical outlet project solution is outlined in Reader’s Digest Do It Yourself book. You are clearly directed as to where each wire is to be attached. The Reader’s Digest book is probably available at your local library or from Amazon.com