Top 10 Mistakes Made when making Electrical Repairs in your own home
  1. Most homeowners DON'T take out the necessary electrical work permit and get an inspection of their work. This is a very important step and in most places it is a legal requirement. Also - if your home were to have a fire or someone is hurt as a result of your own uninspected wiring, your insurance company could refuse to pay for the damages.

  2. Home owners often do not leaving long enough wires at the outlet box. Short wires make it hard to install or replace the switch or receptacle, should the need arise. Leave at least eight inches of wire extending outside of the outlet box.

  3. Home owners often do not get the cable properly installed in the outlet box. The cable must fully enter the box with the sheath intact. The sheath should be inside the box at least 1/4" to 1/2". You should not see the individual conductors outside of the box at the cable hole. If the box has cable clamps make sure they are tightened to secure the cable for direct burial use of wet locations.

  4. Home owners many times run cable where it can be damaged. Anytime NM-B or UF cable is run outside of the framing members it should be protected by some sort of conduit, either flex conduit or some type of rigid conduit. Many times I have seen UF cable run out of a foundation vent and down the foundation wall into the ground going out to a pole lights. This UF must be protected by conduit to keep from being damaged by gardening tools or pets or pests. A piece of PVC conduit can be used to protect the UF and protect the UF down at least 18" into the ground.

  5. Many times home owners DON'T use a proper connector when inserting NM-B or UF into a metal box or breaker box or a bath fan. A proper box connector must be used to keep the sharp edges of the box from damaging the cable sheath and causing a short circuit and a possible fire.

  6. Many home owners make wire securing mistakes. The NM-B should be stapled within eight inches of the box and at least every four feet thereafter. Be careful when stapling that you do not damage the cable with the hammer- also do not drive the staple so far that is damages the cable. Drive the staple so that is just snugs up to the cable. Be sure to run the NM-B along and parallel to building members in a neat appearing manner. Do not travel diagonally across the attic or under the floor. Be sure to keep the NM-B cable at least 1 1/4" from the finished edges of your framing member. This is to keep the NM-B from being damaged by nails that miss the framing member while the wall or ceiling finish is installed.

  7. Home owners often make the common mistake ofusing NM-B cable for underground burial use. I know it looks like it will withstand burial because it has a plastic like coating. But, it will not last long- especially if the ground is damp. You must use UF cable.

  8. Home owners often do not use proper replacement outlet. Always use a GFI receptacle when replacing a kitchen or bathroom receptacle. Also when replacing a garage and outdoor receptacle, use a GFI receptacle. It could save a life- maybe yours, or a loved one.

  9. It is a common mistake to replace a two-wire receptacle with a three-wire receptacle. If you own an older home with an ungrounded two-slot receptacles, you cannot replace a two-wire receptacle with a three wire-grounding receptacle unless you run a ground wire. There is an exception to this; you may replace a two-wire receptacle with a GFI receptacle.

  10. Home owners get shocked by not turning off power or checking if a circuit is live. Buy a simple voltage detector. Its white tip will glow red when brought into close vicinity of a live wire or cable.(Picture below). It is very handy for a quick check to see if a circuit or wire is live. It should always be checked against a known live circuit to be sure that it is working.