It was suggested to me that I provide some basic electrical lessons to people that might assist them in their own simple repair projects.
I think that is an excellent idea, but since I am Morethananelectrician, I will open it up to all things related to the home. I specialize in Mechanical/Electrical and Plumbing, but am also very experienced in framing, drywall and roofing and minor in windows, doors and decking.
Any questions? I will just update this post if you have a question for me to answer.
I just noticed this feature and got really excited! My husband is pretty good with some stuff construction related, but electricity is not one of them.
We have an older house, I believe it was built in the early 60’s, maybe late 60’s. The outlet situation is a joke, but we’ve been able to improvise for the most part on the indoors. We have several outlets on the outside that I’d love to be able to use for Christmas lights and later other lighting, but they don’t seem to work. Is there some kind of test we can do or I guess what I’m asking is if I call an electrician out to do a test, will that cost a ton of cash? I know this is a pretty vague sceanario and I apologize.
By: Kim on November 18, 2008
at 1:41 pm
I can be vague with the answer also.
NOTE: Just because they are working, do not assume there is not power in the box. Do not touch any wire with the “assumption” there is no power to it.
The outside receptacles are probably on a GFCI (receptacle with a button) and then all wired together off of that GFCI.
Finding the place where the first one ties into the house or that GFCI is the key. If there is one receptacle with a button push it and see if it fixes everything.
If not, my suggestion is to…
1. Turn off all of the breakers, find a way to lock them to make sure the spouce doesn’t turn them back on trying to dry their hair.
2. Take the devices out of the wall outside, but leave the wires connected.
3. If one of the devices is a GFCI receptacle, replace it.
4. Look to see if there are any wires disconnected/rusted/terminals broken.
5. Put everything back before you restore power.
Not knowing the confidence level of your husband, I wouldn’t suggest tracing wires or opening a device if he is not comfortable…it can be dangerous. A company would charge up to $100/hr to troubleshoot this…
Any pictures of your panel and shots of all your exterior devices would be helpful too.
My biggest suggestion to make casual friends with construction people and trade favors/beer for help.
By: morethananelectrician on November 18, 2008
at 3:02 pm
Please email me at aroundthefunnyfarm@gmail.com sometime! Hey.. I just saw that above here… favors/beer hummm….
By: Around The Funny Farm on November 22, 2008
at 10:55 pm
Is it more or less fun to do electrical work ON YOUR BIRTHDAY? lol
By: pamajama on January 7, 2009
at 6:57 pm
An electrical question. I want my bath to stay warm longer, can I just drop a bar heater into the water???
By: Tony on May 22, 2009
at 9:30 am
I’m getting ready to replace the shutters on my house. From white to green. Little wider (9 to 12″ – can’t do the 14 1/2 because there’s not enough room on the upper level). Question is… my windows are 41″ tall. The shutters come 39″ or 43″. Which would you go with? Right now, the shutters are right on. Can’t afford to go custom – I need inexpensive! (You’ve seen my house).
By: susan on June 2, 2009
at 1:01 pm
Susan,
The original purpose of shutters was obviously to cover the windows of a home during poor weather conditions. Now they are more of a decorative item or way to bring in a contrasting color to the house. I like the green…darker the better if you have pine trees in the yard….most of the shutters are paintable too, so you cna buy one color and change it if you like to match the color of the front door…even paint them both the same.
With ALL that being said. You should go with the larger shutters, if they were operable (which of course they aren’t) they would be larger than the opening…
http://morethananelectrician.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/built-in-the-1810s/
This is a similar scenario where I couldn’t use shutters on both sides of the bottom…these are actually operable.
By: morethananelectrician on June 2, 2009
at 1:55 pm
Restoration/remodeling question: The rooms in our house are portioned out so that you can walk through the house in a “square” path. Since we are both fans of a more open floor plan, this is absolutely maddening to us to have our house so forcefully divided into small sections, but changing the layout would absolutely require removing/relocating walls. So, the $50,000 question:
How can we tell which walls are bearing walls?
I’ve googled to the point of dizzy and basically gotten a solid, “you can’t” out of the deal. Hoping you know something they don’t.
Btw, no, we don’t have the original plans for the house, built in 1951, and have plaster walls.
Thanks for any words of wisdom!
By: dyskinesia on June 13, 2009
at 10:15 am
Dys…
Without an engineer on site, you should assume that ANY wall that runs perpendicular to the floor joists or ceiling rafters is load bearing…that is the safest way to treat the situation. So a part of “you can’t tell” is true. But…it is tricky.
By: morethananelectrician on June 13, 2009
at 4:17 pm
Okay – it’s my turn to have a question albeit a somewhat lame one. I have an electrical outlet in my kitchen a GFCI (I think that’s what you guys call it) with the little test and reset buttons on it. It’s the standard outlet that will take two appliances plugged into it. Now, it’s in the corner and i rarely use it, but every few months i hear a strange buzz/hum coming from it; apparently a sound only EmmaLou and I can hear. If I hit the test and reset button the sound goes away for another month. Is this indicative of a problem I should be concerned about? It’s never tripped a breaker when I have used it in the past. It simply “sings” to me occasionally. Thanks. Linda
By: croneandbearit on July 30, 2009
at 9:35 am
The noise is caused by the GFCI (that is correct) trying to trip, but something is not allowing it to happen. This can be caused by a physical interfence with the button or a mechanical issue inside of the device. It would be suggested that the device be replaced. It is a simple process if you are comfortable handling this yourselves…
http://www.instructables.com/id/Replacing-a-GFCI-Outlet/
By: morethananelectrician on July 30, 2009
at 1:04 pm
Devoted Spouse is good at replacing outlets – thanks for the info – appreciate your help! BTW LOVE the new avatar! Linda
By: croneandbearit on July 31, 2009
at 6:59 am
Ok, I need to rebuild my back fence. It’s not very long, maybe 25 or 30′. I want a standard gate, but I would also like to have a longer, maybe 6 or 8′ gate that could be used as occasional access, like if I needed a batch of dirt brought in or I needed someone to be able to have access to do tree work.
How can we build it so that it is stable and strong as a fence, but still have the capability to open it?
I was thinking metal stays that would sink into the ground and brace the fence, but that I could pull out when I needed it?
By: SMurF on October 13, 2009
at 10:34 pm
A double gate is is only long term solution here unless you put some kind a heavy wheel on the non-hinge side of the gate to alleviate the weight on the hinges. A sturdy gate is heavy and will cause issues years down the road.
By: morethananelectrician on October 13, 2009
at 10:44 pm