Reddit reviews The Complete Guide to Wiring: Current with 2011-2013 Electrical Codes (Black & Decker Complete Guide)
We found 7 Reddit comments about The Complete Guide to Wiring: Current with 2011-2013 Electrical Codes (Black & Decker Complete Guide). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Used Book in Good Condition
Things you don't want to replace because of the price tag:
Stab Lok made electrical boxes in the US in the 50's, 60's, and 70's. They don't break-over if there's a fault, and can kill you in a fire.
Some electrical work is pretty easy, but it's still dangerous. If you plan to add electrical and have walls open, you can easily save yourself a ton of money by doing the rough in yourself and have an electrician look at it and say it's good before hooking it up to the breaker box. Black and Decker has a great book: . Their real goal is to sell you tools, but the book is good. Don't do anything you don't feel comfortable with.
Drywalling is easy and drywall and drywall mud are really cheap. Like $6 for a 6 pound bag of dryawall mud. So, don't worry about drywall damage, just replace walls.
Drywall before you move in. Sanding drywall makes a huge mess. You'll be cleaning up the dust for awhile, you don't need upholstered furniture in addition to everything else to clean.
Baseboards and chair rail are expensive. $2 or $3 a foot and higher. It doesn't seem like much, but a 12 x 12 room can cost you $150+ to replace the boards in.
Trees near the house are trouble. Bushes near the house are trouble. You want shade, but not roots breaking through the foundation. Cutting trees and digging out roots is not fun, especially the digging out roots part.
Check that the laundry area actually has hot and cold water.
Be aware a garbage disposal isn't necessarily standard and you may need to add it and an outlet for it.
Electrical tape on wires is bad. If you see exposed wires or junctions with electrical tape over them, it's a sure sign of bad do it yourself electrical work. You probably want a real electrician to look into how bad it is.
Yard care is expensive, especially at first. You'll need a mower and weedeater at least. Be prepared for $400-$800 there.
HUD homes generally have no power/water, etc, so if you're looking at them, just know to dress for outside weather inside. Also, know you may have to replace the meters at a cost of a few hundred. People also take things like toilets and sinks with them when they leave so never, never, never, buy one without looking at it. Never buy any house without looking at it, but double for anything HUD owned. Also, have the power and water and gas turned on for the inspection, it's better to spend the money and know things don't work than to save the $500 and get surprised when it's move in time.
Banks are going to send an appraiser out to the house. If they don't think they can make the loan back mostly by foreclosing and selling the house, they won't lend to you. Trashed houses and HUD owned houses might have a hard time getting financed, so don't 'fall in love with the possibilities'.
Also, a HUD owned house will probably need interior paint even if you don't see it in the pictures 80% of them have strange and scary and bold color walls. Be prepared to need to full on prime and paint.
Also, bad wall paper is going to require you to replace or resurface the walls. It's not a terrible task, but it is a terrible task if the wall is hard to reach like behind a counter or under cabinets. It's not expensive, but it's super terrible. If you can pick at the wallpaper and see if a corner comes up easily (it should have primer underneath it, not the same color as the wall around).
Wow, yes, you are indeed in way over your head.
Go old-school. Borrow every book on home electrical repair from your nearest library. Search amazon for home electrical repair books. There are many available used for a dollar or two, especially in home repair book series' from Home Depot or Black & Decker, etc. Example: https://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-Complete-Guide-Wiring/dp/1589236017
Read them through, and then read them through again. A 20-year-old home electrical book will not have up-to-date safety code information, but it will at least give you the major concepts and guidelines, and the groundwork for asking more informed and complete questions here.
For outlet issue: an outlet tester is a good first step, but it is only the very simplest tip of the iceberg. There are still all kinds of other things that can be wrong, when the tester shows good. It's like looking at the gas gauge on the car-- tells you if you have gas; doesn't tell you if your transmission is busted.
The outlet tester only tells you if the wires were hooked up in the right order. It doesn't tell you if your circuits have the capacity to run everything you want. Learn about circuit breakers and check the breaker panel for ones that have overloaded and shut off, when the outlet goes out.
Good luck!
If you want to mainly learn about wiring (like in a home) then check out Black & Decker's Complete Guide to Wiring:
http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/1589236017
It isn't an EE course by any means, but it will give you practical knowledge someone can use in their life. I read one from Home Depot also, but I liked the B&D one better. Since it's based on home wiring, it's mainly AC.
It is quite simple. But I'd recommend getting a book like this one and reading it first anyway:
http://www.amazon.com/xdp/1589236017
Isn't the ground wire typically connected to the box itself with the little green screw?
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-Complete-Wiring-Edition/dp/1589236017
I have the 4th edition to this book, but I'm pretty sure it mentions that you connect ground to the conduit/breakout box.
NINJA EDIT: Yep. Look here
http://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/20351/how-should-i-connect-the-ground-wire-for-my-light-fixture
According to my jurisdiction, they adopted the 2011 one, this one. I don't have a copy of the NEC, yet, I think its up for a new version this year? Thanks, I definitely will be around this sub and the home improvement one more and more. Home ownership, so much fun!
Edit This is the B&D book I am using at the moment.
First off, why do you need to replace the box? Are there not enough circuits? Do you have knob and tube wiring? I don't really have a ballpark cost estimate, but it doesn't cost anything to have estimates.
As for doing it yourself, I find that electrical work isn't necessarily as bad as people make it out to be (my DIY hell is plumbing waste lines) as long as you're careful. The number one rule is to always assume that the lines are live and to double check with a tester (they come in all shapes, sizes, and costs including ones that detect a current through the wiring insulation) before touching wires with anything that could conduct electricity. Your best bet is to head to your local DIY home center (e.g. Lowe's, Home Depot, or Menard's) and pick up one of the DIY electrical books (the Black and Decker books are pretty easy to follow. If you really want to cut costs as much as possible, there's a resource that many people forget about and that's their local public library. Most public libraries have at least a couple of books about home improvement projects that you can check out for free. As far as codes go, you could call your local building safety department and talk to one of the inspectors about what you should do, but they'll probably encourage you to file for a permit (if necessary) and contact a licensed electrician.