The simple case in which you have a home where everything is more or up to code isn’t hard. The complexity comes in when you’re unwinding decades of other people’s hack jobs (the case in most real homes I’ve come across). I agree that the basics are worth learning though!
My house is old - 100 years or so. And I have uncovered so many hack jobs it's not even funny. Any time I open something up to fix or update what I think is a small thing I uncover new surprises that often turn those small jobs into capital-P Projects.
That said, I bought the place as-is and will probably end up selling it that way someday. I know enough about electrical work and codes (and where to look them up) that when I do something, I am confident that what I do is bringing things more up to code than they were.
And that's my logic - I may not be getting a permit every time I do some minor upgrade or change, but when I do something, it ends up in better shape than it was when I found it.
(seriously...the number of times I've found romex or old conduit wiring just wire-nutted together in the wall or between joists makes me wonder how this place hasn't burned down already)
Stick the right wires into the right holes isn’t hard, the hard part is winding up and fitting wires into the small box the original electrician set up! Electrical is is easy, but the polish and craftsmanship is hard. Yes, I could wire, but never as nicely as a professional.
I second the guy above here: The problem I see most often is that when you have to modify existing installations, parts of them will have been done by people who didn't know what they were doing, and if you aren't sharp (a professionally trained electrician) you may not notice subtle signs you are working off something that was not originally done correctly. It may not originally have been a problem (ie triggered something), but when you then modify further and for example draw more power, and you don't realise part of the original wiring was done the wrong way, you suddenly have a fire hazard.
In my current home, we had a wall that would 'get hot' in a certain area, and it turned out part of the wires used in the wall were too small to carry the current now going through them. That part was clearly not done by a professional.
Oh ya, there are tons of things that can go wrong, but they are all well know, it isn't like having the right gauge of wire for amps is a huge trade secret. But the electrician is more likely going to know (a) be careful and do things right, and (b) do them efficiently/effectively/etc...
> That part was clearly not done by a professional.
It totally could have been. But it definitely wasn't inspected by a professional.
I couldn't agree more with this! so much bad stuff to un-wind and hacky stuff from the previous person who (badly)wired the outlets and other stuff I swapped out.
